Family who couldn’t get residency due to child’s disability wins after nine-year battle

Saturday, 28 September 2024

Residency a nine-year long battle for Vasquez family

A family who moved to New Zealand from Chile in 2015 has finally gained residency after a nine-year fight.

Ignacia Vasquez has a learning disability which impacted her entire family’s residency application.

Her mother, Carolina, wants the process to be made easier for other families with disabled members.

A family has gained residency after a nine-year fight due to barriers for people with disabilities in the immigration system.

Ignacia Vasquez, 20, has a learning disability which impacted her entire family’s residency application, due to the potential costs associated with it.

Her mother Carolina Vasquez, 41, campaigned on her behalf until the family finally gained residency through a ministerial appeal in July. She wants the process made easier for others.

Carolina Vasquez, left, her daughter Ignacia, and her son Fernando have finally gained residency after a nine year fight due to Ignacia’s disability.

“We feel reborn. (It was) a very hard process, but finally we won. It’s changed our life,” Carolina, who lives in Phillipstown, Christchurch, said.

“For Ignacia, I feel so frustrated because there was a lot of discrimination.”

Carolina said she came to New Zealand from Chile to provide a better life for her children.

“I decided to move to New Zealand for a better quality of life, security for my children and especially because it was always said that New Zealand has a very good education for children with special needs and great integration, a family-friendly country.”

The Vasquez family arrived in New Zealand in 2015.

But as Ignacia needed to attend a special education school that came with additional costs, her student and visitor visa applications were rejected.

The family moved to New Zealand from Chile in 2015, but have faced barriers in the immigration system.

Ignacia has a cognitive disability which means she can only speak a few words and communicates with signs and gestures.

Ignacia and her brother Fernando returned to Chile with their father, while Carolina remained in New Zealand working in the hospitality sector.

For four years she tried through lawyers, immigration advisers and advocacy groups to get her children back.

In 2019, she was able to finally obtain a student visa for Ignacia after speaking with then-associate immigration minister Poto Williams, who allowed an exemption.

But once this expired the family’s residency visa application was impacted by Ignacia’s disability, placing them in limbo.

Carolina fought with Immigration NZ for another two-and-a-half years until the family finally received residency via a ministerial appeal in July.

“It was a very hard and expensive process. Every two or three months we would receive a letter saying, ‘your residency will be declined because your daughter (will) likely be high costs for this country’,” she said.

Immigration NZ can decline applications from people likely to add costs to the health system, such as those with disabilities.

“The problem for immigration is (Ignacia) is a number, they don’t care which kind of situation you have.”

The family has spent around $20,000 during their nine-year fight for residency. These costs relate to visa applications, lawyers, and medical appointments for reports.

Carolina was unable to provide a figure on the annual costs to meet Ignacia’s needs, but said they were related to the special school she attends. These costs are covered by the Government.

She said when she told Ignacia she was a resident she cried for 10 minutes.

Carolina wants the policy scrapped so other families with disabled members don’t have to face similar ordeals.

“She has a good future, she can be safe here, she’s part of the community. I feel very blessed, and I think that is the best thing that’s happened in our lives,” Carolina said.

“But at the same time I feel bad because I know too many people, they try to stay here, and… they (have to) leave.”

Immigration New Zealand has an acceptable standard of health criteria which means a person can be declined a temporary visa or residency if they are going to add significant costs to the health system.

The previous Labour Government increased the significant-cost health threshold from $41,000 to $81,000 over five years in August 2022.

The policy has been criticised for its impact on the disability community, who may often have costs associated with support workers or attending special schools.

Migrants Against the Acceptable Standard of Health Aotearoa (MAASHA) spokesperson Juliana Carvalho said the outcome is a hard-fought victory for the Vasquez family.

“(They) have campaigned relentlessly for many years for Ignacia’s basic human rights and dignity to be recognised here in Aotearoa,” she said.

“This is a victory not just for the Vasquez family, but a beacon of hope for all those who continue to face the brunt of this government-sanctioned ableism. This policy is untenable and it needs to be scrapped.”

A United Nations committee raised concerns about the policy while assessing Aotearoa’s progress at a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in September 2022.

The committee said the policy discriminates against disabled people and recommended a review and amendment.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Stuff in November last year the Government does not have plans to remove the acceptable standard of health requirement.

She called the policy a standard process to manage costs and demands on New Zealand’s taxpayer-funded health and special education services.

“Waivers of the requirement to be of an acceptable standard of health can be made in some cases,” Stanford said.

“These decisions are made by immigration officers who are tasked with balancing a range of factors.”

Stuff again contacted Immigration NZ and the minister for this story. Both said there were no plans to change the acceptable standard of health settings.