Two Auckland restaurant owners have been left in the lurch after being denied residency, with Immigration NZ deciding that their business, which employs 26 people, does not add significant benefit to the country.
Nataliya Shchetkova and husband Alex Derecha, owners of La Vista in St Heliers, came to New Zealand from Ukraine in 2013 in order to buy a fine-dining restaurant. The couple had twins not long after their arrival. The pair originally had plans to purchase a 140-seat French restaurant, through which they planned to get their residency, but due to an eight-month wait for the first visa, it had already sold. The restaurant the chose to buy was smaller, but the couple has increased it since they took over and were hoping to gain residency. The restaurant employs 26 staff, 17 of which are fulltime, and had a $1.6 million turnover in 2018.
“In two years we employed people, reached the numbers we need and we applied for residency but our residency application was declined because they said they didn't approve our new restaurant numbers,” Shchetkova said. She has appealed the decision on the ground that she received incorrect advice but was unsuccessful, and may have to leave the country within six months.
Michael Carley of Immigration NZ said the couple did not receive incorrect information at any stage.
“We do not consider the immigration officer who assessed the application made an error in advice and we consider the decision to decline, and the process followed, was correct,” he said. “A core reason for the decline was the business did not add significant benefit to New Zealand by creating sustained and ongoing employment, over and above the existing level of employment. The Immigration and Protection Tribunal found INZ's decision to be correct under applicable residence instructions.”
