This visa denial inappropriate in our multi-cultural society (pn707)

 Note the new bird, the ruru, to the left of the blog title.

The increasingly multi-cultural nature of NZ society is making life difficult for some of our officials, many of whom could still be struggling with our bi-cultural heritage. And they are making life even more difficult for some of our new citizens-to-be. 

This was nowhere more evident this week than in the story of Ketan Barhate, who has permanent resident status,  and his wife Kalindi Chaudhari who has been denied entry to Aotearoa because an Immigration official was not satisfied their arranged marriage was "stable."  Although married in 2019, thanks to Covid,  they have only spent three months together.  While Ketan was here, Kalindi was staying with his parents in India. If that did not indicate stability within an Indian cultural context,  it is difficult to know what could. You just don't stay with a man's parents unless you are married to their son.  It is unclear how long Immigration's denial is supposed to last. We have no definition of "stable."

We do, however, accept de facto marriages which are legally recognized after three years of co-habitation — a situation not matching that of the Barhate's who are legally married according  to Indian law and custom. They could, apparently, at some point in time be granted a "partnership visa"  (why not, correctly and politely,  a "marriage visa") once "stability" is established.  

Some 90% of marriages in India, for both Hindu and Muslim, are arranged by the couple's parents, who look for compatibility rather than attraction. Significantly, divorce is far less common than in NZ. 

I can only wonder how Immigration NZ deals with others who wish to make NZ their home.  It is not that we should accept all foreign customs. I don't, for instance, think that  we can accept all four of a Muslim's wives. And, quite probably, there are cases of faked marriages.  But some greater recognition —and compassion—  should be given to Ketan and Kalindi, and cases like theirs.  Immigration  needs to recognize the increasingly multi-cultural nature of our society, and speed up welcoming the Barhate's to their new home.

-- ACW