My husband, a Chinese citizen, and I, a South African citizen, who were legally married in South Africa 6 years ago are forced to live on different continents because the Department of Home Affairs is refusing to process his permanent residence permit. We also have a son together and our son is currently in China too. I am all alone in South Africa and our family is broken up because of the Department of Home Affairs' incompetency and complete lack of regard for the rights of gay couples.  

If my husband's permanent residence permit is not approved, we will continue to be forced to live apart from each other. Our family will continue to face the daily struggle of not being together. I miss my husband and my son so much every day - my heart breaks when I think about being away from them. It is a constant struggle to get up every morning and realize that I am all alone without my family. I am worried about what will happen to us as a family as the time goes by - we love each other and our child dearly and we cannot imagine this life as we are not together. If the Department of Home Affairs approves my husband's residence permit, they will be helping to keep our family together, they will be bringing us immense joy, and they will be helping us to make more wonderful memories together.  

Please PLEASE help us to sign and share this petition with as many people as possible. A couple of clicks from your side, can make a HUGE difference to our lives. You, as an ordinary South African citizen, have the POWER to bring and keep a family TOGETHER. Please help us to make the Department of Home Affairs know about our family and help us to convince them to process our application so that our FAMILY can be whole again! 

If you are a journalist reading this, we beg you to run our story and tell the whole South Africa about our good fight against the Department of Home Affairs. If you know somebody who is a journalist, please specifically tell them about us. We need as much help as we can get.   

We know that we are not the only people who are suffering because of these EXTREME DELAYS in getting permanent residence permits approved in South Africa. We hope and sincerely believe that this petition will not only benefit us but also other families who are going through the same stressful situation.