A Napier electrician says it's disgusting a convicted drug smuggler has been given residency, when he has to leave New Zealand just to be with his fiancée.
Sam Crispin says Immigration New Zealand won't allow his law-abiding wife-to-be a work visa - so he's going to her, and has booked a one-way ticket to Germany.
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Mr Crispin's a qualified electrician - a trade in desperately short supply in New Zealand.
But the Kiwi resident is preparing to leave the country after hitting a dead-end with Immigration in trying to negotiate a work visa for his German fiancée, Jasmin.
"How do you give a known convicted criminal on both sides of the world residency, and you even allow a working visa?" he told Newshub.
Mr Crispin says Immigration told the pair they must live together for at least 12 months before they'll reconsider their case - so he's leaving the country.
"I'm going over there because I can pick up work tomorrow," he says.
His imminent departure comes as questions continue over why Karel Sroubek, a drug-dealing fraudster from the Czech Republic, was given residency.
"It's quite disgusting really, I mean from day one he defrauded himself," Mr Crispin says.
But Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway is refusing to divulge the information he used to make that decision.
"Having gone over the case file a number of times I stand by that decision," he says.
The Opposition has seized on the case, with National's Justice spokesperson Mark Mitchell claiming he's looking to travel to the Czech Republic to investigate.
"I don't think the Minister has done due diligence around this properly. In fact, I think he's probably been deceived," Mr Mitchell argues.
"I am very happy to self-fund a trip to the Czech Republic."
This case has ignited fierce debate on social media, especially among those who have been separated from loved ones.
Newshub's Pacific Affairs Correspondent Michael Morrah spoke to one New Zealand citizen whose Samoan husband had to leave the country due to Immigration, deciding their relationship was "unlikely to endure".
She says it's frustrating when the lives of genuine citizens like herself are being torn apart.
If you have further information please contact Michael Morrah: michaelmorrah@mediaworks.co.nz
Newshub.
