We are asking Associate Minister Hon. Chris Penk for a grant of a residence visa of New Zealand for Amrik Singh, the champion grandfather behind Kingseat Organics family farm.

Amrik Singh, a cherished father and grandfather, is beloved and an indispensable part of our family. He is the key pillar of our home and everything revolves around him for us. My two young children aged 2.5 and 6 years are greatly attached with him and he is the central person for our family. He is not just a father and a grandfather, but also a source of inspiration for my organic food business Kingseat Organics.

What happened: Amrik Singh's existing work visa was due to expire on 3rd June 2024. We were intending to apply for his work visa close to his visa expiry so that we get the maximum benefit of 5 years duration of the new work visa. It was 7th April 2024, Sunday and we just returned home from Gurudwara (Sikh temple) and the email came through from Immigration New Zealand with the changes and the fact that changes were effective immediately. Had we applied for his work visa on the Saturday, just one day before, he would have met the requirements and granted a 5 year work visa.

Amrik Singh's role in promoting Organics in New Zealand: Amrik Singh has been working full time in our business for last 2 years on a work visa and has helped us make Kingseat Organics farm a successful business. He has promoted organic agriculture and organics to our local communities in Auckland also has a huge social media follower list. His vision and life experience has motivated me to start the ready to eat organic meals home delivery service. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why his work visa was declined because of the following two reasons:

1. Life time of family farming experience yet not officially verifiable as it was in family farms: While we were waiting for his Police Clearance and other documents to renew his visa, Immigration New Zealand announced changes on 7th April (to require 3 years of work experience and IELTS 4.0 band or equivalent tests) and implemented changes from 7th April itself without giving any notice to act. As a result, he became ineligible to obtain a work visa to continue in his existing role, for which he was already working in New Zealand. Amrik Singh is a retired Police Inspector from Chandigarh Police and he used to work in our ancestral land in Punjab before he started working full time for Chandigarh Police. Technically he does not have external employment experience as he worked for his (late) father. INZ does not recognise this experience as verifiable despite us submitting evidence of letter from village Sarpanch and Panchayat and evidence of agricultural land ownership.

INZ did not accept this experience in India as independently verifiable.

2. New Zealand Certificate in English language Level 3 not accepted by Immigration New Zealand: My father has completed a New Zealand certificate in English language (General) Level 3  from Manukau Institute of Technology which is considered comparable to IELTS 5 as per NZQA. INZ requires IELTS 4.0 bands for grant of a work visa. His NZ qualification is more than the policy requirement of English language, yet due to the policy wording, INZ does not consider it.
Source: https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/assets/qualifications-and-standards/qualifications/EL-quals/NZCEL-Guiding-Document.pdf
 

Immigration New Zealand did not accept this New Zealand qualification as meeting the requirements.

5th Aug 2024 - Immigration New Zealand recently announced an exception to 3 years work experience and English language requirement for a select group of applicants: Immigration New Zealand has recently made an amendment to the policy and made a special provision for those who applied for work visa between 7th April 2024 and 2nd Dec 2024 (Amrik Singh also applied during this time), and is a dairy cattle farm worker (while we are not just a dairy operation, dairy is part of our operation. We have biogro organic certification for milk, eggs and chickens in addition to vegetables. Kingseat Organics farm has water buffaloes and we are expecting our buffaloes to start calving in the next 2-3 months, the scope of the job duties for Amrik Singh includes caring for water buffaloes, calves). So technically, Immigration New Zealand could also grant a work visa to Amrik Singh on the basis of this Amendment if it is truly aimed to protect animal welfare in the 2024 calving season. We are asking for the same exception to be applied to Amrik Singh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current situation: 

 

Amrik Singh's work visa was declined on 31st July and now he has to leave the country by 21st Aug 2024. The amendment in the policy was declared on 5th Aug 2024, if Immigration New Zealand and the minister want, they are able to approve his work visa considering our circumstances.

 

 

 

 

Amrik Singh as a water buffalo champion: 

 

 Watch this video on Tiktok

 

 

 

Amrik Singh as an inspiration of health, organics, wellbeing and senior citizen health: My father has also become very hit on TikTok and has over 150k views to his farming related videos. People find inspiration from him and I personally know of many other Indian growers who have recently started growing food in New Zealand after being inspired from my father. 

We keep posting regular videos of my father working in the farm and motivating others to grow organically on our Tiktok and other social media channels: https://www.tiktok.com/@malkiatsinghnewzealand

 

 

 

 

 

He was promoted as a poster person for Open Farms event for 2023. Around 330 people visited Kingseat Organics farm to see Amrik Singh's organic skills first hand.

Biogro certified organic: He was also featured by Biogro (the organic certification body) on their public posts to promote the organic principles he strongly believes in.

 

 

 

 

He was also featured in Religious Diversity Calendar for 2024 to represent Sikh religion in New Zealand
https://rdc.org.nz/2024-calendar-pictures/

 

 

 

 

Family situation: Our world came crashing down when we lost our mother in 2014 at age of 51 years old. Since then, my father has been the only key pillar for our family. As per our Indian culture, not only is it my duty as his only son to look after him, but it is also my deepest desire to support him to the fullest. The emotion contained within this sentiment goes beyond obligations; it's about love, respect, and family values.

8th Aug 2024: Amrik Singh Turns (65+1) 66 years.

 

 

 

 

Amrik Singh turns 66 years of age on 8th Aug 2024- in his words, he is here to spread love, motivation to others to keep going. He says that after his wife's death, his purpose in life is to promote healthy living, good nutrition and active lifestyle for senior citizens to assist in good mental and physical health. Despite the immigration challenges, you can see his positivity and infectious smile. 

What are we asking for: This petition is a plea to the Associate Minister of Immigration to understand the importance of family unity, potential of Amrik Singh to contribute towards Organic agriculture sector and to make an exemption in granting a residence visa for Amrik Singh. Our family life revolves around him, and keeping us together would contribute positively to our personal lives and to our wider community. This will allow us to wholeheartedly focus on Kingseat Organics as a business and serve our local communities https://kingseatorganics.co.nz/

Please, stand with us in urging the Associate Minister of Immigration to not just look at the policy requirements but at the familial ties and emotional bondages. Let's ensure the reunification of our family. Sign this petition in support of Amrik Singh's residence visa for New Zealand.

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In gratitude,

Entire Singh family