MAIN INFORMATION
Kirsty Muller, South Africa.
Arrie Mitchell, USA.
Arrie and Kirsty met online in December 2018, and Arrie proposed in June 2019.
Because of Covid-19, they had not seen each other for over a year. Arrie was able to visit Kirsty in South Africa in January 2021. Travel restrictions have now separated them again.
They are 13,157 km apart.
Arrie Mitchell, USA.
Arrie and Kirsty met online in December 2018, and Arrie proposed in June 2019.
Because of Covid-19, they had not seen each other for over a year. Arrie was able to visit Kirsty in South Africa in January 2021. Travel restrictions have now separated them again.
They are 13,157 km apart.
STORY OF SEPARATION
“If our relationship ends, it will be because we did something, not because the government has told us we can't be together,” says Kirsty. Covid-19 forced her and her fiancé, Arrie, apart for over a year. And, after briefly seeing each other in early 2021, travel restrictions have separated them again. The couple have become vocal members of the Love Is Not Tourism community, petitioning the South African government, talking to journalists and radio stations, determined to reunite. "I feel so frustrated because no one listens," says Kirsty. If their relationship ends, it will be on their terms, not the result of government enforced separation.
Kirsty and Arrie’s relationship was long-distance from the start, so they’d already mastered the art of virtual dating. “You have to find the light,” says Kirsty. “[Arrie] is my peace. When everything else is going wrong around me, I can talk to him, and I feel at ease." They have also navigated their darker moments online. “It can be hard, we argue,” she continues. And their wedding may be virtual too. Determined to marry this year, if Covid-19 travel restrictions keep them apart, Kirsty and Arrie will tie the knot over Zoom.
Kirsty and Arrie’s relationship was long-distance from the start, so they’d already mastered the art of virtual dating. “You have to find the light,” says Kirsty. “[Arrie] is my peace. When everything else is going wrong around me, I can talk to him, and I feel at ease." They have also navigated their darker moments online. “It can be hard, we argue,” she continues. And their wedding may be virtual too. Determined to marry this year, if Covid-19 travel restrictions keep them apart, Kirsty and Arrie will tie the knot over Zoom.
“We are familiar with the shortcomings of our immigration systems; they are outdated. Many are from the sixties and seventies, and they do not reflect modern relationships. They can't handle a globalised world”
Krishni Metivier, Love Is Not Tourism campaigner
“We are familiar with the shortcomings of our immigration systems; they are outdated. Many are from the sixties and seventies, and they do not reflect modern relationships. They can't handle a globalised world”
Krishni Metivier, Love Is Not Tourism campaigner
TIME APART
Arrie is studying in the US while also working full-time, so he planned to fly to South Africa to see Kirsty, his fiancé, in June 2020, when he had some time off. He had proposed to her on his last trip, and Kirsty also applied to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for a K-1 visa at the beginning of March 2020. The K-1 is a nonimmigrant visa allowing a non-US citizen to enter the country to marry a US citizen. Requirements include the non-citizen entering the US within six months of receiving it. The couple must also intend to marry within 90 days of their arrival and have met within two years of the application date.
Then Covid-19 struck. South Africa went into lockdown in March 2020, which included a ban on international travel. It was clear that Arrie would not be able to visit Kirsty. Meanwhile, the US Department of State suspended routine visa services worldwide due to the pandemic, placing Kirsty’s K-1 visa on hold. “Nobody foresaw the pandemic coming. We didn’t foresee that we would be apart for so long,” she says. “Long-distance is hard enough as it is.” With the US no longer processing the majority of visas and South Africa’s borders fully-closed until September 2020, there was no way for them to reunite. “I would stop the world just to be on a plane,” says Arrie.
At the end of 2020, South Africa re-opened the borders, and Arrie could fly and see Kirsty for several weeks. He proposed again. And, this time, they could finally spend some time together following their engagement, with plans to marry in late 2021. Eventually, Arrie had to return home. The US then approved Kirsty’s K-1 visa. However, since January 2021, the US has prohibited South Africans from travelling into the country, which means Kirsty cannot move there. The couple is determined to marry this year, even if it has to be over Zoom.
Then Covid-19 struck. South Africa went into lockdown in March 2020, which included a ban on international travel. It was clear that Arrie would not be able to visit Kirsty. Meanwhile, the US Department of State suspended routine visa services worldwide due to the pandemic, placing Kirsty’s K-1 visa on hold. “Nobody foresaw the pandemic coming. We didn’t foresee that we would be apart for so long,” she says. “Long-distance is hard enough as it is.” With the US no longer processing the majority of visas and South Africa’s borders fully-closed until September 2020, there was no way for them to reunite. “I would stop the world just to be on a plane,” says Arrie.
At the end of 2020, South Africa re-opened the borders, and Arrie could fly and see Kirsty for several weeks. He proposed again. And, this time, they could finally spend some time together following their engagement, with plans to marry in late 2021. Eventually, Arrie had to return home. The US then approved Kirsty’s K-1 visa. However, since January 2021, the US has prohibited South Africans from travelling into the country, which means Kirsty cannot move there. The couple is determined to marry this year, even if it has to be over Zoom.
“The Department of Home Affairs, that’s everyone who deals with these type of cases, have told us that because Arrie doesn’t have a Spousal Visa for South Africa we are not considered family. So one of the purposes they allow travel for is for family reunification. And because we are not married yet, we don’t fall under ‘family’”
Kirsty Muller
“The Department of Home Affairs, that’s everyone who deals with these type of cases, have told us that because Arrie doesn’t have a Spousal Visa for South Africa we are not considered family. So one of the purposes they allow travel for is for family reunification. And because we are not married yet, we don’t fall under ‘family’”
Kirsty Muller
