“Whenever he spots a plane, he points to the sky and says he wants to go to Mumma and Papa [in New Zealand],” recalled Priyanka, mother of 15-year-old Manvik, who has Down syndrome and has only recently begun speaking a few words.
"He is a teenager now and misses his parents and sister," she added.
The Indian-origin couple, Ankur and Priyanka Verma, now New Zealand citizens, have launched an online petition through Migrants Against the Acceptable Standard of Health Aotearoa (MAASHA) seeking to bring their son to live with them.
Ankur, an IT engineer, and Priyanka, an administrator with Health New Zealand, have appealed to Immigration New Zealand for help. “Manvik has never been to New Zealand. His visa was denied due to health reasons and he also was never able to secure a visitor visa,” Priyanka told The Indian Weekender.
Born in 2009 in India, Manvik currently lives with his grandparents in Bhatinda, Punjab, where he attends a special education school. The couple and their daughter visit him in India annually.
“We took Manvik and our elder daughter, who studies at a university in Auckland, to Malaysia on a vacation, and he was very happy to go out for the first time,” Priyanka recalled.
In a Facebook video message, the couple said they are seeking
ministerial intervention so Immigration New Zealand could allow their son to live with them.
Immigration New Zealand applies the Acceptable Standard of Health (ASH) policy to determine whether an applicant can work or study in the country.
The policy considers whether an individual could place “significant cost to, or demands on, New Zealand’s health services” and the potential impact on the education system when granting residency to people with disabilities.
The Vermas, who moved to New Zealand in 2016 , have been trying to bring Manvik to the country for the past eight years.
“All our attempts have failed and [been] denied by immigration based on the health and problems he is having with Down syndrome,” Ankur said in the video.
Photo: Supplied
Priyanka added that Manvik is becoming more independent and that the couple has offered to cover any additional costs, but their visa applications have still been denied. The parents said their son becomes “sad and depressed” each time they leave New Zealand.
“We also suffer mentally,” they added.
Áine Kelly-Costello, organiser with MAASHA, said families like the Vermas should be able to settle in New Zealand without being separated from their disabled children.
“The prolonged separation across borders is unfair both for Manvik and for his parents and sister, and we urge the Associate Minister of Immigration Hon Chris Penk to grant an exemption to health requirements so Manvik can finally live in Aotearoa with his immediate family,” she said.
Kelly-Costello added, “The discriminatory Acceptable Standard of Health requirements breach Manvik's rights under both the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which New Zealand has signed up to. They take an enormous financial and emotional toll. Every week or so, we hear from another family or migrant who is impacted or concerned they will be.”
Last month, a similar case came to light where a Christchurch mother, Prince, won a decade-long fight to bring her son, Jap Sahib, who has Down syndrome, to live with her in New Zealand, with Immigration Minister Chris Penk approving the teenager’s residency.
“Jap Sahib’s case gave us hope, so we decided to launch the petition,” Priyanka told The Indian Weekender, her voice hopeful.