Let Paula call Aotearoa home with his family

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Let Paula call Aotearoa home with his family

Associate Minister of Immigration Hon Cameron Brewer and the House of Representatives

Most of us want to live in a welcoming Aotearoa where we value the contributions of our diverse communities. But right now, discriminatory immigration rules are barring people with health conditions like Paula Thomas Navunisaulaki from calling Aotearoa home.

This petition is a request to the Associate Minister of Immigration to intervene and grant Paula residency as an exception to the acceptable Standard of Health requirements.

We further urge the House of Representatives to uphold migrant human rights and abolish the Acceptable Standard of Health requirements.

Please read his story below and sign to let Paula access the lifesaving medical care he needs while living together with his family here in Aotearoa.

Sponsored by

Migrants Against the Acceptable Standard of Health Aotearoa

To: Associate Minister of Immigration Hon Cameron Brewer and the House of Representatives
From: [Your Name]

Below is from Paula's mum, Milika Coka:

We are a family of permanent residents in New Zealand, originally from Fiji. We have built our lives here, contributed to our community, and committed our future to this country.

Our 16-year-old son, Paula Thomas Navunisaulaki, lives with chronic kidney disease and is currently a Year 12 student at Papakura High School. Paula is such a fun and joyful person to be around with. Whenever he is with his siblings, you can always hear laughter in the house. Even with everything he goes through, he still finds ways to joke around, make people smile, and bring light into our home.

He undergoes peritoneal dialysis every night, and his medical care is managed closely by the specialist renal team at Starship Hospital. Despite this, he has been excluded from residency pathways under the Acceptable Standard of Health (ASH) policy. This policy is not just administrative—it is deeply harmful.

In November 2023, we made the heartbreaking decision to send Paula back to Fiji, hoping the family there would be able to care for him and support his medical needs. Sadly, the arrangement quickly became unsustainable, and our family endured seven painful months apart. In June 2024, Paula returned to New Zealand on a two-month limited visa. We spent thousands of dollars on legal fees while seeking ministerial intervention, but our request was initially declined. With the support of our local MP, Honorable Judith Collins, Associate Minister Chris Penk granted our son a one day visitor visa, which allowed us to lodge an appeal with the Immigration and Protection Tribunal (IPT). Through that process, Paula was eventually granted a 12-month student visa valid until November 2026.

All we hope for is for Paula to keep receiving the specialist medical care he needs and for us to stay together as a family in Aotearoa. No parent should have to live with the fear of being separated from their sick child or worry about whether their child will be able to access the treatment to keep them alive.

Our requests:
We request that the associate Minister of Immigration intervene to grant Paula residency as an exception to the acceptable Standard of Health requirements.
We further urge the House of Representatives to uphold migrant human rights and abolish the Acceptable Standard of Health requirements.