David Smith, a 78-year-old New Zealand man who was supposed to enjoy his old age but had to be separated from his wife, returned his wife, Amy Smith, to Hong Kong, China, on the grounds of false marriage. Today, they can only comfort each other by video chat every day.
(David and Amy got married in New Zealand two years after they met on Facebook)
David lives in Feilding., Manawatt, North Island. One day in October, immigration officials suddenly called and took his Chinese wife, Amy, back to Hong Kong, China. In response to this move, the Migration Board gave the reason to suspect that their relationship is not true, fake marriage.
Jeff Ha, a former immigration official and lawyer, issued a strong criticism of immigration`s practices, saying law enforcement officials were preconceived and biased in subjective judgment, forcing a pair of dependent old couples to stand apart from each other.
Amy, a Hong Kong native of China, came to New Zealand in 2016 and married David Smith.. But the Immigration Service believes that their marriage has other purposes and is not truly in love with each other. Although they lived together, helped each other in their lives and depended on each other financially, the Immigration Service forcibly repatriated the two elderly people just eight months after their wedding.
Kate Dower, a senior immigration officer, said in a letter at the time that there was no evidence that they had jointly decided to buy something. The decision left David helpless, and he now has to talk to his wife online via video. "if I didn`t love her, I wouldn`t marry her," David said. "I thought I`d be happy for the rest of my life, but it`s impossible now. I`m 78, and I don`t have much time. "
They bought the house together but were repatriated to Hong Kong eight months after marriage
Moving to Hong Kong to reunite with his wife is unlikely, which means he will lose his pension and he doesn`t understand Chinese at all.
Partner visas, a large category of visas in New Zealand, issued 37850 visas last year, but rejected 2988 applications, including three from Amy. Marcelle Foley, the immigration district manager, said Amy refused to leave the country after the temporary visa expired, and it would not grant her any visa or allow her to enter the country for two years. This means that unless David goes to Hong Kong, the two will never be together.
Foley said that when they questioned Amy, she did not give a reasonable explanation for working as a medical assistant at Feilding. And this is a violation of visa terms. Immigration officials thought their relationship would not last and simply repatriated Amy. Foley said they could not appeal against the decision, but Amy could apply for a new visa in two years.
(photo at marry on 3 February 2017)
"Marriage alone is not enough to prove it." He said, "the Immigration Board is concerned that the applicant`s (cross-border) marriage is unstable and will not last because of the limited time spent together between the two parties to the marriage," he said. There is also no evidence of mutual acquaintance and emotional development and how to maintain it. "Ha, who took over the case free of charge, has written letters to government inspectors and prime ministers for David, who said he and Amy met through Facebook two years ago," he said. Amy came to see him in New Zealand in 2016, married there and paid for a house together.
"she spent more than $ four hundred thousand here, bought a house and a car," David said. "now I`m the only one living in this house, and she`s on the other side of the planet. In this case, how can we prove that marriage is stable and true? " So far, they have spent $9430 to get an Amy visa.
