David Smith speaks of the pain and confusion related to his wife's deportation.

A photo album and closet of clothes are all David Smith has to cling on to as he yearns for his wife who is half a world away because officials say they don't love each other.

The retired Manawatū man sits in his Feilding home feeling defeated and alone after Immigration New Zealand forced his wife Amy to leave New Zealand in October, amid concerns their relationship was not genuine.

Their actions prompted former immigration officer turned lawyer Jeff Ha to label the decision to deny her a work visa as "biased" and "predetermined".

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF David and Amy Smith are married but can't live together.

Originally from Hong Kong, she moved to New Zealand to marry David Smith in 2016, but officials were not satisfied they were living together in a "genuine" and "stable" partnership and forced her out of the country eight months after their wedding day.

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Although the couple owned property together, shared a residence, put each other into their wills and had financial interdependence, there was no evidence any purchases had been a joint decision, senior immigration officer Kate Dower said in a letter last year.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF David and Amy Smith in their Feilding home before Amy was deported last year.

The decision has left David Smith feeling helpless as the couple are now reduced to talking once a day via internet video.

"I wouldn't have married her if I didn't love her," he said.

"I thought I could be happy for the rest of my life, but they've turned that on the head. I'm 78... I haven't got much longer.

DAVID SMITH/SUPPLIED David and Amy Smith married on February 3, 2017, in Feilding's Manchester Square.

"I'm not asking for much, just my wife back."

Moving to Hong Kong was not an option for Smith, who would lose his pension and could not speak the language.

More than 37,850 work visas under partnership were approved last year. Amy Smith submitted three of the 2988 denied applications.

Immigration New Zealand area manager Marcelle Foley said Amy Smith initially refused to leave the country when her interim visa expired and she was now prohibited from gaining a visa or entering New Zealand for two years.

During an interview, she failed to comment on information showing she worked as a healthcare assistant in Feilding, breaching her visa conditions, Foley said.

Her second and third applications were denied because "very limited" new information and evidence had been provided.

Officials believed their marriage wouldn't last and the Smiths had discrepancies about how they met on Facebook.

Foley said the couple couldn't appeal the decision, but Amy Smith could apply for another visa in the future.

"Marriage alone is not sufficient evidence," Foley said.

"Immigration New Zealand has concerns the marriage is unstable and unlikely to endure given the limited time spent together, the lack of evidence to prove how the couple met as well as how their relationship developed and has been maintained."

Ha, who is working on the case without charge, believed officials approached Amy Smith's application with a view to decline it, rather than approve. He said the deciding officer had an "over-zealous" focus on minor discrepancies when interviewing the couple.

He has written a letter to the Ombudsmen and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on the Smiths' behalf.

David Smith has been unable to arrange an interview with Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway.

While Amy Smith was in New Zealand less than a year, David Smith said the couple met more than two years ago on Facebook. When she visited in 2016, they married and bought a home together.

"She's spent more than $400,000 over here on a home and cars," he said.

"Now I'm living here, she's living over there... How are we ever supposed to prove we're stable and genuine?"

The visa struggles have cost $9430.