She cooks at a rest home in Christchurch\u2019s Harewood and at Maruia Hot Springs in the Lewis Pass national reserve. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am an established chef here. New Zealand has given me everything…except my child,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Prince first came to New Zealand on a work visa in 2014 to help her brother-in-law with his restaurant. She came with her son Jap Sahib who was five years old at the time. <\/p>\n
Prince works as a chef in Christchurch and Lewis Pass. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Two years later Jap was asked to leave the country when his application for a student visa was rejected. <\/p>\n
Immigration New Zealand (INZ)<\/a> has a policy called the acceptable standard of health (ASH), which is used to decide if an individual can work or study in New Zealand. <\/p>\n The policy considers health criteria like whether an applicant could add \u201csignificant cost to, or demands on, New Zealand\u2019s health services\u201d. <\/p>\n He\u2019s a burden on taxpayers so they don\u2019t want him to get a visa<\/p>\n Jap Sahib’s mother, Prince<\/p>\n Prince said Jap was born at home in India with assistance from a midwife. <\/p>\n She noticed developmental delays when Jap turned one, but her family convinced her there was nothing out of the ordinary and doctors were expensive, she told the Herald. <\/p>\n She said she didn\u2019t learn Jap had Down syndrome until he had a medical assessment when he was six and already living in New Zealand. <\/p>\n INZ\u2019s deputy chief operating officer Jeannie Melville said Jap\u2019s student visa was subsequently rejected because he\u2019d need learning support while at school.<\/p>\n \u201cThe student visa was declined due to his eligibility for Ongoing Resource Scheme (ORS) funding, which does not meet the health standard required for student visas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Prince told the Herald she didn\u2019t think it was right that her son\u2019s visa<\/a> was declined because of his disability. <\/p>\n \u201cImmigration told me your son has Down syndrome, he\u2019s a burden on taxpayers, so they don\u2019t want him to get a visa,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u2018Morally reprehensible\u2019 policy<\/p>\n Disability advocate Aine Kelly-Costello, from the Migrants Against Acceptable Standards of Health Aotearoa group, was scathing of the ASH policy and said she wanted it abolished. <\/p>\n \u201cWe find it morally reprehensible that migrants with disabilities and health conditions, including disabled children, are measured only by their economic value and considered a cost burden to the state,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She said people like Jap should not become scapegoats for \u201cchronic underfunding\u201d of learning support staff at schools by consecutive governments. <\/p>\n Prince said she had the means to provide the additional health and education support her son needed. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not asking the Government to pay for my son. I am very capable of looking after him financially,\u201d she told the Herald. <\/p>\nPrince has spent years fighting to bring her son to Christchurch. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n