A British centenarian has been granted the right to join his only living relative in New Zealand after immigration officials reversed their decision to have him sent back to Great Britain.

The 101-year-old widower had been living in New Zealand with his son, 63, since July 2006, however, his application for residency was turned down due to a technicality. The rules for residency required his son to have spent a minimum 184 days out of each of the last three years in the country, before his father’s New Zealand visa application process began, which he had failed to meet.

The man arrived in New Zealand on a visitors permit almost to years ago, however, it expired in April and he did not renew it as he believed that doing so was not necessary whilst his application for residency was being processed.

Despite the man’s age, adequate financial resources and good health, both Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and the Residency Review Board (RRB) stated that his case was no different to many others in reality:

“Overall, the appellant's age, his financial resources, the fact that his son lives in New Zealand and the fact the appellant has no family in Great Britain do not make him special,” the RRB said.

“There is no evidence that the appellant could not have continued to live in Great Britain alone and without his son, as he had done for many years.”

However, in a rare instance of government intervention, Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove softened the RRB’s hard-line approach after he became aware of the media hype surrounding the case. Mr. Cosgrove ordered a review, claiming the case was “exceptional”. As a result, the man was allowed to make his New Zealand immigration experience a permanent one.

An INZ spokeswoman commented: “It is important to note that no two cases are exactly the same and where discretion is used it is based on the specific circumstances of that case”.