Immigration New Zealand to change its decision about the visit of Iranian parents and other cases
After rejecting Amin Saedi's parents based on their credibility and the political situation in Iran, INZ looked at their case again.
They can't wait for the Persian New Year and are planning to go to the South Island.
He said that he is very glad to finally get permission. When he called them to inform them, his mother started to cry as she was very happy that they can finally see each other again. They had some hard times in the last few months. It’s great news.
He is still thinking about the other 80 Iranian families he knows through social media who got rejection letters from INZ like the ones he did. In a statement, INZ said it was also looking into four other cases.
According to Michael Carley, the acting general manager of border and visa operations, they are looking into a small number of declines for the Grandparent and Parent Visitor Visa category. In these cases, the Iranian applicants have been to New Zealand before and have family here.
A quality assurance check is done by INZ on some visa categories regularly. This will ensure that immigration rules are being followed the same way throughout the system.
Regular meetings were held by Visa processing teams to talk about complicated applications. This will ensure that the immigration system is working in a similar way everywhere.
There are standard operating procedures in INZ which tell immigration officers how to look and decide the visa applications.
Staff contacted Saedi to let them know that they had been approved for Grandparent and Parent Visitor Visas.
They also stated that they know that the initial decision by INZ was not with his parent's expectations, and they understand the hard times these families are facing because of the current conditions of Iran.
As regulators, it's our job to make sure that all visa applications follow the right immigration rules and that visa decisions take into account things like the political and economic situation in the applicant's home country.
Before a decision is made on a temporary visa application, everything that might make it less likely for the applicant to go back to their home country when the visa runs out is taken into account.
Owen, the general manager of INZ, said that there wasn't enough proof with Kamangar's application to show that she was a real person who wanted to stay in New Zealand for a short time and had never been there before.
