Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway only briefed on arranged marriage visa rule change in October

The Government has backflipped on culturally arranged marriage visa rule changes.

It's promising to right the wrong for 1200 couples who have been kept separate. 

And a fix could have been found a lot sooner had the minister actually known about the problem. 

The precious first moments of a baby's life - watched by her dad halfway across the world

Pardeep Dole is one of those affected by the change.

His baby was born last week in India. But he can only see his child through video. That's because his wife is stuck in India because Immigration New Zealand denied her a visa. 

"[It's] very hard for me because I wasn't there and I didn't see my baby," says Dole. 

He was married in January and applied for a visa for his wife in April. She was pregnant at the time. 

Documents supplied to Newshub show Immigration NZ knew the couple was pregnant but said this "does not demonstrate they have established a life together".

"They are quite unfair," says Dole.

The Doles were victims of a sudden change in policy at Immigration New Zealand that insists couples must have lived together, making it hard for those in arranged marriages. 

There was an uproar and Shane Jones declared war, calling it a "Bollywood overreaction". 

And today, the Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway did a backflip.

The policy was changed in May, with the minister admitting he only got a briefing in early October. 

"They felt that it was a minor change, we have had a conversation about that," says Lees-Galloway.

The Immigration Minister has already dropped the ball once when it came to detail, failing to school-up on the Karel Sroubek case. 

Newshub.