During the final post-Cabinet news conference of the year on December 12, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced several changes to the current immigration settings.
One key announcement has brought happiness to many post-study work visa holders stuck overseas due to border closure in 2020-2021 owing to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Wood has announced that the government has decided to provide a 12-month Open Work Visa for approximately 1,800 people who held a post-study work visa who missed out because of the border closure during the pandemic.
It may be noted that hundreds of people held a valid NZ post-study work visa after completing a tertiary qualification but were stuck overseas, many in India, and had their visas expired now, which meant they had lost their ability to work in NZ. These people have been demanding this government for a long to have some pathway for them.
Indian Weekender spoke to a few post-study work visa holders who got stuck in India, and they seemed delighted by the news.
One such person is Charanjeet Singh, currently in Chandigarh after getting stuck in India due to the border closure. Singh travelled to India in January 2020 to meet his ailing mother, who had undergone heart surgery and had his flights booked for NZ for March 28'20 but the NZ border closed suddenly a week prior due to the global pandemic.
He says, "I am very pleased with the announcement, but they could have done it earlier. However, I am still waiting for this government to announce more details about how and when we can apply. We have been waiting for this day for years now. I wish the government would have also made us eligible to apply under the one-off residence visa programme, as we would have been eligible if we had not been stuck in India. We have to start fresh, but it is a great move.”
Another heart touching story is that of Madhukar Gangani, who travelled to Ahmedabad, Gujarat on 29 February’ 2020 to get married on 19 March 2020 and had his return ticket booked for 25 March’ 2020. But all his plans went for a toss as the NZ border closed which forced him to stay in Ahmedabad since then.
He says, “ I am so relieved that finally there is a hope for me to get back to NZ where I had been staying since 2015. These three years have been really tough but as they say better late than never, this news is welcomed. I hope to start a new life in NZ with my wife. Just waiting for the Immigration NZ to announce give out more details.”
The 33-year-old Amandeep Kaur Dhillon, another post-study work visa holder stuck in India, says, "I wanted to pinch myself after I got to know the news". She had travelled to India to visit her family and get her original education certificates, not knowing she would be in India for years.
Dhillon, who has been in Ludhiana since February 2020, expresses her happiness, saying, "I am really excited, and this news is like a ray of hope for me to get back to NZ. It is better late than never, and I am happy that finally, our prayers have been heard by this government. I hope the government also announces some good news for other temporary visa holders like those on student or partnership visas who got stuck due to the pandemic."
Sailing in the same boat is Ramandeep Kaur, 34, who reveals that she had lost all hope in this government but yesterday changed everything. She has been in India since November 2019 and was due to fly on March 21' 2020...just days before the border closure. Talking to Indian Weekender from Sangrur, Punjab, she says, “In the last few years, we all had suffered a lot – mentally, emotionally and even physically, and had lost hope that we will ever return to NZ. We had even done so many protests, but nothing worked. But yesterday was the best day as we learned about the announcement. Having said that, there is a lot of information that we still need. I still don't know whether I am among the 1800 eligible people. I look forward to being in NZ soon and starting my life again."