A grandmother has been granted a reprieve just days before being deported back to China after her Christchurch family accused the agency of lacking in compassion and humanity.

Chang Sheng Zhao, 58, has been in New Zealand on a visitor visa since December 2019. She has been living with her daughter Yuxi Ward, a clinical team leader with the Department of Corrections, and her family in Christchurch.

Zhao was initially granted a visitor visa for six months, which was extended a few times because of the pandemic. But her latest visitor visa application was declined on November 11 as INZ ruled she did not meet the relevant immigration requirements to be granted a visa.

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