Left out in the cold for no fault of theirs
‘How are we offshore stranded migrants, for no fault of ours, different from the team of 5 million and different from those onshore migrants who have been given a pathway to a one-off residency programme?’ is the question that hundreds of stranded migrants are asking this government.
While the 165,000 onshore migrants in New Zealand who will benefit from the recently announced One-off 2021 Resident Visa are rejoicing, there are thousands of migrants stranded overseas who are feeling abandoned, forgotten, frustrated and disappointed.
It may be noted that according to the announcement to be eligible for the One-off 2021 Resident Visa, the applicant must be onshore as of 29 September 2021.
However, due to the current border closure which began in March 2020, many migrants are stuck overseas. According to them, that’s no fault of theirs, but given the near-impossible situation, the government should show some sympathy toward them.
In this second part of our series, Indian Weekender looks at stories of those migrants who got unfortunately stuck overseas when the news came about making them ineligible for this residency programme. These hapless individuals and families want the New Zealand government to treat them the same as the 165,000 migrants in NZ and make fair arrangements for them.
Some of these migrants have started petitions requesting the government to include offshore migrants such as ‘Grant residency to offshore stranded NZ migrants, the way it's been done for Onshore!’, ‘Include all Offshore stuck migrants in One-off residency pathway 2021’ and ‘Petition for off-shore work visa holder exception’.
One such migrant is Rahul Jakhu, who is currently in India. Sharing his story on social media, he wrote, “I still hold Essential Work Visa valid till December 2023. I even worked during alert level 4 in March 2020 and alert level 3 in August 2020 as an essential worker. This year July 2021 I have to go back to India for some emergency. Now I can not go back to New Zealand. Please think about us, I would be eligible for a one-off residence visa if I hadn't come to India (sic)"
Another such story is that of Linus Kurian Stansilaus, who is currently stuck in Kerala, India. Urging the government to reconsider the eligibility criteria for this one-off residency, he says, “I came to New Zealand on 13th July 2017 for my higher studies at UCOL Palmerston North.
After completing the same, I got my Post-study work visa which was valid till 4th August 2021. In 2019 I decided to fly back to India to get my Academic transcript from the universities in India for acquiring teaching registration in New Zealand. I departed on the 20th of January 2020 and my return flight was on March 25th 2020. The government shut the border without any warning on the 19th of March so I got stranded here. I had more than 16 months of a valid visa. I had spent more than 821 days between July 2017 to January 2020. So, if the government had let me in, I would have been eligible for this One Off residence visa.
“I did not choose to stay away from New Zealand during the pandemic and I did not opt-out from serving the country the government kept me away from doing it even when we were having the right to fly back in and now the government saying only the people onshore have contributed to the country during the pandemic. We sacrificed our future for the safety of the people in New Zealand. We are the victims of Covid 19. We can understand the decision was taken for the safety of the people but they started the discrimination and injustice by letting in the millionaires, film crews and The Wiggles.
So I have a humble request to the kind and compassionate government, please reconsider the eligibility criteria for this one-off residency and give every deserving person an opportunity to call Aotearoa, home.”
Another migrant Wenjuan Zhang, who travelled back to Shanghai, China in July 2021 due to her dad’s illness (cerebral haemorrhage) is upset with this new announcement. She says, “I am holding a post-study work visa which is valid until 30/01/2023. I have worked for New Zealand companies with no disruption from February 2020, even working right now remotely for Systemethix Limited, earning more than $27 per hour (therefore eligible for the new 2021 resident visa if I am onshore) and paying taxes in New Zealand. On 14/07/21, I was informed that my dad's life was at risk and I made the decision to travel to China to support his recovery.
“This decision was not taken lightly under the given circumstances but also in hope of the compassionate support of the New Zealand Immigration Office to support my return. Thankfully my father has recovered from his life-threatening condition and I just want to continue my life and work in New Zealand. For the 2021 Resident Visa, I am still employed, paying taxes and contributing to New Zealand economy like everyone who supports the country during the pandemic. Yet I am ineligible to apply for it as I am physically offshore.”
Shweta Raj, another post-study work visa holder currently stuck in India, also has a similar story. "I am a post-study work visa holder and have been stuck in India. I am still paying for all my utilities in NZ in the hope to return to the country, in which we trusted and decided to make our home. I am working for an NZ employer from off-shore and earning more than the median wage and my profile falls under the scarce list. The only thing is that I am not onshore but that does not stop me from doing my part towards NZ (like paying taxes). Then why does this One-Off residency visa stop us from applying?” she wrote on social media while signing a petition.
When Indian Weekender contacted Immigration New Zealand, a spokesperson said, “The purpose of the 2021 Residence Visa is to provide certainty for migrant workers and businesses who have been playing a critical role in supporting our economy while the border remains closed. Policy work in the future will consider the aspirations of those people offshore who are wanting to make New Zealand home when we can begin safely reducing our border restrictions."
Immigration experts, too feel that this announcement is unfair for those currently stuck offshore. Calling the situation unfortunate, immigration advisor Karishma Malek says, “I am aware of several people stuck overseas who are disadvantaged and will be left out from the new one-off residence visa. It is extremely unfortunate for those who are stuck overseas for months due to no fault of their own, had they been allowed to enter the country even with stricter and extended quarantine conditions they would have been in New Zealand. My heart goes out to them, while it is extremely important to keep New Zealand safe from Covid, the Government could be a bit more generous to those stuck offshore.
“I sincerely feel for those who have spent prime years of their lives in the bid of building their careers in New Zealand, contributing to NZ's labour force and paying taxes. The ones who chose to upskill themselves or changed their visa category to be a better fit to complement NZ's labour market and immigration policy and in some cases hold a visa that does not qualify for the one-off visa but are in an occupation that is on the scarce list or are highly paid/ highly skilled.”
‘How are we offshore stranded migrants, for no fault of ours, different from the team of 5 million and different from those onshore migrants who have been given a pathway to a one-off residency programme?’ is the question that hundreds of stranded migrants are asking this government.
While the...
‘How are we offshore stranded migrants, for no fault of ours, different from the team of 5 million and different from those onshore migrants who have been given a pathway to a one-off residency programme?’ is the question that hundreds of stranded migrants are asking this government.
While the 165,000 onshore migrants in New Zealand who will benefit from the recently announced One-off 2021 Resident Visa are rejoicing, there are thousands of migrants stranded overseas who are feeling abandoned, forgotten, frustrated and disappointed.
It may be noted that according to the announcement to be eligible for the One-off 2021 Resident Visa, the applicant must be onshore as of 29 September 2021.
However, due to the current border closure which began in March 2020, many migrants are stuck overseas. According to them, that’s no fault of theirs, but given the near-impossible situation, the government should show some sympathy toward them.
In this second part of our series, Indian Weekender looks at stories of those migrants who got unfortunately stuck overseas when the news came about making them ineligible for this residency programme. These hapless individuals and families want the New Zealand government to treat them the same as the 165,000 migrants in NZ and make fair arrangements for them.
Some of these migrants have started petitions requesting the government to include offshore migrants such as ‘Grant residency to offshore stranded NZ migrants, the way it's been done for Onshore!’, ‘Include all Offshore stuck migrants in One-off residency pathway 2021’ and ‘Petition for off-shore work visa holder exception’.
One such migrant is Rahul Jakhu, who is currently in India. Sharing his story on social media, he wrote, “I still hold Essential Work Visa valid till December 2023. I even worked during alert level 4 in March 2020 and alert level 3 in August 2020 as an essential worker. This year July 2021 I have to go back to India for some emergency. Now I can not go back to New Zealand. Please think about us, I would be eligible for a one-off residence visa if I hadn't come to India (sic)"
Another such story is that of Linus Kurian Stansilaus, who is currently stuck in Kerala, India. Urging the government to reconsider the eligibility criteria for this one-off residency, he says, “I came to New Zealand on 13th July 2017 for my higher studies at UCOL Palmerston North.
After completing the same, I got my Post-study work visa which was valid till 4th August 2021. In 2019 I decided to fly back to India to get my Academic transcript from the universities in India for acquiring teaching registration in New Zealand. I departed on the 20th of January 2020 and my return flight was on March 25th 2020. The government shut the border without any warning on the 19th of March so I got stranded here. I had more than 16 months of a valid visa. I had spent more than 821 days between July 2017 to January 2020. So, if the government had let me in, I would have been eligible for this One Off residence visa.
“I did not choose to stay away from New Zealand during the pandemic and I did not opt-out from serving the country the government kept me away from doing it even when we were having the right to fly back in and now the government saying only the people onshore have contributed to the country during the pandemic. We sacrificed our future for the safety of the people in New Zealand. We are the victims of Covid 19. We can understand the decision was taken for the safety of the people but they started the discrimination and injustice by letting in the millionaires, film crews and The Wiggles.
So I have a humble request to the kind and compassionate government, please reconsider the eligibility criteria for this one-off residency and give every deserving person an opportunity to call Aotearoa, home.”
Another migrant Wenjuan Zhang, who travelled back to Shanghai, China in July 2021 due to her dad’s illness (cerebral haemorrhage) is upset with this new announcement. She says, “I am holding a post-study work visa which is valid until 30/01/2023. I have worked for New Zealand companies with no disruption from February 2020, even working right now remotely for Systemethix Limited, earning more than $27 per hour (therefore eligible for the new 2021 resident visa if I am onshore) and paying taxes in New Zealand. On 14/07/21, I was informed that my dad's life was at risk and I made the decision to travel to China to support his recovery.
“This decision was not taken lightly under the given circumstances but also in hope of the compassionate support of the New Zealand Immigration Office to support my return. Thankfully my father has recovered from his life-threatening condition and I just want to continue my life and work in New Zealand. For the 2021 Resident Visa, I am still employed, paying taxes and contributing to New Zealand economy like everyone who supports the country during the pandemic. Yet I am ineligible to apply for it as I am physically offshore.”
Shweta Raj, another post-study work visa holder currently stuck in India, also has a similar story. "I am a post-study work visa holder and have been stuck in India. I am still paying for all my utilities in NZ in the hope to return to the country, in which we trusted and decided to make our home. I am working for an NZ employer from off-shore and earning more than the median wage and my profile falls under the scarce list. The only thing is that I am not onshore but that does not stop me from doing my part towards NZ (like paying taxes). Then why does this One-Off residency visa stop us from applying?” she wrote on social media while signing a petition.
When Indian Weekender contacted Immigration New Zealand, a spokesperson said, “The purpose of the 2021 Residence Visa is to provide certainty for migrant workers and businesses who have been playing a critical role in supporting our economy while the border remains closed. Policy work in the future will consider the aspirations of those people offshore who are wanting to make New Zealand home when we can begin safely reducing our border restrictions."
Immigration experts, too feel that this announcement is unfair for those currently stuck offshore. Calling the situation unfortunate, immigration advisor Karishma Malek says, “I am aware of several people stuck overseas who are disadvantaged and will be left out from the new one-off residence visa. It is extremely unfortunate for those who are stuck overseas for months due to no fault of their own, had they been allowed to enter the country even with stricter and extended quarantine conditions they would have been in New Zealand. My heart goes out to them, while it is extremely important to keep New Zealand safe from Covid, the Government could be a bit more generous to those stuck offshore.
“I sincerely feel for those who have spent prime years of their lives in the bid of building their careers in New Zealand, contributing to NZ's labour force and paying taxes. The ones who chose to upskill themselves or changed their visa category to be a better fit to complement NZ's labour market and immigration policy and in some cases hold a visa that does not qualify for the one-off visa but are in an occupation that is on the scarce list or are highly paid/ highly skilled.”
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