Armela Lush with husband Brian Lush and parents Blerim Liri Hajderaj and Jenny Hajderaj. Photo / Supplied
Armela Lush with husband Brian Lush and parents Blerim Liri Hajderaj and Jenny Hajderaj. Photo / Supplied
It was supposed to be 30-year-old bride Armela Lush's happiest day but instead she was in tears - crying because her favourite aunt could not be at her wedding.
Her aunt, retiree Rraku Shpresa from Albania, was repeatedly denied a visa to come to New Zealand because Immigration New Zealand deemed the 61-year-old as not being a bona fide visitor.
Lush's mother Jenny Hajderaj, who had lived in NZ for 23 years and was a NZ-citizen, said the agency's decision caused the family "embarrassment" and brought "heartache" to her daughter.
"This is absolutely embarrassing for the family. I have had my other sisters coming from Albania before and they did nothing wrong while they're here," said Hajderaj who lives in Whangaparaoa.
"My daughter is very close to this aunt and not having her here caused her heartache and just spoiled the whole wedding."
"So it is really, really upsetting to not have my aunt and cousin here. I feel like I've been discriminated against."
Shpresa lodged her last visa application on October 16 last year with the intention of coming for the wedding on November 29 and remaining here for five weeks.
However, she only got a response from Immigration New Zealand on January 10, which said she had not shown that she had enough commitments to satisfy the agency that she would be encouraged to return to Albania at the end of her stay.
It also noted that since the wedding had passed, the agency concluded Shpresa did not have a genuine reason for travel.
"This is really like a slap in the face, we applied three times before and each time INZ found new ways to say no," Hajderaj said.
"This last application they delayed it for three months and now basically said she no longer needs to come."
Hajderaj said she was disappointed and felt angry at the decision. She also thought Albanians were being profiled as high risk.
"This is absurd because Albanians can travel freely throughout Europe, Asia and many other countries, but not New Zealand," she added.
INZ assistant general manager Jeannie Melville would not say if Albanians were being specifically targeted, but said a range of risk factors were looked at to determine whether an applicant was a genuine visitor.
These include a lack of funds and push factors from the home country of residence.
In the 2017/18 year, the agency declined 38,268 visitor visa applications, up from 31,644 in 2016/17 and 23,282 the year before.
"We will apply a higher level of scrutiny to those applicants who have any risk factors present," Melville said.
"For security reasons and to uphold the maintenance of the law, we are unable to provide any specific information on risk factors that we apply higher scrutiny to."
The agency had recently implemented a completely new visa processing model, with a new and enhanced risk and verification function.
"There are now dedicated teams of verification officers to provide advice to immigration officers and carry out advanced and specialist verifications," Melville said.
She said the onus was on the applicant to satisfy the agency they met all of the entry requirements.
These include; having a genuine and valid passport, good character, good health and sufficient funds to support their stay in New Zealand - at least $1000 per month for maintenance and accommodation or $400 per month if their accommodation had been prepaid.
Visitors must also prove they had a bona fide and credible reason for coming to New Zealand.
"INZ must believe that the person will abide by the conditions of any visa granted to them, including not undertaking work while in New Zealand ... (and) genuinely intending to depart at the end of their stay," Melville said.
