KEY POINTS:
An English family trying to start a new life in New Zealand are afraid their application will be rejected because their daughter has a serious illness.
Shaun Potter, who heads a technology department at an East Sussex secondary school, and his wife, a youth justice worker, said lifestyle factors were the main reasons they wanted to move to New Zealand.
"There are a lot of similarities to the UK but New Zealand will be more relaxed," said Mr Potter on the phone from his Eastbourne home.
Mr Potter qualifies under the Labour Department's skilled migrant category, is financially secure, and has received a "very generous" offer from a South Auckland high school, but his daughter Nina's cerebral palsy could block the family's application.
The Potters have two other children - Haydn, aged 13, and Finlay, 9. Twelve-year-old Nina was born premature and consequently had seizures resulting in cerebral palsy. The disease causes damage to areas of the brain controlling movement.
Mr Potter said he had run into a "brick wall" as he sought information from immigration authorities about how Nina's illness might affect their chances of moving here.
He feared he might have to pay up to £5000 ($12,385) for his family's application - with no guarantee of success.
"I want someone to say 'yes, if you fill in an expression of interest there is a 50-50 chance you will have the criteria we are looking for and you will go into the pool'.
"Some of it just feels like it's a money-grubbing paper exercise. We've got special circumstances and because we've got some special needs, could we just talk to somebody without this costing us money?"
Labour Department spokesman, Eric Van Rensburg, said Nina's illness was not necessarily the end of the Potter family's application.
"They will look at the application and, for instance, if he is qualified for something that is useful to New Zealand then his chances are better."
Mr Van Rensburg said the outcome of the expression of interest - which costs $350 and can take up to three months - would determine whether the family could immigrate.
Mr Potter said his family had enough money to buy a property and to invest. They would also bring any equipment they needed for Nina and were willing to get medical insurance.
"I intend to come to New Zealand and to work and pay my own way," said Mr Potter. "But if we were a family of four, without our daughter, I don't think there would be a problem.
"I think it is unfair that four of us are being penalised because of my daughter, who we don't think will present much of a problem to the New Zealand authorities."
Immigration consultant Tika Ram said the Government had an obligation to look after all migrants who settled here. He said immigration officials were likely to put Nina's case to a medical referee, to determine whether she would be reliant on the health system.
"If it goes that far they will apply for a medical waiver," he said. However, Mr Ram said he did not believe a medical waiver would be granted.
