A Tongan woman told Kaniva News this afternoon she was “over the moon” at receiving permanent residence in New Zealand.

Tepola Finau and her family were granted residency by the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal after an appeal on their behalf by immigration adviser Koli Vanisi.

She said her family had overstayed their visas and had to hide from immigration authorities.

It was worse when the country went into lockdown in March.

“We have been released after years of being in captivity,” she said.

“We no longer feel like being pressured to do things that we did not want to do and to have to work out what we might eat and where we could live.

“Now my children receive the family tax credits and we have our own house.

“Seeing the doctor was really a burden because of the costs, but now we are really happy that we get all the benefits the New Zealand citizens and permanent residents have.”

Her husband Feao entered New Zealand on visitor visas in 1999, twice in 2006 and in 2007.  He held work visas until April 2010.  In January 2012, he was granted a further work visa for 12 months.

In August 2009, Tepola and the three eldest children entered New Zealand.  She held a work visa sponsored by her husband and the third child held a visitor visa.  The oldest two children both held student visas which expired in April 2010 and, in October 2010, they were granted limited visas to complete their education that year.

The parents had been unlawfully in New Zealand since 2010 (in the case of the wife and three oldest children) and 2013 (in the case of the husband).  The youngest four children are citizens of Tonga and have never held visas to remain in New Zealand.

The parents held no visas when the children were born in July 2010, November 2013 and January 2016.  These children had therefore been in New Zealand unlawfully since their births.

The other child was born in October 2012, when the father held a work visa valid until January 2013.  This child was deemed to have held a temporary visa until January 2013 and was then unlawfully in New Zealand.

The husband and wife made many unsuccessful attempts to regularise their immigration status in New Zealand.

In December 2015, Immigration New Zealand served deportation orders on the husband, wife and three oldest children.

The Tribunal was told the family was well-established in New Zealand.  The husband had lived here for 12 years and the wife for 10 years.  The three oldest children had lived here for 10 years and had little understanding of life in Tonga.  The youngest four children had lived in New Zealand all their lives.

There was no guarantee of the family’s life in Tonga.  The husband and wife had no shelter or employment and the husband had no entitlement to land.

The youngest child had been diagnosed with a heart valve dysfunction.  Without surgery to repair the valve, he would live a shortened life.

The Tribunal agreed that the family had exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian nature which would make it unjust or unduly harsh for them to be deported from New Zealand.

The Tribunal ordered that the family, including the seven children, be granted resident visas.

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