Love-struck Aylward still fighting

JONATHAN CAMERON/Taranaki Daily News

MARRY ME: Rhonda Aylward and her fiance Steve Batchelor at their home in New Plymouth contemplate an uncertain future as Ms Aylward waits to hear if she'll be deported.

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A South African woman battling deportation is hoping love will find a way for her to stay in New Zealand with her children.

Rhonda Aylward says she's now an illegal immigrant with no answers to her four-year-battle to gain permanent residency.

But despite the threat of deportation she hopes to tie the knot with a New Plymouth man she's been seeing for a year.

This week temporary three-month permits issued for Ms Aylward and daughter Willow, 8, expire, leaving their future unclear.

Yesterday a spokesman for the associate Immigration Minister said a case note had been prepared and was expected to be put before the minister shortly. Parliament was in recess so it was unclear when a decision would be made, although a result was not far away, he said

Ms Aylward, 28, is employed by Heatherlea Health Care as a permanent part-timer, but her ambivalent immigration status makes her an over-stayer and she's not been at work this week.

"I'm back exactly where I always have been – illegal and starting my fight all over again."

Yesterday as she and her finance, Steve Batchelor, talked of plans for their wedding on August 6, Ms Aylward said the stress of not knowing meant she alternated between anger and worry.

"Steve has this thought that I shouldn't worry, everything will sort itself out," she said.

"But what do I do now, I can't work, I can't support my family, I don't know where I stand."

Ms Aylward expected to attract criticism for her wedding plans, but said she and Steve were a genuine couple.

The ceremony might happen in a registry office and the reception could be at a local hotel or the Kawaroa Squash club.

Mr Batchelor said he would follow Ms Aylward to South Africa if he had to.

"Wherever you go, I will go," he told her. "I might have to sail," he joked, "but I would go."

According to the Immigration Department website, a partner of a New Zealand resident still has to apply for residency. The partner could sponsor the person seeking residency.

- © Fairfax NZ News