Adopted child too ill to enter New Zealand UPDATED

“Kathryn Dyer says the ban on Jendah means the whole family is stranded in Cambodia.

A 7-year-old girl has been banned from entering New Zealand with her adopted parents because authorities say she is too sick to live here.

Jendah was abandoned at birth by her mother in Cambodia but has been adopted by Kathryn Dyer and her husband, Grahame, Kiwis who have lived in Cambodia since 2004.

The couple want to come home to visit a critically ill relative – but when they applied for a visitor’s visa for Jendah they were rejected because Immigration New Zealand deemed she did not meet its health criteria.

Jendah suffers from a developmental delay disorder and Mrs Dyer claims she was told in a letter from the agency declining Jendah’s visitor visa application in 2011 that her learning difficulties and special needs requirement “would cost NZ too much”.

Despite having Kiwi parents, Jendah may also not be granted citizenship because the Department of Internal Affairs said it did not recognise her adoption process, carried out under Cambodian law in 2011.

Mrs Dyer, who is based in Cambodia as an aid worker with Asian Outreach New Zealand, said she didn’t think it was right for “good health” to be a requirement for adopted children to enter New Zealand.

“As far as I am concerned she is the child of a New Zealander now, and I am quite frustrated and angry actually,” Mrs Dyer said.

“In the last year, we’ve had my father become critically ill and nearly died and my husband’s father is in hospice at the moment and probably will die this week.

“So, we would really love to be home.

“She was a little life that needed help, she has no family and no one to care for her,” Mrs Dyer said.

“We feel that the best thing for Jendah is to be in a loving, caring family. We give her that.”

She said Jendah had a hard start in life, and was raised by a woman in her village who “was very poor and had no milk to give” after being abandoned by her mother.

The Dyers were originally from Paeroa.

The couple, who have two other children aged 11 and 12, lodged a citizenship application for Jendah in June last year, but have not got a response from Internal Affairs. “She is claiming citizenship because we, her parents, are Kiwis,” Mrs Dyer said.

“Until she is a Kiwi, with a NZ passport … she is missing out on her extended family in New Zealand, and so are her older sister and brother.”

Mrs Dyer said until they could find a way for Jendah to come to New Zealand, the family remained “stuck” in Cambodia.

Immigration visa services general manager Nicola Hogg said Jendah’s health was an issue because her adoption did not meet applicable legal requirements.

Evidence must be provided for an overseas adoption that it had a ruling from a New Zealand court, or the assessment of an immigration officer if there were clear precedents for adoptions from the country concerned.

“A letter was sent to the Dyers asking them to provide further information as Jendah did not appear to meet Immigration NZ’s health requirements and her adoption did not appear to meet the requirements outlined,” Ms Hogg said.

“No further information was received, and the application was subsequently declined in February last year.”

Ms Hogg said Jendah would be able to travel freely if she was granted New Zealand citizenship.

However, the Department of Internal Affairs yesterday said it considered Cambodian adoptions before January 1 last year did not meet the requirements of the Citizenship Act.

“Where a person has adopted a child who cannot be registered as a citizen by descent, their options are to go to the Ombudsman, seek a declaration in the High Court, seek to adopt the child in the New Zealand Family Court or apply for a grant of citizenship,” said department spokesman Michael Mead.”

Adopted child too ill to enter NZ, parents told

[The New Zealand Herald 5/18/13 by Lincoln Tan]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “An adopted 7-year-old girl from Cambodia will be reunited with her Kiwi family – at least temporarily – after Immigration New Zealand reversed an earlier ban preventing her from entering New Zealand.

Jendah was abandoned at birth by her mother, and was adopted by New Zealanders Grahame and Kathryn Dyer in 2011.

But she was deemed as not having met Immigration NZ health requirements for a visa because she suffers from a developmental delay disorder.

The Department of Internal Affairs would not grant citizenship to Jendah as it did not recognise adoption processes carried out under Cambodian law before 2012. Her case was revealed last month in the Weekend Herald.

Now Associate Immigration Minister Nikki Kaye has directed Immigration to let the girl into the country.

“I can confirm that I did direct Immigration New Zealand to grant a nine-month visa for Jendah,” Ms Kaye said.

When asked if she would support an application to allow Jendah to stay permanently, Ms Kaye said she would “consider any future application on its merits”.

“I generally do not comment on the detail of a case while it is being processed or future applications before I have the opportunity to consider the merits of the case,” she said.

Speaking from hospital in Cambodia, where she has been treated for dengue fever, Mrs Dyer said she hoped to be coming home next week with Jendah.

Mrs Dyer has been living and working in Cambodia with her husband as Asian Outreach New Zealand aid workers, with their two other children aged 11 and 12.

However, Mr Dyer had returned to New Zealand last month with their children when his father passed away.

Mrs Dyer said Jendah’s passport and visa application had been sent to Immigration’s Bangkok branch for processing.

“As soon as we get her passport we will be able to fly home, and by the miracle of God it will be Monday.”

“Jendah’s really excited, she doesn’t have the words to express things, but you can just see it from her reaction when we talk about going home.”

This would be Jendah’s second trip to New Zealand, the first was a two-month visit in 2009 under the “guardianship” of Mr and Mrs Dyer.

However an Immigration spokeswoman said Jendah’s health became an issue because her adoption did not meet applicable legal requirements and a subsequent visa application lodged in 2011 was declined.

Mrs Dyer said Jendah misses her elder sister and has been speaking with her over the phone frequently since she left.

“Jendah just can’t wait to see her sister and be with the rest of the family again,” Mrs Dyer said.

Mrs Dyer said she planned to apply again for citizenship or at least obtain permanent residency for Jendah, so that the family could remain together in New Zealand.

“I still believe Jendah deserve citizenship because we, her parents, are Kiwis and New Zealand is where her family and extended family are.”
Jendah Dyer

2009: First visit to NZ under “guardianship” of Grahame and Kathryn Dyer.

2011: Adopted by Mr and Mrs Dyer under Cambodian law.

2011: Second visa application lodged.

2012: Application declined because she did not meet Immigration health requirements. Citizenship application also declined because NZ did not recognise Cambodian adoptions prior to Jan 1, 2012.

2013: Associate Immigration Minister directs INZ to issue a 9-month visa.”

Family joy after visa ban lifted

[The New Zealand Herald 6/29/13 by Lincoln Tan]