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Denise Häusermann (70) is back in Switzerland. “I am overjoyed to be able to hug my loved ones again,” Bernerin tells Blick. “It’s the best reunion in ten years!”
The businesswoman emigrated to South Africa in 2009 – and lived her dream. When her residence permit expired in 2013, she sought help from an immigration agent. He sold her a temporary ID and a permanent sticker to put in her passport. Later, when her wallet was stolen and she needed new papers, it turned out that she had unsuspectingly bought counterfeit papers.
Acquitted in court
Only: Without papers, she became an unwanted person in July 2015. She was no longer allowed to work, but she was also not allowed to leave South Africa. A legal battle began. With success: in the spring of 2022 she was finally acquitted in court. But she had to start all over again by applying for new papers. So last fall she was imprisoned in South Africa for seven years.
Now the happy ending. “I had received the good news that anyone who has applied for a visa in South Africa and can show proof of payment can leave the country until March 31, 2023,” said Häusermann. “Luckily I had already done that.”
Never visited the grave of the parents
The reason for the long wait is that the authorities were not allowed to work there for a long time due to the corona virus. “Because the mountain of visa applications was getting bigger and bigger, we decided to take this step,” explains Häusermann. You wanted to seize this opportunity. “After all, I hadn’t seen my loved ones in Switzerland for ten years – and I had never visited their parents’ graves either.”
Häusermann says she “invested the last of the money for the return flight”. She landed in Zurich at 1:25 p.m. on Wednesday. “Overwhelming,” she says. She was received by her loved ones. “Now I feel better.” She now lives with her siblings. She does not yet know whether she will live in Switzerland or South Africa in the future. But: “I can now look positively to the future.”
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
