Covid-19 and border closures mean Priya Fernandes has been apart from her husband for almost two years. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua immigrants are experiencing frustration and heartbreak being apart from their families, with one woman facing spending her 30th wedding anniversary without her husband.
Priya Fernandes, a Toi Ohomai masters student, who also works part time as a frontline border worker, moved from India in October 2019.
Her husband, Edwin Fernandes, planned to join her in New Zealand soon after. But after almost two years, the pair still haven't reunited.
About 70 Bay of Plenty migrants attended a candlelit vigil in Tauranga on Wednesday. The vigils were held in multiple town centres across the country.
The purpose of the events, organised by the Federation of Aotearoa Migrants (FOAM), was to highlight the struggles of migrants impacted by border rules.
However, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said the Government was regularly reviewing immigration settings and making adjustments for border entry exceptions when possible.
More than 100 people also took to Parliament to protest the matter.
"Our dream just converted into a nightmare. They are two years of my life that will never come back, but I hope at the end of whatever this is, I still have my family," Fernandes told the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend.
She had initially planned to carry out her PhD in New Zealand, following the completion of her masters in July.
But the "ambiguity" around whether or not Edwin would be granted a student partnership visa was preventing her from making a decision.
"My husband's application went four months before the lockdown. We were told we were in the queue, and a case officer hadn't been allocated yet."
New Zealand then went into alert level 4 lockdown.
"I just want to know what my plan should be for the future. I want an answer - if they accept I am okay, or if they decline I am okay," she said.
"It is this limbo, this ambiguity that is not allowing me to make a decision. It hurts that I don't know when it will happen for me. It is the hopelessness that depresses us."
Fernandes, who volunteered for multiple local organisations, expressed love for the Rotorua community.
"I love it here in New Zealand, I made the decision to come here. People are so nice."
The thought of being apart for their wedding anniversary in December brought her to the point of tears.
"I am not ready to live without him for the next three years. We speak to each other three to four times a day. He is living alone there, and I am living alone here," she said.
"It is difficult on wedding anniversaries and birthdays - we call each other and one of us wants to cry.
"I told Edwin, 'The next time I see you, once I hold your hand, I am not going to let it go.'"
The current Covid-19 situation in India was particularly frightening for Fernandes, who was fearful of losing a loved one to the virus.
"Every single day I have this thought in my mind that someone will die and I won't be able to see them. Let me be very frank, that is my biggest fear."
It has been more than 500 days since Quintin Boshoff saw his two young sons.
Boshoff left South Africa in December 2019, in the hopes of giving his two children, Peter,6, and Stefan, 3, a better upbringing.
His wife, Cindy, had already submitted their visa applications, handed in notice to her job, and sold most of the family's belongings. They were planning to arrive in New Zealand soon after Boshoff.
But the Covid-19 border closures left Cindy, Peter and Stefan stranded in South Africa.
Boshoff, who works at Pacific Toyota in Mount Maunganui, was granted a 36-month essential skills visa. Being away from his family was getting harder as the days passed, he said.
"We are on 509 days," he said. "It is just getting harder and harder."
The most difficult part of being apart from his family was missing special moments with his children and uncertainty around time frame, said Boshoff.
"I am missing all those special moments that I don't want to miss," he said. "Talking to them on the phone is not the same.
"I start to cry every time because they are actually hugging the phone, trying to get close to me. I really think the kids need their father.
"I understand why they put everything on hold, and I respect what they did for New Zealand, he said, discussing the Government's Covid-19 response.
"But the uncertainty is the worst thing because we don't know when it is going to happen."
Boshoff was without a dad for much of his childhood. His dad died when he was 8 years old.
"I always promised myself I would never leave my children ... and at this stage, it feels like I did, because they are stuck alone without a father."
He said returning home to his family in South Africa was not an option, and living here was a "dream come true".
"I can't really give up. I have left my job in South Africa. We sold everything to be able to come over - my wife is living with my mum.
"The security and safeness of the country is what I am after. It is a dream come true."
Rotorua Multicultural Council president Dr Margriet Theron said there was no instant solution to reuniting split families.
But she understood why migrants across New Zealand were bringing attention to the plight through demonstration.
"Split families do not feel like they are being treated as a priority," she said.
"Highly skilled migrants are contributing to our economy, paying taxes and through no fault of their own are separated from their children. It is heartbreaking, but so is Covid."
FOAM president Charlotte te Riet Scholten-Phillips said they wanted residency for those in New Zealand on temporary work visas and phased re-entry of people overseas separated from family in New Zealand.
"We are hoping to lobby the Government to give us what we really want."
A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi reiterated his message shared at Thursday's protest.
"The Government is mindful of the disruption caused to many, many lives and, where it can, it is putting in place solutions; within the constraints of Covid border controls."
At the protest, the minister also said as frustrating as current border restrictions were, they were helping to keep the country safe from Covid-19.
"The restrictions and New Zealand's managed isolation regime are what is allowing everyone in New Zealand to function in relative freedom and keep communities safe from the virus."
In a written statement, Immigration New Zealand border and visa operations acting general manager Jock Gilray said demand for the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) and Residence from Work (RfW) had risen significantly over the past couple of years.
He said expressions of interest for SMC visas had been suspended since April 2020 due to Covid-19, however, this was currently being reviewed.
Non-priority onshore SMC and RfW applications were currently being allocated from August 20, 2019, while priority applications were being allocated within two weeks.
"INZ continues to look for ways to ensure applications can be processed as quickly as possible while ensuring the appropriate level of scrutiny is given to each application," Gilray said.
He said residence applications took longer to process than other visa types as there was more at stake and there was greater scrutiny of each application.
Fees for New Zealand's main residence-based visas – SMC and RfW – ranged in price from $970 (including GST) to $2500. Applicants were also required to pay an Immigration Levy of $830.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.