Immigration NZ accused of ageism after noting 33-year age gap between Kiwi man and Filipina woman

Monday, 8 April 2019

Wayne Greenwood says he was 'gobsmacked' when he saw that Immigration NZ had taken note of his and his fiancée's different ages and cultures.

A man is accusing Immigration NZ of ageism after an official made a note of the 33-year age gap between him and his Filipina partner.

Wayne Greenwood obtained a document written by an Immigration NZ (INZ) officer that scrutinised the age difference and differing cultures between himself and his fiancée Liza Diamos, whose residence visa application was later declined.

'Ages of couple matches: No – there is a 33 year age gap,' the staff member wrote in early 2018 in a memo, obtained by Greenwood under the Official Information Act and provided to Stuff.

'Cultural background of couple matches: No – [principal applicant] is Filipina and [supporting partner] is a New Zealander.

* Couple struggling to remain in NZ disgusted drug dealer was granted residency**

'I am not currently satisfied that there is sufficient evidence of a partnership with the application.'

Diamos's application was declined in September 2018.

Greenwood said he was 'gobsmacked' when he saw the internal document, which he described as ageist and discriminatory.

'It's against everything that this country stands for. We've got a big age gap – there's no two ways about that – but that's our choice, and if that's the way [Associate Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi] decided against us, that's a breach of human rights.'

Greenwood says his relationship is genuine and it's unfair of INZ to make assumptions about it.

The Auckland man, 68, said he and Diamos started a relationship in 2016 after Diamos came to New Zealand on a student visa to study business.

Greenwood was technically ineligible to sponsor Diamos' visa application because he had already sponsored a previous application for two ex-partners, but the couple were found to have special circumstances and the application reached the desk of Faafoi, who declined it.

INZ's manager of visa services, Michael Carley, said it considered a 'wide range of factors' when assessing a residence class visa under the partnership category, including age difference and whether the applicants were living in different countries.

Immigration officers needed to be satisfied that a relationship was credible, genuine and stable, and likely to endure, Carley said.

'Marriage alone is not sufficient evidence for the purposes of the immigration instructions and applicants are required to provide a range of documentation to demonstrate their relationship meets requirements.

'INZ acknowledges that unlike other immigration categories, partnership applications involve a high degree of subjective consideration by an immigration officer of an individual's case.'

Greenwood said the application process had cost him about $20,000 in fees so far and his fiancée had been forced to return the Philippines.

'All I want at the end of the day is I want my partner back here. I'm 68 years of age and I can't be expected to go and live in the Philippines.'

One of the requirements for residence visa applications is that the applicant's sponsor must not have acted as a sponsor in more than one previous successful visa application.

Greenwood had successfully sponsored the application of a Thai citizen in 2001, but they separated in 2010.

He had also successfully sponsored the application of a Chinese woman in 2012, but they had since broken up.

He suspected that INZ believed his new partner was trying to use him to obtain residency, but he said that was unfair: 'You cannot assume that.'