Olivia Ng and Yudi Suseno moved from Indonesia to Invercargill in February 2019 to complete a master’s in applied health sciences wellness and rehabilitation at the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT).
When Ms Ng got her diploma, the couple applied for a post-study working visa which allowed them to live and work in the country lawfully for three more years.
Both became passionate members of the community, carrying out fundraising and charity work, and working at F45 gym.
Mr Suseno also became a part-time tutor in sport and exercise at SIT.
However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the owner of the gym decided to put the business on the market as he planned to move back to Australia, and the couple decided to make a leap of faith and buy the business.
They said they invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the business which employs about 10 New Zealanders and has about 200 members, he said.
"It was something we decided to do to invest in the community.
"It was not a very profitable business," he said.
"It was more like a passion project because we are passionate about health and sport so we took the opportunity because we love here and feel part of the community," she said.
They had no plans to leave, but because the country was in a pandemic, they started to look at options to be lawfully in the country.
When news of the 2021 residency visa came out, they thought it would be the solution for their problems as they understood they were eligible to apply for it.
As their visa would be expiring in January 2022, they decided to apply in the meantime for a student work visa to be able to keep working in New Zealand.
However, they did not expect their proactivity would lead them to become ineligible for the resident visa.
After applying for the residence visa in March, they had their application denied by Immigration New Zealand because they were on a student visa instead of a work visa.
"So because of those two months, the immigration rejected us and that is only because I applied for my post working visa earlier than needed.
"So I feel very frustrated because we were being proactively as we did not want to overstay — we ended being impacted by the bureaucracy and technicality."
Mr Suseno agreed.
He said the situation was even more worrying as the region was struggling for workers.
"If you want qualified people, and people who bring capital to New Zealand, why are you making things so difficult?" he said.
"It just makes no sense. You know, we are both well-educated with master degrees, we both own business, we do a lot for the community."
When approached for comment, Immigration New Zealand border and visa operations general manager Nicola Hogg acknowledged the difficult situation the couple found themselves in and understood the immigration decision would be disappointing for them.
She said that unfortunately by the time when they applied for their 2021 resident visa on March 1 2022, neither of them held an eligible work visa.
Immigration New Zealand’s role was to assess visa applications against the relevant immigration requirements and it had no ability to apply discretion when considering residence applications, she said.
"Unfortunately, community involvement is not taken into consideration when assessing these types of visa applications as it is not a requirement of the visa category."
Ms Hogg said there were other options available for them which included an entrepreneur work visa or they could also look at submitting an expression of interest under the skilled migrant category.
Mr Suseno and Ms Ng said they would try again to apply through those pathways but they confessed they felt a bit "heartbroken" about the situation.
"I understand the point of the immigration but we feel gutted and anxious about this whole thing.
"It can be quite stressful don't know if your future will be here.
"But we will try again because is the only choice as we really love here and believed this is our home."
