Covid 19 coronavirus: Migrant mother desperate to bring children over MIQ rate hike qualifies as “ inhuman ”

A migrant mother from China is desperate to bring her 12-year-old twin sons to New Zealand, but says the rate hike for managed isolation (MIQ) has put it out of her reach.

The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, and her children obtained residency in New Zealand in November 2016.

But Immigration New Zealand said the children’s residency status expired and the time they spent here was insufficient to qualify for permanent residence.

Citizens and residents do not need to pay MIQ, but temporary entry class visa holders face a fee increase effective March 25.

An INZ spokeswoman said the children had only spent 56 days in New Zealand in total since they were granted residency in 2016, which was not enough to qualify them for permanent residence.

“In addition to this, their existing residence visas expired in January 2019 due to being on the high seas without the necessary travel conditions,” he said.

The mother, who was divorced twice, brought her children for the first time in 2017 during her school holidays when she met a new partner, and again in 2018.

Her second husband, with whom she is no longer with, said that he did not want to live with the children permanently, so he had to send the children back to live with their father in China.

But during a recent phone conversation from their grandparents’ home, the children revealed that their father is involved in a situation of domestic abuse with his current partner.

The children said they were afraid to go home and begged her to let them live with her in New Zealand.

“I feel like my children may be in danger and I’m really concerned for their safety,” the woman said.

“Now that I am no longer with my partner, I am in a position to bring them in, but the immigration and MIQ fees make it financially impossible.”

Starting March 25, fees for temporary visa holders coming to New Zealand will increase from $ 3,100 to $ 5,520 for the first occupant and $ 2,990 for an additional adult or $ 1,610 for an additional child.

In the case of the woman, she would have to move to the MIQ facilities because her children are minors, which means that it would cost them $ 8,740 for the 14 days.

This is in addition to the $ 4,500 you already paid to reapply for your twins’ new residency visa and $ 590 for student visas, to speed up your entry process.

“In total I have to pay more than $ 15,200. I am not working full time and I don’t know where I can find the rest of the money to do this,” he said.

“This is an emergency situation and I really need to bring my guys here, and I feel like the current system in New Zealand is just inhumane.”

The mother has applied for border exemptions twice in the category of “partner or dependent child”, but was rejected both times.

The INZ spokeswoman confirmed that she received new applications for new residency visas for the twins on March 7, 2021.

“Government policy is clear that there are a limited number of exceptions for people who must seek approval from INZ before traveling,” the INZ spokeswoman said.

“All applications are considered against the strict criteria set out in the immigration instructions and individuals must meet the strict exception criteria at the border to be granted an exception. INZ does not have the ability to exercise discretion when considering applications for exceptions at the border “.

To be granted a border exception, he said family members must travel with their New Zealand citizen or resident relative to New Zealand.

“In the case of the woman, her children would not travel with her, they would not have a visa based on her relationship with her and they do not habitually reside in New Zealand,” the spokeswoman said.

“They do not meet the criteria to be granted a border exception, and therefore the applications were unsuccessful.”