KUALA LUMPUR – For 16 long months, Covid-19 kept them apart.
Now, Nur Amanina Aziz, from here, is finally reunited with her Filipino husband, Hariz Nondrey Gomer Lara. The couple were only together for a month after their wedding before Hariz left for the Philippines, where he has been stranded until recently.
Bernama highlighted their story in a September 15 report on the effects of border closures and pandemic restrictions on transnational couples.
“This is the moment we have been waiting for, for a long time. We’ve gone through so many things, so many hard times. When I got the approval, the feeling (of joy) was indescribable,” said Amanina.
Amanina, who reported suffering from depression due to the separation, said it took her three tries before the government finally approved her application on December 5 to allow her husband’s entry into Malaysia.
Hariz flew in on February 10 and, after completing the requisite 10-day quarantine, the couple were reunited three weeks ago.
The couple said their current focus is to get Hariz his spouse visa so that they will not be separated again.
The Filipino-Malaysian couple tied the knot on September 23, 2019, and had to separate soon after to observe the cool-down period required for switching visas.
When Hariz was about to return to Malaysia to begin the spouse visa application process, Malaysia declared the movement control order (MCO) and closed its borders.
Hariz’s case was further compounded by the government’s decision to ban nationals from 23 countries that reported more than 150,000 Covid-19 cases, which took effect on September 3.
On November 20, the government started granting entry to foreigners from these countries who are married to Malaysians. – Bernama, March 16, 2021
