What happened after coming back to Slovakia?
As I mentioned in the previous post, after a year in New Zealand we had to pack up and go back to Slovakia. Because our Working Holiday Visa has expired and no one can have these visas twice!
We returned to Slovakia in September 2014 and we didn’t know what to do next. Where and what we are going to do. We stayed with my fiancé’s family. Approximately three weeks later, we decided to return to the NZ. We started searching the internet, the immigration site of New Zealand, and wherever it was possible. We have found that New Zealand has created the ‘shortage list’ where are the most needed occupation of New Zealand. In the first post I wrote that my fiancé Igor worked in a tyre service as a car mechanic. Fortunately, this profession was on the list. That was great news, we had hope. So without hesitation we contacted Igor’s boss in the NZ where he worked.
It was not easy!
It began to be much more complicated when we started searching and writing the right forms. We didn’t know which forms to write so we spent about a month just looking for the right ones. My forms were completely different than Igor’s. Because he asked for a Work Visa and I had to have a Partner Work Visa. We had to prove we were together for at least two years. We thought it would be easy to send some photos of our holiday together, unfortunately photos were not enough to prove it.
In that year, we have been together for nearly six years, but it’s also not easy to prove. They asked us for a joint bank account, that we could not give them because we both had our own. They also demanded proof that we are living at the same address for at least one year. We also did not have to prove it because we both come from villages that are 6 miles apart. I never changed my address for permanent residence because it was not necessary, we were live so close. It’s true that I’ve been with them for more than a year in one house, but we have not had the proof that we were living in one house.
We also had to go through all the examinations.
Every single day it seemed more difficult and impossible to achieve. We really thought we could not get those visas.
It took us about 5 months. After 5 months, we finally met all the requirements and my fiancée got Work Visas and I Partner Work Visas, for the next three years until March 2018. In June 2015, we went back to New Zealand.
And you know what?
Right now is July 2018 , and we are still here in the NZ, even though our visas have expired in March 2018. How is it possible?
At the end of 2017, we decided to try again and we asked for an extension of our Visas. It was much easier than last time. In less than a month, we heard from the immigration office that we had extended visas by September 2020. We were very lucky! My fiancé is still working in the same tyre service and I am an early childhood teacher.
So that’s it. This is how we managed to get and stay in the NZ.
We are really happy that we did not give up even when it seemed impossible. At least you can see that everything is possible.
Always follow your dreams, no matter how hard it is.
We’ll see what’s next in 2020. I’ll let you know.
My previous post: WHY WE MOVED TO NEW ZEALAND
Stay with me.
Love, Ms.Barbora xoxo