Northland grandmother loses visa battle for Tunisian husband

Mary Ben Ammar, of Waima, holds a photo taken in Tunisia of herself with her husband Rached in January this year. Photo/Peter de Graaf

A Northland grandmother has slammed Immigration New Zealand's decision to twice refuse visitor visas to her Tunisian husband who is 20 years her junior.

Mary Diana Ben Ammar of Waima, 28km southwest of Kaikohe, said she has no option but to sell her house and move to Tunisia because she loved her husband Rached Ammar.

They have known each other since July last year after becoming friends on Facebook and have been married almost a year. She is 59 and Mr Ammar is 39.

Mrs Ammar said their friendship developed into love and she went to visit Mr Ammar and his family in January in the capital Tunis where they got married that month.

She spent almost a month in Tunis and both stayed in a motel before she returned to New Zealand in late January. In May, she returned to the African country and stayed for three months with her in-laws.

Upon her return to Waima, in south Hokianga in mid-August, she supported two applications for a visitor's visa for her husband but both were declined for two reasons.

Immigration NZ said Mr Ammar could not prove he had a decent job and enough money that would induce him to return to Tunisia after visiting New Zealand and it did not believe the relationship was bona fide.

Mrs Ammar said her husband was a qualified chef who worked in that profession before his mother's failing health meant he had to look after her full time.

"I wanted him to meet my family, experience the culture and see if he liked the country. I think Immigration's decision is unfair and it's devastating on me and my family,'' she said.

"My family looked forward to meeting him because they don't have money to go and see him in Tunisia. I didn't see why I have to sell my house and move over there but now I have to.''

Mrs Ammar said she would be forced to leave her daughter and her partner and their four children who all lived with her in Waima.

"We didn't just get married for a fling. We're in it together. If I can't get my husband here, I'll move there."

Immigration New Zealand operations manager Tim Shepherd said the first visa application was declined in April as there was a lack of incentive for Mr Ammar to return
home because he had not supplied any evidence about his employment.

There was also no evidence of personal funds submitted which indicated he was unlikely to have strong financial commitments to return to his home country, he said.

In addition, Mr Shepherd said apart from a marriage certificate no other documentation was submitted to substantiate his relationship with his New Zealand partner.

The second application was declined earlier this month.

"INZ considered the supporting information that was provided in relation to his relationship with his wife, but this did not mitigate the concerns that the relationship, and therefore the purpose of travel, was not genuine.

"It's important to note that the onus is on the applicant to provide sufficient evidence with their visa application to demonstrate that they meet the relevant requirements. In the absence of such evidence there is no option but to decline an application," he said.