A Lebanese-New Zealand couple say they are struggling after New Zealand immigration authorities denied visitor visas for their parents, who had hoped to travel from Lebanon to help care for the family’s newborn baby.
According to a report by Stuff, Sahar Haider and Nader Ayyed, who live in Kumeū near Auckland, recently welcomed their second child, a son who is now nearly two weeks old. The couple also have a two-year-old child. While Ayyed is a New Zealand citizen and Haider holds permanent residency, their extended families remain in Lebanon.
The couple said they expected support from family members during the early weeks after the birth, similar to what they experienced in 2023 when relatives were granted visas and travelled to New Zealand to help after the birth of their first child.
This time, however, Immigration New Zealand rejected the applications, saying the applicants did not meet the “bona fide” requirement for temporary visitors. Officials pointed to the ongoing instability in Lebanon as a concern, Stuff has reported.
“It appears that there may be circumstances in your home country that may discourage you from returning,” the visa refusal letter stated.
Ayyed said the decision had deeply affected his wife, who he says is experiencing postpartum depression.
“She is struggling with postpartum depression, and her parents are not going to be here,” he said. “She’s been crying for the last few days,” as quoted by Stuff.
The family had previously faced visa difficulties in 2024 after conflict between Hezbollah and Israel intensified. Ayyed said he had earlier applied for visas for several relatives, hoping they could stay temporarily until conditions improved in Lebanon, but those applications were also denied despite extensive supporting documentation.
“I was fairly open and honest about wanting them to come here, stay for a while and travel back when things settled down,” he said, as quoted by Stuff.
According to Ayyed, the family provided evidence showing strong ties to Lebanon, including property ownership, businesses in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, a daughter still studying at university, and an upcoming family wedding. The couple also offered a statutory declaration and proposed paying a NZ$30,000 bond to guarantee their relatives’ return, Stuff has reported.
Despite this, Immigration New Zealand maintained its concerns. Deputy Chief Operating Officer Jock Gillray said immigration officers must consider whether people affected by conflict would realistically be able to return home at the end of their stay.
“However, the current conflict in Lebanon is highly volatile, and this can affect whether a person is able to return home at the end of their visit. Immigration officers must take this into account,” he said, as quoted by Stuff.
The family’s immigration adviser, John Hunter, argued the decision focused too heavily on the situation in Lebanon rather than the individual applicants.
“The bona fide intention of these applicants is simply to come and visit their family, support their daughter going through birth and support her after the birth,” he said, Stuff has quoted.
Immigration lawyer Bradley So said he had noticed stricter scrutiny of visitor visa applications in recent times, especially where applicants come from countries experiencing conflict.
“We have had a few generic visitor visas where Immigration has been extremely narrow in applying the bona fide test,” he said.
The office of Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said the government faces increasing pressure due to a backlog of asylum claims, many involving people who initially entered New Zealand on visitor visas.
“It is the responsibility of Immigration NZ to try and balance facilitating people wanting to visit New Zealand to spend time with family with maintaining the integrity of our border and the risk of people not departing New Zealand as required by their visa conditions,” a spokesperson said, Stuff has quoted.
With no formal appeal process available for overseas applicants, the family’s only option is to submit another visa application. Ayyed said repeated attempts to seek help from government ministers had brought little progress.
“All I want is for my wife’s parents to come and visit, help us and leave,” he said. “But how do you prove an intent to leave?”, as quoted by Stuff.