IT’S BEEN A WHIRLWIND of sorts for quite a few kabayan who’ve taken advantage of the One-Off Resident Visa scheme that the New Zealand Government made available as a residency pathway early last year. As the name of the pathway implies, special conditions prevailing right after the Covid lockdown allowed more than 88,000 migrants to become permanent residents. (this is roughly half of the number of applicants). Around a quarter of this number are expected to be Filipinos, who both under the pandemic and their own merit, richly deserve to be Kiwis as well as Filipinos in view of their contributions to the country in very trying times.
Under a different resident pathway, most of our kabayan currently in NZ would’ve become residents anyway but some had been delayed for some time for one reason or another. Others had been trying in vain to be officially part of their adopted land but fell short due to legal or technical reasons, with the One-Off being a Godsend for them.
I thought it would be interesting to know how our countrymen reacted the moment they received probably the most momentous news of their lives going forward.
Called his mother back home. “May sakit na ang inang ko at di na sya nakakarinig nang maayos. Pero una ko pa rin syang tinawagan. Sya ang nagpaaral sa akin simula’t sapul. Sinaway at dinisiplina nya ako nung nagkabarkada ako at nawalan ng interes sa pag-aaral. Sya rin ang humikayat sa kin na mag-vocational at mag TESDA. Sya na rin ang umutang para makapag New Zealand ako. Ni minsan ay di sya humingi ng kapalit, makita lang nya na maayos ang buhay ko ay happy na sya. Lahat ng narating ko sa New Zealand, utang na luob ko sa kanya. Di na rin nya lubos na naintindihan yung balita ko, pero masaya na rin sya para sa kin. Mahal kita Inay.” (from a scaffolder Pinoy in his mid-20s)
Took it slow. Nagleave ako at sinabi kong baka makahawa ako sa opisina, di na nagtanong kung anung nangyari, alam mo na delikadong maghawaan. Nagmuni-muni lang ako at nag-ikot ikot, di ko na alam kung saan ako nakarating nung araw na yun. Matagal ko rin kasing hinintay na makaresidency at ilang beses rin akong nabigo at nalagay sa alanganin dahil napasubo na sa pera at panahong naigugol. Akala ko wala na akong pag-asa nung pinahintay ako at pinaulit-ulit ang paghahanap ng kung anu-anong requirements. Nagbunga rin. Nung nakarecover ako tinawagan ko barkada ko sa Middle East sa Canada at Pilipinas. Kalat na’ng tropa sa buong mundo pero nagtatawagan pa rin. Sabi nila pinakamaganda raw New Zealand. (from an IT specialist)
Thanksgiving. Napakalaking blessing ito sa amin. Unang-una, di ako nakalusot sa mga naunang pathway na inapplyan ko. Tapos overage na ako nung nagqualify sa huling visa application ko, balik-Pinas na lang ang natitirang option naming mag-anak. Walang skill at age maximum yung One-Off, kinailangan lang na 3 years ako rito sa NZ, eh sobra-sobra na ang pag-stay ko rito.
Nagsimba kami at nagspecial intention kami sa parokya namin sa New Zealand at sa aming probinsya, sobra-sobra ang aming pasasalamat di lang sa Diyos kundi sa lahat ng sumoporta at nanalig sa amin. (from a Filipino family denied residency elsewhere).
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Various reactions from various walks of life, but a common thread runs through them: kung uukol, bubukol. (If it’s meant to be, so shall it happen.) Hard work pays off. And above all, trust in a Higher Power.
Congrats to all, mabuhay kayo, and mabuhay New Zealand and the Philippines.
