New Zealand did not issue visas to a 12-year-old boy with autism from the Philippines because it would be a “burden on the health system.”
Allan Alfonzo and his wife Gail Alfonzo, who work in Auckland, obtained a residence permit in New Zealand six years ago, but authorities do not grant the couple’s daughter, Arianna Alfonzo, the same right.
Allan works in construction, while his wife Gail lives in the Philippines with their child Arianna.
Arianna last tried to enter the country to see her father in 2018, but authorities did not grant her a tourist visa.
Under New Zealand’s immigration laws, a foreign national must not have a condition that would cost the education or health system more than $41,000 over five years.
Gail said that the situation due to the practice has overwhelmed the family and said, “It is very difficult for us. Arianna needs both parents.”
Meanwhile, Ricardo Menéndez March of the New Zealand Green Party contacted the country’s Migration Agency last year to request that Arianna be granted a visa. Authorities denied this and did not comment, saying they could not share information about the applications.
March criticized the country’s immigration system, saying it was a “process that leads to the loss of humanity.”
Juliana Carvalho, who faced a similar situation with the Alfonzo family and fought for years to obtain a residence permit in New Zealand, started a petition on behalf of the struggling Arianna.
Carvalho, who suffers from lupus and is paralyzed from the waist down, said he tried to take seven years off to settle in New Zealand from Brazil.
“Being constantly told that you are a burden and that you do not add value can convince you of this. I don’t want anyone else to go through this. I don’t want anyone else to suffer the pain and humiliation I’ve been through. This practice is ruining lives.”
Carvalho’s request, which also launched a 35,000-signature campaign last year to abolish the rule on immigration, was rejected by authorities.
