Immigration policy is treacherous and constantly changing,
Marriage immigration is a relatively stable path,
Although the policy is stable,
But the actual operation process is also full of variables.
This Asian family is in trouble.
01
The two, who are 27 years apart, are married in New Zealand
Charity Valdez, 31, came to New Zealand from the Philippines on a partner visa in 2019.
图：NZHerald
Because her partner had been abusive to her, she quickly ended the relationship.
In 2020, Valdez, who works at Albany sushi restaurant in Auckland, met Velasco, a customer who is 27 years older than him.
At first, the two were just friends, but when she left her ex, the relationship with Velasco began to grow close.
In 2021, Velasco proposed to her, and soon the two started a family.
Velasco is also from the Philippines but has already acquired New Zealand status.
The 27-year-old duo soon got married and had children, and their daughter also obtained New Zealand status.
图：NZHerald
02
USCIS is suspicious of the marital relationship
Valdez had a new employer-sponsored work permit at the time, and she applied for a partner sponsored visa after meeting Velasco.
Immigration New Zealand rejected her partner visa application because they did not believe Valdez's relationship with Velasco was genuine.
图：NZHerald
"I came to New Zealand hoping to find a better life, but everything was falling apart and I could barely sleep because I didn't know what to do. Valdez said.
"My daughter was born here, her father, my husband is here, and New Zealand is their home. ”
Valdez is from a village in Ifugao, Philippines, where she worked as a teacher.
"My husband can't adapt to life in a mountain village, so it's impossible to go back there, and I don't want my daughter to grow up without her father. ”
Because USCIS did not believe in their marriage, Valdez appealed the deportation in the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT), which was successful.
Valdez submitted her application for a residence visa in September last year, and last week her work visa expired and Immigration New Zealand refused to grant her a temporary visa.
Velasco said the family's "heartbreak" was Immigration New Zealand's decision not to grant Valdez a temporary visa.
"We've been holding on to a dream that we can finally be a happy, stable family," Valdez said.
"But the USCIS acted cruelly and ruthlessly, and it seemed that it was trying to break up our family and take away my children. ”
图：NZHerald
Valdez's immigration lawyer, Maricel Weischede, said she received an email from Immigration New Zealand last Friday saying that Immigration New Zealand had suspended Valdez's residency visa application process because she no longer had legal residency in New Zealand.
Weischede said Immigration New Zealand's refusal to grant Valdez a temporary visa was disappointing, which ultimately led to Valdez overstaying.
"The issuance of temporary visas is discretionary, and I don't understand why they did it in her case," Weischede said.
"She is not a threat to New Zealand, she is married to a New Zealander, her daughter is also New Zealand, she applied before her visa expired and she has a job. ”
In an email to Weischede, Immigration New Zealand said Valdez needed to make arrangements to leave New Zealand immediately or face deportation.
Dominic Forde, Director of Operations at Immigration New Zealand, said Valdez was granted a temporary work visa to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT) on April 6 last year.
"This will give the appellant time to file and move forward with her application for residency and allow her, her husband and their children to obtain a stabilization period until the outcome of the application is known," the IPT said. ”
"If the appellant's application for residency is unsuccessful (or still pending), these 12 months will also give the couple time to save money and arrange for their return to the Philippines. ”
图：NZHerald
But Forde said her work visa has now expired.
"Whether or not to issue a temporary visa is a discretionary decision and no one has the right to apply for a temporary visa," Forde said. ”
"As Valdez has already been granted a temporary work visa from the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT), she has no right to further appeal the issue of deportation. If she is granted a temporary visa or any other temporary entry visa, her right to appeal will be reinstated. ”
Immigration New Zealand also suspected that Valdez may have provided misleading information in a previous application and sent her an email specifying this on March 25, Forde said.
03
There are many strange cases of transnational marriages
The Valdez family's case is not unique.
In particular, other ethnic groups marrying New Zealanders are more likely to be suspicious of immigration.
For example, there was news that the groom was almost arrested at the wedding.
There are also New Zealand men who have been prevented from reuniting with their Filipino spouses and children.
There are also Vietnamese women who marry New Zealand men, but their visas are denied.
04
The contradictory road of "marriage green".
Although there are many difficulties, transnational marriage and love are still quite common, and obtaining status through marriage is also an immigration path that many people will choose.
After all, many opportunities are reserved for people with (resident) status.
For example, Elon Musk also obtained American identity through marriage in the early days, and was known by many people as the "spokesperson for marriage green".
If the beneficiary applies for legal status for the spouse in the form of marriage, and the beneficiary thus obtains permanent residency, the public is collectively referred to as the marriage green card (marriage immigration), referred to as "marriage green".
The term was later extended to other countries, and the circumstances in which status was acquired through marriage were collectively referred to as "marriage green".
But in the immigration circle, there is a chain of contempt, and some people who get status through work and technical immigration will look down on those who get status through marriage.
Because marriage immigration does not need to have work experience, English, education and other requirements like skilled immigration, as long as you can find a suitable partner, you will have the opportunity to immigrate.
Now some people on the Internet also share their mental journey of "questioning the wedding green, understanding the wedding green, and becoming the wedding green", which has aroused heated discussions among netizens.
Some netizens bluntly said: Wedding Green is indeed the bottom of the contempt chain.
There are also people who feel that "if it is not a cheating marriage, there is nothing to despise".
Of course, out of contempt for the bottom of the chain, there is a case of fraud.
Some netizens bluntly said: I privately think that the bottom of the contempt chain should be fraudulent immigration, such as buying employer-sponsored and buying marriage green, and finding an employer and finding a spouse by yourself are all worthy of appreciation.
Compared with the frequently changing skilled immigration policy, the marriage sponsorship immigration policy is indeed much more stable.
In New Zealand, for example, the law recognises any of the following relationships as legal spousal relationships:
1.领有Marriage certificate结婚证书并同居的夫妻
2. Cohabitation, 但未领证的事实夫De facto relationship
3.领有结婚证书Marriage certificate并同居的同性伴侣
You can get sponsorship by finding someone with New Zealand status to be your spouse.
There are three main elements that need to be met for this spousal relationship:
True\Stable\Lived together
According to New Zealand's immigration policy, when applying for a New Zealand Spouse Settlement Visa, the couple must have met before and have lived together for at least 12 months.
A resident or citizen of New Zealand has not sponsored or been sponsored by another spouse in the last 5 years.
In order to determine whether the spousal relationship is genuine, the USCIS requires the applicant to provide as many documents as possible to prove the common-law relationship.
Applicants must have a valid visa when submitting their application for settlement in New Zealand. If the visa has expired, the Immigration Department will not process the spouse's application for residence and the applicant should return to his or her place of origin to submit the application.
For couples who have just been married or have not lived together for a long time, or who have a complicated past marriage history, the USCIS sometimes uses an interview to determine the authenticity of the relationship between husband and wife.
For example, we don't know for what reason Valdez was rejected in the above story, but according to the current regulations, it is true that you need to return to your original place of residence to submit an application after the visa expires.
We'll keep an eye out for how the story develops.
In the immigration application process,
Have you encountered any "weird" stories?
What do you think of the "wedding green" road?