An Indian woman has been granted residency in New Zealand after a court found her case involved special humanitarian circumstances. She is in the country illegally due to an immigration dispute stemming from her husband’s past sponsorship of two former partners.Aradhana Goswami traveled to New Zealand from India in late 2024 to marry her partner. She faced deportation after discovering her husband’s immigration history prevented her from applying for a partner visa.The IPT allowed Goswami to stay in New Zealand after finding the circumstances behind her immigration issues were unusual and her deportation would be unfair.The case centers on Goswami’s husband, who twice sponsored two former partners for New Zealand residency in 2013 and 2019. Under New Zealand immigration rules, a person who has supported two successful partner residence applications cannot sponsor another partner for residency.Despite this, Goswami obtained a visitor visa before traveling to New Zealand on November 7, 2024. She made it clear in her application that she intended to spend time with her future husband before marriage.She told immigration authorities she wanted to spend time with the “love of her life” before “making a lifelong commitment,” the New Zealand Herald reported.The couple were married 19 days after her arrival.According to the court ruling, Goswami’s husband’s sponsorship history was disclosed to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) during the visitor visa process. The tribunal said officers approved the application and recorded that “there were no concerns”.But when Goswami applied for a partner-based work visa, the application was rejected because her husband was not eligible to support it under immigration rules. Requests for reconsideration were also denied.She was later granted a temporary visa, but it expired in May 2025, leaving her in New Zealand illegally.In June 2025, Goswami appealed to the IPT on humanitarian grounds, arguing that being forced to leave would separate her from her husband and end their marriage.She told the court her husband moved to New Zealand from Fiji as a teenager, had no meaningful links to India and was unlikely to relocate because he was the primary carer for his elderly parents.Goswami also said returning to India alone would expose her to social stigma.Her representative said the couple had nothing to hide and were very transparent with immigration authorities throughout the process.“She declared her intention to marry and build a future with her partner in her visitor visa application,” they submitted.“The appellant and her husband truthfully stated their true intentions to Immigration New Zealand and declared his previous partnership.”The court recognized the authenticity of the marriage beyond any doubt. It also considered medical evidence showing Goswami suffered from emotional distress, including poor sleep quality, loss of appetite, persistent worry and dizziness.Speaking of her fears about returning to India, the decision said: “She said the emotional toll of being seen as a ‘failure’ in the eyes of society, and the overwhelming shame that would come with it, would be unbearable.”The IPT concluded that Goswami was not responsible for the circumstances leading to her deportation. It also ruled that allowing her to stay would not be contrary to the public interest.Immigration New Zealand denies it made a mistake. Immigration New Zealand visa director Chris Adamson said visitor visas and later partner visas were assessed under different rules.Adamson said: “When Ms Goswami later applied for a temporary partner-based visa, her partner was assessed under standard procedures but did not meet the requirements because he had previously supported more than one successful residence visa application.”They added: “We understand that Ms Goswami’s situation was through no fault of her own and that she may have wished to continue living in New Zealand after being granted an initial visa. However, our position is that both applications were correctly assessed in the light of the immigration circumstances at the time.”Still, the court upheld Goswami’s appeal and granted her a resident visa, ending a months-long immigration battle that threatened to separate the newlyweds.
