Ten-year-old faces deportation over special needs schooling support
Thursday, 24 September 2020
A 10-year-old child is facing deportation from New Zealand, despite her parents offering to pay for help with her special needs schooling.
The girl, who Stuff has chosen not to name for privacy reasons, has lived in Nelson with her parents for about two years.
Her parents have valid work permits for a further two years.
They have been told their daughter will be unlawfully in New Zealand from Saturday and will have to return home.
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Nelson MP Nick Smith is seeking an urgent review of her case, saying it was appalling she faced being separated from her parents.
The girl’s student visa was rejected earlier this year after she was diagnosed with autism spectrum and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders – special needs that require up to two hours of additional support each day at school.
The girl’s original application was declined on the grounds that she did not have “an acceptable standard of health” and was not eligible for a medical waiver.
The parents sought a reconsideration in May but this was rejected this month.
Immigration NZ wrote on September 1 to the girl, declining her application for the reconsideration of her student visa because she was receiving Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) support from the Ministry of Education.
That was despite her parents’ offer to fund the additional support of about $120 per week.
Immigration NZ informed the child her interim visa was due to expire on September 25.
It advised she “should arrange to leave New Zealand” before this time, after which she would be unlawfully living here.
The latest decision noted that the family’s financial ability to support and intention to provide in-home education had no bearing on whether an applicant was unlikely to impose significant costs on New Zealand’s special education services.
“[The child's] health condition requires levels of support and is still likely to impose significant funding costs on special education services.”
Speaking to Stuff on Thursday, the girl’s mother said that despite the shrinking timeframe, the family was still hopeful of an outcome in their favour.
However, if the decision was declined then the child would go back to their home country to live with grandparents, she said.
The girl attends primary school in Nelson and her principal has advocated on her behalf.
The principal said the girl received up to two hours of support each day which the family had offered to pay for to minimise the government-funded costs.
“It should not be about politics – I am confident that when the minister has a chance to revisit the application that he will see that the case is more about human rights issues and accordingly make the right decision.”
The mother said the child had received plenty of support from her teachers and friends at school in the meantime.
Smith was made aware of the child’s situation by the family and school, and has written to associate Immigration Minister Poto Williams, seeking an urgent review.
He was “appalled” that a 10-year-old faced the likelihood of leaving the country by herself when her visa ran out because she had special needs.
“This is a humble hard-working family … who are extremely distressed about their child becoming illegal .”
“This child should not be put in the position of being in New Zealand illegally and given three weeks’ notice to leave.
“It is unreasonable to expect a 10-year-old child to leave the country without their mum and dad as well.”
The Immigration NZ website stated that in most cases, people had 42 days from the date they became liable for deportation to appeal against deportation on humanitarian grounds to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal after first becoming unlawful.
During this appeal period they cannot be deported from the country, unless they agree to waive their appeal rights.
Immigration NZ has been approached for comment.