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Migrants battling to stay in the country are “spilling their guts” to the media just to get their visa cases noticed by the immigration minister, the Green Party says.
It comes as Brazilian couple Newton Santos and Nubia Chiarelli, whose immigration adviser forgot to apply for their one-off residency path in 2021, are still in limbo waiting on a verdict about their future in New Zealand.
The Green Party’s immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menendez March had been following the couple’s case and supported their visa appeal to the Associate Minister for Immigration Chris Penk.
Newton Santos and his wife, Nubia, are still in limbo waiting on a verdict about their future in New Zealand. Photo / Newton Santos
March was also among the several MPs who supported Loasi Latu and her husband’s case to remain in New Zealand after overstaying for more than 20 years.
In both instances, Penk reassessed his initial evaluation of the cases after they were exposed by RNZ.
However, March said migrants wronged by the system shouldn’t have to go through media campaigns to be heard.
“The key message here is that no migrant should have to do a media campaign to get the minister’s attention and a positive outcome.
Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March says migrants wronged by the system shouldn’t have to go through media campaigns to be heard.
“We end up leaving far too many lives at the mercy of an individual. In this case, the Associate Immigration Minister.”
March said every migrant case should be treated with the same respect.
“A lot of the ministerial appeals would take months to get resolved.
“But if one of them managed to get enough traction in the media, for example, things could be resolved faster.”
That spoke of the sad reality of a broken immigration system, he said.
“[It] makes migrants spill their guts to the media in order to get the minister’s attention.”
There was no formula used by the Ministry of Immigration to make decisions on special cases such as Latu or Santos and Chiarelli, March said.
“It does end up falling on who’s able to make the most noise and that is not a fair situation.”
Brazilian couple still in limbo
The first time Santos approached Penk in 2023, the minister declined to review the couple’s case.
However, in May, after being approached by RNZ, a spokesperson said Penk had decided to reconsider it due to “new circumstances”.
Three months on, the couple remained in limbo about their futures.
“You wake up every day with that feeling that you might have to pack your stuff and go. The silence from the ministry in relation to our case is deafening.” Chiarelli said.
“You can’t make plans, you can’t live a normal life, if you don’t know what is going to happen.”
She said the delayed response led to anxiety and depression.
“It’s not easy to cope with that feeling of uncertainty, it takes a toll on our mental health. I have spent thousands of dollars on therapy and counselling, all I do is cry and hope that someone will look at our case soon enough so we can get out of this agony.
“All we really want is an opportunity to apply for the residency visa again. We really just want to know if we would be able to stay or not, so we can move on with our lives.”
A spokesperson said Santos’ case was still being prepared for ministerial consideration.
“At any given time, there are numerous cases being prepared and consideration is given to visa expiry dates.”
It said the couple’s case will be decided “well in advance” of their current visas expiring, and the couple were able to apply for further temporary visas if required.
However, Santos said the couple has run out of other visa options to apply for unless they were sponsored by an accredited employer.
The delayed response was causing them a financial strain, he said.
“We have already spent over $10,000 in this process, with lawyers, court, documentation and applications. Any other [visa] option would add at least another $6000 to the bill.
“We all know how people are struggling with the cost of living. We really don’t have that money. We don’t know what else to do.”
Immigration adviser speaks up
In a post on social media in April, the immigration adviser involved in Santos’ case said she felt the urge to tell her followers about the residency visa application oversight.
“I felt the surge of negative feelings and relaying this feeling to you my 6 thousand followers by simply stating, the oversight of my staff in not lodging [Santos’] residence visa on the RV2021.
“The work visa of the Newton’s [Santos] was lodged on the same day that I gave the instruction to lodge his residence under the settled category.”
The adviser, who was censured and ordered to pay the registrar a penalty of $2500 and a compensation of $8000 to the couple, said her company had lodged 679 applications for RV2021, all granted.
She claimed Santos was also applying for a variation of his then-work visa, and that created confusion about the application of the RV2021.
“My staff said the application was lodged but she was referring to the work visa,” the Facebook post read.
“Two days after the closure of the RV2021 policy when I discovered that the residence was not lodged. Hence, the oversight.”
The immigration adviser said once the mistake was identified, she tried to appeal to Immigration NZ and the minister.
In the online post, she emphasised her company – Sunrise Immigration Services – was the only reason the couple was allowed to stay in the country in the first place.
