‘Distressed’: UK grandmother denied entry to NZ mid-travel

An 80-year-old British grandmother suffered ‘‘significant distress’’ after being told en route to New Zealand that she was not authorised to enter the country to meet her new grandson, despite having a New Zealand Travel Authority.

Lois Crumpton applied for the NZeTA, which allows for visa-free travel for passport holders from 60 different countries and territories, including the UK, after her New Zealand-based son Tom Crumpton and his partner welcomed their second child, William.

Crumpton’s application was approved on January 3 this year and she booked her return tickets shortly afterwards, only to be stopped on the second leg of her journey in San Francisco on January 17 after some 15 hours of travel. ‘‘She went to board her flight to Auckland and was stopped at the gate and told she was an overstayer and not authorised to return to New Zealand,’’ said Crumpton.

Lois travelled to New Zealand in early 2020 to meet Crumpton’s first child, her granddaughter Dorothy, and was stranded here after borders were closed to stem the spread of Covid-19.

In line with government instructions, she applied to Immigration NZ for a visitor visa and was granted a six-month interim visa which expired on August 5, 2021.

‘‘She ended up stuck here for about 18 months and, while she was here, she did all of her visa extensions and things she was required to do,’’ Crumpton said. ‘‘Immigration staff reassured me that as long as mum was going through the process, she was not going to get deported and would be OK to stay.’’

Lois flew back to the UK while her application for a visitor visa was still under consideration, leaving after her interim visa had expired. In a complaint lodged with Immigration NZ, Lois said she overstayed her interim visa as she had medical advice that she should not travel until she was vaccinated against Covid-19.

‘‘But they always assured us that this was OK,’’ Crumpton said.

Believing she had done everything she was supposed to do by applying for an NZeTA before booking her 2023 trip, Lois has lodged the complaint, saying the situation had caused her ‘‘significant stress’’. ‘‘I am 80 years old and travelling such a long way is a huge undertaking for me, and to have the experience of being refused to board a plane, when in good faith I had applied and received permission to travel to NZ, has caused significant emotional distress,’’ she wrote.

Immigration NZ general manager for border and visa operations Nicola Hogg said the team acknowledged ‘‘the difficult situation’’ Lois Crumpton found herself in, and apologised for the stress it had caused.

She noted that, as the Immigration NZ website states, a valid NZeTA does not guarantee its holder will be allowed to travel to or enter New Zealand. ‘‘Ms Crumpton had previously overstayed in New Zealand in 2021 for 42 days and a border alert had been placed on Ms Crumpton’s immigration records,’’ Hogg said.

‘‘Due to the border alert, Ms Crumpton was spoken to by an immigration border officer when she attempted to board her flight at San Francisco airport and was . . . advised that she must apply for and be approved a visa before she can travel.

‘‘However, we recognise that in this particular situation, we should have applied discretion and allowed her to board the plane, and we apologise for the distress this has caused.’’

On Thursday, following another phone call from Tom Crumpton and inquiries from Stuff, Immigration NZ reinstated Lois’ visa-waiver status, enabling her to travel on her existing NZeTA and UK passport. While Crumpton is pleased his mother will now be able to visit them, the experience has left him ‘‘angry and frustrated’’. ‘‘We did everything we were supposed to do . . . Plus there is this [wasted] £2000 (NZ$3800) air ticket. No-one is saying they will refund any of those. That is the cost that we have to bear.’’