Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman is not impressed by his Department’s decision to force a pregnant Lithuanian woman on a visitor’s permit to leave the country.
“I believe that declining the permit was a poor decision by the department. I am pleased that common sense has prevailed and that the woman has now been issued a permit allowing her to stay in New Zealand.”
A recent Auditor-General’s report into Immigration New Zealand raised serious concerns about the quality of decision making processes within the organisation, and found an unacceptable variation in quality of decision making between branches.
The original decision showed neither compassion nor common sense and was made in the face of medical advice which said travel would endanger both the woman and her baby.
The Department might get a little credit for changing its mind but the stupidity of the original decision shows the AG was right to be concerned.
Is this case diferent from not granting a student visa to a Korean woman who was here on a visitor’s visa when she was pregnant?
Yes, because it was much earlier in the pregnancy and there was no danger to her her or her baby. There is no automatic right to a student’s visa and turning down an application for one from a pregnant visitor is quite different from telling someone who already has a student visa she can’t stay because she’s pregnant.
Had the father of the baby been a New Zealander there would have been a strong case for allowing the mother to stay, but he was a visitor too.
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