University of Otago pharmacy graduand Younus Mohammad is graduating this weekend, but his wife cannot attend.PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSONA PhD graduand who has pushed unsuccessfully to get his new wife into the country for his graduation tomorrow says the day will fall a bit flat without her — but it has to go ahead. University of Otago pharmacy student Younus Mohammad said after providing numerous documents to Immigration New Zealand, including more than 20 wedding photos, he was disappointed to hear on Wednesday afternoon that his wife’s visitor’s visa would take two more weeks to process. Phone calls from MP David Clark’s office to Immigration New Zealand had also failed to speed up the visa process, and Mr Mohammad had no family in New Zealand to attend the ceremony. However he would still have peers in his department and his supervisors — whom he described as his "extended family" — and he was pleased with what he had accomplished. The visa was originally applied for in October.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 05, 2019 15:33 UTC