Character waiver after an agency's false answer on a form

[Applicant A] is a skilled IT professional who studied and now works in New Zealand, with his wife and daughter here with him. Years earlier, a study agency in his home country completed and lodged his student visa form using the agency’s own login, and [Applicant A] never saw or checked it before it was sent. That form wrongly answered a health question, because it did not record that he carries hepatitis B. He only found out about the error much later, when Immigration New Zealand raised it.

We did not try to argue the answer was correct. We accepted the mistake, then explained that the agency had filled in and lodged the form without him seeing it. We showed his good faith by pointing out that he had told the immigration doctor about his hepatitis B himself, before any concern was raised, and that the condition is well managed and his organs are healthy. We then set out, point by point, the reasons a waiver was justified, including his clean record, the time that had passed, his strong ties and community work, his in-demand IT skills, and the effect on his innocent wife and child.

Immigration New Zealand accepted the response and granted the work visa.

When an agency completes and sends a form you never saw, that lack of involvement says a lot about whether any mistake was really yours, so it should be set out clearly with proof. Where a wrong answer is plainly there, accepting it honestly and shifting the focus to a waiver is more persuasive than arguing the point. And being open about a health condition with the immigration doctor, before any question is raised, is some of the best evidence of good faith you can give.