Jagdeep Singh Dhillon and his wife Kulvir Kaur are not the only ones that are stuck in India post New Zealand borders closure but the ones that are keen to voice their request to the government. 

“It’s a humble request to the government, kindly consider our request, we have our everything in New Zealand, please give us a reassurance and extend our visas,” says Jagdeep who left New Zealand to see his parents in India in February last year.

The couple with their daughter Avereen, who is New Zealand-born, were to return on 23rd March 2020 when the borders closed due to the pandemic. “We did not get any notification or an email informing us about the border closure,” says Kulvir who holds a post-study work visa that is due to expire next month.

With agony and stress in their conversation with The Indian News, they exclaimed that everything has gone in the bin, all their hard work, the life they had built in New Zealand with their newborn daughter.

All their belongings are still in the kiwi land scattered among their close friends and acquaintances. Also, they are still paying the insurance and EMI of the car that is parked near their previous rented accommodation, on the street, that now stands damaged.

The only saving grace and a ray of hope for them are their jobs. The employers of the couple are quite gracious and have given them assurance that their jobs are retained to date. However, Jagdeep expressed his disappointment with immigration, he applied with all the letters and poofs in order to get an exemption, but the application got declined, not once but many times.

In line with yesterday’s announcement where the government has signaled to reopen borders with the rest of the world, the couple has sighted a relief and say they are extremely happy with the upcoming developments. “We are fully vaccinated and till date have had a negative test result for covid-19” came back a strong assurance.

“We are ready to wait for another six months till the borders open, please treat us as humans, we are not virus.” pleaded Jagdeep “give us one chance, one assurance, everything seems to crumble down around us, our whole family is immensely stressed, and our daughter has developed skin problem and food allergies.”

The Singh family ended the conversation by thanking every organization, union and individual that are fighting for migrant’s rights who are stuck offshore, they are stuck in a limbo and cannot help but feel helpless. Something that they keep questioning each other is that how the government can allow several people in and out of New Zealand yet have so many ifs and buts for valid visa holders.

Like Jagdeep and Kulvir many are stuck in an uncertain situation and a bleak future, all they need is a statement that makes things clear for them from this government that believes in transparency and boasts about it in its parliamentary sessions. – TIN Bureau