An Edinburgh woman is living in a treehouse after being made 'effectively homeless' when her dream reunion with her husband and dog in New Zealand collapsed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Marianna Tomarelli told how she wept in the back of a London cab after being denied the chance to check in for her flight on the way to start a new life with Leon, 41, in his hometown of Lyttleton when the country's border shut.
The 38-year-old, who is working as a gardener in return for accommodation at an estate near Duns, said she is “in limbo” over when she will see her husband and German shepherd-cross Iris again - with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warning travel to the country from the UK would not be possible “for a long time”.
She has now become one of more than 200 signatories of an open letter to the country’s leader pleading for the partners of citizens to be granted visa exemptions so they can be with their loved ones.
Marianna told Edinburgh Live : “I just feel like I have been left stranded, I was in the taxi coming back from Gatwick into London and I was in absolute bits.
“Everything was packed up, it was a really difficult decision to leave Scotland, but we just wanted to start our life together.
“Now I don’t know when that is going to happen, I don’t know when I will see my husband or my dog again.”
The couple, who met while Marianna was on a working holiday in New Zealand a decade ago, lived in Dunbar until earlier this year, but opted to return to South Island so musician Leon could be closer to son Casper, 14.
Leon travelled ahead after securing a gig at a music festival in February, taking Iris with him while Marianna sorted out ‘a Partnership – Work visa’ so she could join him at a later date.
When the global pandemic situation began to worsen, Marianna made the decision to travel to the country on a temporary tourist permit.
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Current rules laid out by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) state the border is closed to “all but New Zealand citizens and residents,” bar essential or health workers.
Partners of New Zealand citizens are only permitted to enter the country if they are travelling with a resident and as Leon had already entered, Marianna suffered the heartbreak of having her plans crushed at the last minute.
She said the couple are now restricted to “a few short hours of talking at each end of the day” while they remain more than 11,000 miles apart.
“We are used to doing long distance as we spent a few years apart on the opposite side of the world, so it is nothing new for us,” Marianna said.
“We have always kind of bounced back and forward between the two countries, but Leon has never really had his family around, we wanted to be over there so we could be near his son together
“I should have been allowed in, because of the way the rules are at the moment, Leon had to be with me when I travelled and he was already in New Zealand when I was at home.”
She added: “It is really difficult, I’m sure there are couples who are together 24/7 for the first time in however long because of this pandemic and they can’t stand being around each other all the time, we are at the other end of that spectrum.”
INZ told Edinburgh Live the guidelines for visa exemption were set at such a high level to “help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of people already in New Zealand”.
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On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ardern said the last remaining coronavirus patient in the country had been discharged from hospital and confirmed no new cases of the disease had been recorded in five days
The country has been praised for its hardline response to the virus since the first case was recorded at the end of February.
Fewer than 1,600 cases of the disease have been recorded, with just 22 deaths - compared to almost 38,000 in the UK.
The New Zealand Herald reported, by last Tuesday, more than 9,800 requests for visa exemption had been submitted, but just 1,478 had been approved.
Marianna added: “There are so many basic things I feel like I have taken for granted, going for a walk, eating together, even just being awake at the same time, it has been a nightmare.
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“We are talking for a couple of hours each day, we have laughed about the fact the dog got her visa before I did, but it is hard being so far apart.”
Nicola Hogg, border and visa operations manager for INZ, said Marianna’s application could only be “considered on a case-by-case basis” against the current guidelines, adding they were likely to remain in place until the border controls were lifted.
She said: “Immigration New Zealand understands the impact that COVID-19 has had on some migrants and their loved ones.
“Ms Tomarelli’s Partnership – Work visa application has not yet been processed as INZ is not currently processing any applications from people who are offshore unless they meet the strict criteria to be granted an exception to the Border closure.
“Ms Tomarelli has requested an exception to the border restrictions under the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident three times, however she was not granted one on any occasion. Under the strict criteria set up by the Government, partners of a New Zealand citizen or resident must be travelling with the New Zealand citizen or resident to be able to enter New Zealand.
“As Ms Tomarelli’s husband is already in New Zealand, he would not be travelling with her and therefore she is subject to the border restrictions.
She added: “The bar for being granted an exception to the border restrictions is set high to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of people already in New Zealand. All requests for a border exception are considered on a case by case basis against the strict border exception criteria put in place by the Government.”
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The open letter, published in the New Zealand Herald today, is signed by those from as far afield as Bangladesh and Chile and pleads with the New Zealand government to “ease the emotional strain” of lockdown by granting visas to those stranded around the globe.
It states: “Most of us have had to navigate long distance romance and bureaucratic and financial challenges. We chose to be with our partners despite these difficulties because we love them, they should be here with us.
“It is extremely difficult to watch your loved one struggle from so far away, impotent to help.
“Most of us are able and willing to pay for our partners to quarantine, this is the least of our worries. Some of us are having to access medical assistance as we are anxious and completely overwhelmed due to the uncertainty of when we will be able to see the loves of our lives again.
“We just want our families to come home.”