Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, October 13, 1998
Christopher Arnesen said the Immigration and Naturalization Service advised him last week that its staff had concluded that he abandoned his U.S. residence by living in his native New Zealand for nearly four years and therefore forfeited the right to stay in the country.
Attorney John Pernick said Arnesen, suffering from a recurring cancer, would travel to New Zealand in November for treatment by doctors who are familiar with his condition. He said Arnesen planned to return by February, when an immigration judge is scheduled to hear his case.
"The stress of this fight is taking a toll on my health," Arnesen said. Although he has some coverage under Medicare, he said he cannot get some types of medical assistance in the United States because of the residency challenge.
Arnesen, who had lived in San Francisco and contributed to Social Security for 30 years, applied for disability benefits in October 1994, when he became too sick to keep working. He said Social Security Administration officials told him to return to New Zealand and apply from there. But when he got there, he said, Social Security denied benefits because he was not in the United States. By the time he was well enough to return, he said, a 1996 law barred HIV-positive noncitizens from entering the country. Arnesen arrived in San Francisco in August without interference.
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