Bethal Muzaya arrived in Ireland in three years ago to take up a role as a healthcare assistant.
Grounds for a visa under the General Employment Permit meant Ms Muzaya had to secure accommodation, which she did.
She took up her new role working with autistic children and after 12 months, she set about applying for a family reunification visa for her husband and two children.
Her application was denied, so she appealed.
She has been waiting 18 months for a decision on that appeal.
Then, in August, she received devastating news that her husband had died suddenly, leaving her children without a surviving parent in Zimbabwe.
Visibly upset, she said it was raw, that she was still mourning: "I don't know what to do anymore, my kids are back home, they need me, I need them and now that they've lost their father, I'm the only surviving parent."
Unlike workers like Ms Muzaya, highly skilled workers who have Critical Skills Employment Permits do not have to wait for family reunification.
This afternoon a rally was held outside Leinster House to highlight the inequality between two cohorts of working migrants.
As a taxpayer, Ms Muzaya feels the situation is hugely unfair.
"There are people on a Critical Skills Worker Permit and they get to have their families immediately.
"Why can't we also because we're also in work, we have our own accommodation, we've everything all sorted out, even before we apply for visas."
Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, which organised the rally, has called for the removal of the waiting period.
Campaigns coordinator Dave Gibney pointed out that employers who hire the workers want the policy changed and workers also want the policy changed.
"We don't understand the logic to it, there doesn't appear to be logic. We know from our economic analysis that migrant workers already contribute hundreds of millions of euro in taxes to this society.
"If they were allowed to bring their spouses in, those spouses would also work which would mean we'd have hundreds of millions more."
Reunification income thresholds above basic healthcare salaries
Income thresholds are also an issue for migrants which are a difficulty for healthcare workers in particular.
Shiji Monsi's children remain in India because the salary threshold to bring one child is €36,000.
The threshold for two children is €42,000.
The basic salary of healthcare workers is between €30,000 and €33,000.
Ms Monsi said that the income threshold was "impossible" to meet.
The Department of Justice has said there are "two separate well-advanced pieces of work under way in the department relating to family reunification".
A spokesperson said that one is looking at the department's policy document for non-EEA family reunification that people who have arrived in the State through various legal pathways.
Read more:
Migrant workers urge change to family reunification rules
This policy was last amended in 2016.
The policy document sets out conditions for a sponsor to apply for a family member to be reunited with them in general terms.
A sponsor must demonstrate their capacity to provide for their family member.
The other piece of work is looking at family reunification provisions for people granted International Protection.
The department has said these provisions are under review in the context of changes to asylum policy and the implementation of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
She said Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan will be bringing both reviews to Cabinet next week.
