One of the New Zealanders who brought a legal challenge against pandemic border restrictions separating split families says the court result is a "bitter pill to swallow".
David Higgs' fiancée Riani Yudhi Prihatin hasn't been able to come to New Zealand Photo: Supplied
David Higgs applied for his Indonesian partner, Riani Yudhi Prihatin, to join him before the first lockdown.
But the government suspended visa processing and then cancelled applications made by people overseas.
Michael Witbrock brought the High Court case as he battled authorities to have his husband join him from China, where they could not live together, and Higgs joined the legal challenge.
They feared the government decision to 'lapse' undecided visa applications meant they would have to wait in a lengthier queue when the border reopened.
The case detailed how New Zealanders who had not lived together with their partners before were being directed to apply for general visitor visas. But those were among the visas that were lapsed.
The court ruled there was no indirect discrimination in the way the changes were drawn up.
That was a blow for Higgs, who had been due to marry his fiancée in 2020, and hundreds of others, some of whom crowd-funded to support the case.
"Everybody in the group is feeling the same and it's been a hard pill to swallow," he said. "It's disappointing that there was no accountability in any way, shape or form really."
Though he and his fiancee would soon be reunited, they had lost precious time together, he said. She was widowed when her husband died of cancer and has two sons, Edgar, aged 12 and Ansel, eight.
He counted himself lucky - as their application for a partnership visa had now been approved.
"But the reality is that it should have been able to be done a year ago, as far as being able to get partners in and have our loved ones. The boys are two years older now, going on three years older, there was some important bonding time that was missed."
"Riani should be here on the 19th of July. So we're really excited about that. It's going to be very interesting, very emotional."
But he felt for the hundreds of split families and couples who were still waiting on visa processing to restart, which included partners of New Zealanders and migrants. It is not clear how long it will take to clear the visa applications which are being processed from 31 July.
Although people whose visas were lapsed were refunded visa fees, they could not recoup other lost money such as lawyer, immigration adviser or medical test fees.
The financial loss was dwarfed by the cost of separation. "Time. It's the time we lost. It's been a long wait."