Justice to Manvik Verma and his family
Hon Chris Penk, Associate Minister of Immigration
Humble request for Justice to Manvik Verma and his family
We humbly request that the Associate Minister of Immigration, Hon Chris Penk to make an exemption to the Acceptable Standard of Health requirements and grant Manvik New Zealand residency.
We urge the Parliament to uphold the human rights of migrants with disabilities and health conditions and their families. We also request the Immigration Minister to abolish the Acceptable standard of Health immigration requirements.
In a welcoming Aotearoa, disabled children should not be split from their parents, siblings and wider community because of immigration requirements. This is the case for the Verma family, whose son Manvik has Down Syndrome.
Parents Priyanka and Ankur, along with their daughter, gained NZ residency in 2016 on the skilled migrant pathway, and now they're all NZ citizens. Ankur works in the IT field, and Priyanka works as an Administrator with Community Clinic, Health NZ. Priyanka has contributed as an essential worker during the COVID pandemic and worked relentlessly to help and contribute to the community. Their daughter is currently studying medicine at the University of Auckland.
Here's more information directly from the Verma family:
Manvik, our son, has Down syndrome and lives with his grandparents in India. He is a very active and friendly kid. He attends a special education school and actively participates in all the school activities, which has contributed towards his mental and social development. He loves to shop and play games on the phone. He is good at following the instructions.
He is a teenager now and misses his parents and sister, which is deterring his mental and emotional health. Although he is looked after, he misses his parents deeply and having that connection is an integral part of his emotional development that he has already missed for years.
However, his grandparents are ageing and it is becoming difficult for them to look after him consistently as he is also growing up. We have been requesting the authorities time and again to allow Manvik to join us in Aotearoa. It will make our life easier mentally and emotionally, and we'll be able to contribute even more to the economy and community as a family in this way.
The immigration requirements of Aotearoa only value costs to services, instead of recognising the rich and diverse ways people with Down Syndrome contribute to their communities and the importance of keeping families together.
When we advocate together, there is hope. We note that the Associate Minister recently granted an exemption for a family in a similar situation to ours. We request you all to please sign this to help us strengthen the call for the Associate Minister to intervene in Manvik Verma’s case so he can finally join us, as his parents and sister living here in Aotearoa, and he can settle down and contribute to the community to the best of his ability, thus de-stressing him and the family emotionally and mentally.
.png){kind=logo}
To:
Hon Chris Penk, Associate Minister of Immigration
From:
[Your Name]
Humble request for Justice to Manvik Verma and his family
We humbly request that the Associate Minister of Immigration, Hon Chris Penk to make an exemption to the Acceptable Standard of Health requirements and grant Manvik New Zealand residency.
We urge the Parliament to uphold the human rights of migrants with disabilities and health conditions and their families. We also request the Immigration Minister to abolish the Acceptable standard of Health immigration requirements.
In a welcoming Aotearoa, disabled children should not be split from their parents, siblings and wider community because of immigration requirements. This is the case for the Verma family, whose son Manvik has Down Syndrome.
Parents Priyanka and Ankur, along with their daughter, gained NZ residency in 2016 on the skilled migrant pathway, and now they're all NZ citizens. Ankur works in the IT field, and Priyanka works as an Administrator with Community Clinic, Health NZ. Priyanka has contributed as an essential worker during the COVID pandemic and worked relentlessly to help and contribute to the community. Their daughter is currently studying medicine at the University of Auckland.
Here's more information directly from the Verma family:
Manvik, our son, has Down syndrome and lives with his grandparents in India. He is a very active and friendly kid. He attends a special education school and actively participates in all the school activities, which has contributed towards his mental and social development. He loves to shop and play games on the phone. He is good at following the instructions.
He is a teenager now and misses his parents and sister, which is deterring his mental and emotional health. Although he is looked after, he misses his parents deeply and having that connection is an integral part of his emotional development that he has already missed for years.
However, his grandparents are ageing and it is becoming difficult for them to look after him consistently as he is also growing up. We have been requesting the authorities time and again to allow Manvik to join us in Aotearoa. It will make our life easier mentally and emotionally, and we'll be able to contribute even more to the economy and community as a family in this way.
The immigration requirements of Aotearoa only value costs to services, instead of recognising the rich and diverse ways people with Down Syndrome contribute to their communities and the importance of keeping families together.
When we advocate together, there is hope. We note that the Associate Minister recently granted an exemption for a family in a similar situation to ours. We request you all to please sign this to help us strengthen the call for the Associate Minister to intervene in Manvik Verma’s case so he can finally join us, as his parents and sister living here in Aotearoa, and he can settle down and contribute to the community to the best of his ability, thus de-stressing him and the family emotionally and mentally.