Ignacia is a young migrant from Chile who lives in NZ with her mother Carolina, Brother Fernando and step-father Cristian. She is a happy, beautiful and smart girl who also happens to have a cognitive impairment. Despite her disability, she is healthy and active, goes to school and loves to be around her family like any other girl.

Immigration NZ has a very discriminatory policy that has the power to tear families apart: the Acceptable Standard of Health. For the last 7 years the family has been fighting to keep Ignacia with them. 

The last time the family applied for a new student visa for Ignacia was in May last year. After several months in limbo, Ignacia's visa expired and they are awaiting an s61 request to get her back on a visa and they all can apply for the one-off Residence Visa 2021.

This is an honest, responsible, hardworking family that have long contributed to NZ, especially within the rebuilding of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquakes. They just want to have a stable home and carry on contributing to this country.

Quoting the mother Carolina. "I am desperate and terrified, I struggle every single day with all this situation, I beg you to please guide me, what can I do? Sometimes when I no longer have the strength, I can no longer cope with the anguish, the tiredness, the stress, I say to myself "God gave me this wonderful girl because I'm capable of taking her forward”, with all the problems that having a special child means, and there I recharge again."

Please, join our call to the Associate Minister of NZ to waive Ignacia's Health Requirements and allow this family to stay together in a place they call home for the past 7 years.

Thank you infinitely.