Woman who was headhunted for £74,000-a-year IT job in New Zealand has her dream move shattered when her 15-year-old daughter is rejected for a visa because she has Down’s Syndrome
The family pictured together from left Tanya Saumina mother Nilani Bumikka and father Nagarajah
A family from Ireland were forced to abandon their dream move to New Zealand when their youngest daughter was denied a visa because she had Down’s Syndrome.
Bumikka Suhinthan, 15, was told she couldn’t enter the country because her ‘health was not of an acceptable standard’ and would impose excessive costs.
Mother Nilani Suhinthan, 52, had planned to start a new life in Auckland, New Zealand, after she was headhunted for a £74,000-a-year IT consultant job.
She, her husband Nagarajah, 54, and other daughters Tanya, 19, and Saumia, 14, all received visas but Bumikka’s rejection has shattered their dream. ADVERTISING
The family, who now live in Dublin, previously lived in Buckinghamshire for 25 years until 2015.
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The Suhinthan family, from left: Saumina, 14, Nilani, 52, Bumikka, 15, Tanya, 18, and Nagarajah, 53. They have had to abandon their dream move to New Zealand
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Bumikka (left) ,15, is pictured with her sisters, Tanya (centre), 19, and Saumina (right), 14. The middle daughter was denied a visa by New Zealand immigration authorities
Despite the family offering to pay for the extra support their daughter would need in school, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) ruled Bumikka would be too great a burden.
Mrs Suhinthan, who had already moved to New Zealand to prepare for the family’s emigration, said she was told Bumikka would be eligible for a temporary visitor visa, so the family could spend Christmas Day in New Zealand.
But despite booking flights, they were stopped from boarding their connecting flight in Malaysia, because Bumikka wasn’t considered a genuine visitor.
The mother and her husband Nagarajah, an engineer, have spent three months appealing the rejection, but a final hearing last week ruled the decision was final.
Nilani, who lives in Dublin, said: ‘It’s complete discrimination. I’ve always told her she isn’t any different but this tears it up.
‘She doesn’t completely understand why we’re not going to New Zealand.
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Bumikka, pictured left receiving a hug from her mother and right posing for a photo at a beach, has Down’s Syndrome
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Bumikka, 15, and father Nagarajah, 53. The teenager’s mother said she felt ‘let down’ after the visa was denied by New Zealand immigration officials
‘They kept telling me she would cost them money to send her to a special school. My tax bill in one month would cover the school fees for the entire year.
‘It just doesn’t make any sense other than it being discriminatory. Bumikka has a moderate disability, but she can talk, walk and dress herself. She only needs supervision and extra help in the classroom.
‘So I don’t understand why they would reject her temporary visa other than being discriminatory.
‘We were planning a new life over there. Instead we were just thrown in limbo.
‘We had to spend Christmas Day in an apartment and had to have terrible Malaysian food instead of a Christmas dinner.
‘The car I bought over there is just sitting in my sister’s driveway. I couldn’t just leave her in Ireland and move my other children to the other side of the world.
