1. Regional Public Health Primary Care Workshop Megan Williams Senior Lawyer/Rōia Kahika Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley Te Whare Ture Hapori o Te Whanganui-a-Tara me Te Awa Kairangi 20 November 2015

2. Community Law Refugee and Immigration Legal Advice Service (RILAS) Refugee family reunification – legal issues and challenges Please ask questions! Plan for today

3. Community Law nationwide Free legal help for vulnerable people within our communities 24 centres nationwide 120 outreach clinics Each law centre runs as a separate organisation Some have different specialist areas www.communitylaw.org.nz

4. Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley – our kaupapa Providing community legal services to meet unmet legal need That those with the least have the same or better access to justice as those with the most 20ish staff across Hutt Valley and Wellington 300+ volunteers Provide free legal advice, assistance, education and information www.wclc.org.nzwww.wclc.org.nz www.communitylaw.org.nzwww.communitylaw.org.nz

5. Family Law Tenancy/Housing Māori Land Criminal justice Kaupapa Māori Consumer law Employment law Areas of advice Mental health Privacy ACC Education Advice to community groups Refugee and Immigration

7. RILAS Key area – assisting with refugee family reunification Other immigration matters –asylum seekers / unlawful status / work visa and residence applications for victims of domestic violence Only free specialist immigration advice service in NZ for people from refugee-backgrounds Specialist weekly free legal advice sessions Case management by staff lawyers and volunteers

8. Refugee Quota Family Reunification Refugee Quota Family Reunification: – Can sponsor: spouse dependent children parents (if sponsor is under 24 years old and single) – Must be an ‘acceptable’ sponsor – Must be able to prove that relationships with family members are ‘genuine and credible’ – Family members come through the Refugee Quota – Can be lengthy, process is driven by Refugee Quota Branch of INZ

9. Refugee Quota Family Reunification case study – lengthy delays Application to bring two dependent sons who are living in an unsafe situation Process put on hold for over 12 months INZ cannot disclose the reasons Extreme stress, anxiety, inability to sleep Affecting well-being of other children Limited access to counselling While extreme this is not an isolated example

10. Refugee Family Support Category Two Tier system. Tier Two currently closed and unlikely to open again until 2017 at earliest. Tier One is always open to accept registrations Tier One sponsor must: – have been granted residence in NZ on basis of refugee status – have no immediate family living lawfully and permanently in New Zealand or – be the sole carer of a dependent relative Must have no other “family member” eligible to be sponsored for residence under any other residence policy

11. Refugee Family Support Category Can sponsor one of: – Parent – Grandparent – Adult Sibling – Adult child – Aunt – Uncle – Niece – Nephew And the family member’s partner and dependent children

12. Issues and Challenges Reality of leaving some family members behind (sometimes making very difficult choices) Can be a lengthy process Administrative difficulties with obtaining information and documents Affordability, expensive process for people on a low income No exact knowledge of date of birth (01/01/19?? or 01/07/19??) Failure to declare full details of family / marital status Customary adoption of family members Traumatised clients, difficulties recalling information

13. Refugee Family Support Category case study Client in NZ with three young children and disabled husband Husband requires constant care Disabilities caused by attacks from client’s family Client’s family disowned her due to her relationship Did not declare her family members, was highly traumatised during interviews with UNHCR and INZ Good relationship with one sibling who was not involved in opposing her relationship Needs her sibling here for support Failure to declare family members has caused significant delays to her application

14. Why do people fail to declare? Ignorance of immigration policy Deliberate choice Do not understand process Women in some cultures have no say Desperate desire to escape their circumstances – matter of life and death Trauma Not asked specific questions

15. Interpreting Best practice is to use in person interpreters Clients/patients may be wary of using phone interpreters due to privacy/confidentiality issues If using a family member there is a risk that client/patient may not feel comfortable to fully disclose all issues Children should not be relied on to interpret

16. Referrals When to refer What we can help with Tricky cases and cases with little chance of success INZ don’t always get it right! If in doubt please call us

17. He pātāi? Any questions?