Visa issues keep couple apart
He’s in Dubai. She’s in Gore.
The Covid-19 pandemic is keeping them apart.
While Akhina Sunny works as a nurse in Gore, her husband Amal George is stuck in Dubai – out of work, paying rent and separated from his wife of three years.
The couple are stranded while the Government says it is deciding what to do with people who have approved New Zealand visas, but are unable to travel into the country.
Because of the pandemic, George has been unable to travel to New Zealand. It was a condition of his approved working visa to enter the country before June 11.
‘‘There were no planes, so I could not come to the country before then,’’ George said from Dubai on Friday.
Now that he hasn’t touched down in New Zealand inside the specified timeframe, Immigration NZ have said he has to apply for a new work visa.
‘‘He met all the conditions before, but he could not get here. We have asked why they cannot grant a time extension, but we have not had any answers,’’ Sunny said.
It’s been nearly a year since the young couple were together.
‘‘It is very hard, we rely on video calls,’’ Sunny said.
After marrying three years ago in India, the couple moved to Dubai, where George worked for the Emirates airline.
Sunny, who is a nurse, moved back to India briefly before immigrating to New Zealand in October last year.
While on a placement during a nursing competency course at Otago Polytechnic, she was offered a job in Gore.
She has applied for New Zealand residency, moved into a flat with a friend, and become part of the community.
She applied for a work visa for George in October, which was approved on March 11 this year.
‘‘He will do any job when he gets here, whatever there is,’’ Sunny said.
With an approved visa, he gave one month’s notice to his job at the airline, but then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and the borders all closed.
The couple have twice applied for an exemption to extend the arrival date on his visa and on both occasions been declined.
Immigration New Zealand has not responded to a request asking how many people with approved visas have been asked to reapply.
Immigration NZ general manager border and visa operations Nicola Hogg said INZ understands the impact that Covid-19 has had on some migrants and their loved ones.
‘‘The border is New Zealand’s biggest vulnerability in our fight against Covid-19, which is why New Zealand’s border remains closed to all but New Zealand citizens and residents. Protecting public health in New Zealand is paramount.
‘‘The bar for being granted an exception to the border restrictions is set high to help stop the spread of Covid-19 and protect the health of people already in New Zealand. INZ has no ability to apply discretion when considering requests against the strict border criteria in place,’’ she said.
INZ confirmed that George had submitted two requests for an exception to the border restrictions as the partner of a student or work visa holder, and who is ordinarily resident in New Zealand. However, as he did not normally live in New Zealand, he did not meet the required criteria at the time and no exception was granted. ‘‘While we are empathetic to the situations some individuals find themselves in, any decisions to ease the border restrictions must be made based on what is best for all New Zealand. New Zealand’s border will reopen, but only when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, it is important that we have the appropriate measures in place to ensure New Zealand continues to have no new cases of Covid19,’’ Hogg said. The couple also wrote to Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway, who referred their letter to associate immigration minister Poto Williams. In a response dated June 16, he said: ‘‘No decisions have been made on whether the first entry date on a work visa can be changed to allow people with approved visas offshore to travel later instead of applying for a variation or new visa yet. Officials are urgently looking at options and providing advice to the Government, the Government is actively considering a range of options and will make decisions as soon as possible.’’