\u201cIt had been like the darkness before the dawn,\u201d she said. \u201cI just was profusely crying, like just joy, but in relief and in disbelief, like it\u2019s actually happened. I\u2019m about to have a baby and he can be here to see his baby born.\u201d<\/p>\n
Singh is also stepdad to Neyra\u2019s children and has spent months video-calling them as she went through pregnancy alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just so happy. He\u2019s happy. He cried. His mother cried. We\u2019re just all crying. The kids were crying. It\u2019s just like, you know, I\u2019d equate it to winning the lottery. Like for me, this is like winning the jackpot. It\u2019s honestly the best feeling I could think of.\u201d<\/p>\n
They met online and have met up in India and Bali over the last two years. Their daughter, Mira, is due to be induced two weeks after he arrives.<\/p>\n
Neyra said her children had also been waiting for news, asking \u201cwhen\u2019s Dad coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey call him dad, he acts like a father, he functions like a father, he\u2019s talking to them daily. He\u2019s interacting with them, with their schooling, with everything. He\u2019s missed the whole pregnancy. He\u2019s missed the ultrasounds. He\u2019s missed being there to support me when I\u2019m sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
The uncertainty about his visitor visa had taken its toll, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has definitely been a difficult time, particularly with my pregnancy and being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The anxiety and high-risk nature of the pregnancy has been significantly impacted by the ongoing immigration situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand the scrutiny that needs to be done in these instances, especially from particular countries. Like, that\u2019s 100% understandable, but there has to be some level of compassion when it comes to the evidence proving that we\u2019ve had an ongoing relationship for a long time. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve known each other for a long time. We\u2019ve met in person multiple times. We\u2019ve been able to keep a long distance relationship going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Immigration New Zealand acknowledged how difficult the process could be.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate that waiting on visa applications to be processed can be stressful, especially at this important and emotional time for the family,\u201d said a spokeswoman. \u201cIt can take longer to assess a visa application based on the volume of applications we receive, whether we need more information or if it is complex.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have contacted the family\u2019s representative, and the application has been approved.\u201d<\/p>\n
– RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt had been like the darkness before the dawn,\u201d she said. \u201cI just was profusely crying, like just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[211761,74,6794,45784,27703,198,49325,45783,293,117,111,43,139,69,10534,10708,6027],"class_list":["post-411799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-11thhour","tag-after","tag-baby","tag-bonnett","tag-born","tag-can","tag-dad","tag-gill","tag-his","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-see","tag-visa","tag-win"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}