December 31, 2021
An Iranian migrant couple have been left “hurt and confused” after what had appeared a clear pathway to New Zealand residency was abruptly blocked by a shift in Government policy.
find New Zealand not as welcoming as they thought.
Husband and wife Reza Fatemi and Sahar Abdolmaleki migrated to Dunedin from Iran in early 2018, and have been working and studying since then.
The couple, who are highly educated and have backgrounds in management and science, love Dunedin and want to make it their home long term, according to the local Otago Daily Times.
Despite their best efforts, they were shocked to find themselves out in the cold after a September 30 announcement by Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi of providing resident visas for up to 165,000 migrants—but that did not cover people living in New Zealand with the kinds of visas Fatemi and Abdolmaleki have.
Fatemi, who holds a family/partner open work visa, has a background in management in the oil and gas industry in Iran. Abdolmaleki is on a student visa as a PhD student within the University of Otago’s department of clothing and textile sciences, studying medical textiles.
Fatemi said, “The way they have included some types of visas and not others has excluded thousands of people, and we can’t understand why.” There is now no guarantee the couple can stay in New Zealand.
Having already lived in Dunedin for 3-1/2 years, Fatemi and Abdolmaleki have put down roots in the community, including volunteering at a soccer club coaching children and with the NZ International Science Festival. “We have tried really hard to be productive and to prove ourselves to society,” he said.
Abdolmaleki said the couple took time to overcome the language barrier and integrate when they first moved to Dunedin and are now very fond of the city. “We have friends, we love to be involved in the community and we try to add value to the city,” she said. “We really want to settle here and pay back to the city and society, but if we have no security that we have a path to residency, then we may have to go elsewhere.”
She submitted her PhD thesis last month and is looking for jobs in her field — both within New Zealand and overseas.
Any move would also affect the couple’s beloved dachshund-golden Labrador-cross Joo, whom they adopted as a rescue dog in Iran and went to great lengths to bring to New Zealand, which included having Joo cared for by friends in Canada for nine months. “We adore him and have gone to great lengths to have him here with us,” Abdolmaleki said.
