A group of about 400 Chinese migrants want the government to reopen the Parent Resident Visa.
Emma Zhang with her parents in Queenstown, 2016. He father has since died. Photo: Supplied / Emma Zhang
The category, which allows parents of migrants to come and live in New Zealand, was suspended in 2016. It was due to reopen with new criteria in early 2020 but was deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Migrants say the government needs to stop stalling on when and if the category will open back up.
Auckland man Wang has been in New Zealand for 14 years. He came as a student, before starting a family and opening up a panel beating business.
As an only child, he was hoping to get his parents - who are in their late 60s living in Jiangsu in east China - to move here.
There was a glimpse of hope when the government proposed reopening the category in early 2020 before it was deferred.
He said the government needed to provide some certainty and if the category was not being reopened, he might consider leaving the country.
"They ask us to wait. So far, we've waited for five years. How many more five years do we have? How many more five years do our parents have?"
Wellington IT specialist Emma Zhang has been in New Zealand for nine years and submitted an expression of interest before the category was closed in 2016.
However, her dad died from a cerebral haemorrhage the next year. Being pregnant, she did not go back to see her father and it has become a deep regret in her life.
Now her mother lives alone in Liaoning, northeast of China, and she worries about her constantly.
"I'm the only child. In Chinese culture, it's our responsibility to look after parents," she said.
Zhang said there was zero communication from Immigration New Zealand despite her expression of interest being in the pool for years.
"Everything is just waiting, waiting, waiting and no response or no voice from the government saying how they will reconsider the criteria. Just nothing happened. That's what I'm quite disappointed about."
The proposed reopening of the visa category came with a financial sting - an applicant would have to be earning $160,000 a year before both parents could come.
Helen Zhao's parents visiting Auckland in 2018. Photo: Supplied / Helen Zhao
Auckland woman Helen Zhao is the organiser of two social media groups of people wanting to bring their parents to New Zealand.
She said the visa needed to be brought back and with less punitive financial demands.
"You need to open this, or you need to let us know what is your plan, and the second claim would be to adjust the income threshold to a reasonable amount that would make it possible for most of us to unite with our parents."
Zhao stressed that many Chinese are the only child in the family and it was hard for them and their parents to be separated from each other.
Helen Zhao's parents with their granddaughter in Auckland. Photo: Supplied / Helen Zhao
She said most parents who came here would be no burden on the state.
"I actually don't understand what the government is concerned about. I don't think such a minority group would have huge impact on the national health system and I think probably all of the parents in our social media group have the pension from Chinese government," she said.
A spokesperson for the Minister of Immigration said no decisions had been taken on resuming selections for the parent category.
"A planned review of the category closer to when border travel is more available will look at barriers to access, including considering the income thresholds," they said in a statement.
Currently, Immigration New Zealand has a backlog of applications attempting to allow 5919 parents into the country.
