Elderly Kiwi in France after husband's visa denied

From Morning Report, 8:55 am on 5 February 2018

A 79-year-old man has been denied a visa, forcing his New Zealand-born wife to move permanently to France to be with him. Ron Falconer is a Scottish environmentalist who had the job of guarding two remote Pacific atolls called the Caroline Islands in the 1980s. In 2014, despite clearing police and health checks, he fell foul of Immigration New Zealand officals, who were told he was removed from the atolls and therefore ineligible to stay here. RNZ reporter Gill Bonnett has been speaking to Mr Falconer and his wife, Fiona Lundy, who say the only reason he was moved on was that a local person was ready to take up his job. Associate Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has declined to say whether the appeals tribunal's views were considered when the previous minister denied the visa.