Two things of significance happened today.
1. I learned that I am not the sort of person who can call two of my closest friends out of the blue and go “GUESS WHAT I GOT???”, because apparently I’m enough of a wild card that even my sister and my significant other were so utterly perplexed that they ventured tentative speculations ranging from “a pet?” to “a tattoo?” to “a kitten or a puppy?” to “a kitten and a puppy?”. I assumed it would have been obvious what I’d just gotten that I was so damned excited about, but to be fair, I did almost pick up a cat on the side of the road last week and bring it home to live with us, so it’s entirely within the scope of possibility that I could be calling my sister and/or significant other to tell them that I’d just kidnapped someone’s cat and gotten its likeness tattooed on my arm.
In actuality, I was calling to tell them that…
2. I got my Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa!!!!
Yep! I am now allowed to legally work and live in New Zealand for one year. ☺️
I was pulling weeds out of hundreds of potted plants this afternoon–one of the assortment of volunteer jobs that have kept me busy while I’ve been treading the water of the visa waiting game–when an email came through my phone from “onlineservices@mbie.govt.nz,” which I almost ignored because what the hell is that. But the subject line caught my eye: “Your Communication with Immigration New Zealand.”
Immigration. OMG. Could it be…?? I mean; the turnaround time was supposed to be 11 weeks and it’s been 9 weeks, so….
The body of the email just stated my name, date of birth, client number, and application type, casually adding “Attached to this message is a letter about your application with Immigration New Zealand.”
OMGOMGOMG…..
I had to read it several times to make sure I had, in fact, been granted the visa. I was honestly confused by the lack of exclamation points. Despite this being a piece of formal, legal correspondence on Immigration letterhead, I strongly felt that there should have been at least seven exclamation points scattered throughout the document. But it definitely said the words “approval” and “approved,” the former in bold, which I took as Immigration’s way of giving me a secret little thumbs up.
The very first person I told is the extremely funny Australian woman who works at the nursery, who happened to be weeding next to me when the email came in. After responding with enthusiasm and a bunch of s**t yeah!!s and f**k yeah!!s followed by a good on you!!, she asked if I was allowed to work any job in New Zealand. I told her I’m not allowed to work as a prostitute and she said “Awwww. All that hard work and you can’t even follow your dreams”. 🤣
(That’s actually true. Sex work is legal here in NZ, but it specifically states in the fine print of my visa that I am not allowed to engage in prostitution).
What happens next, you ask? Well; I find a job. What kind of job do I want, you ask? That’s an excellent question, and I’ll let you know when I figure that out. For now, the world is my (non-sex-work) oyster. I am utterly delighted and immensely relieved. It has been a celebratory night in our house, a night filled with flowers and chocolate and lots and lots of exclamations of joy when one or the other of us are hit by the realization all over again that I actually got my visa!!
I’d like to extend a massive thank you to all of our friends who wrote letters on our behalf–really beautiful, heartfelt letters–and to my family and friends back home for having always encouraged me to live in my own wild, weird way, to the point where a phone call out of the blue asking “Guess what I got??” leaves you with absolutely not a single goddamned clue. ☺️
That’s bloody awesome news. Congratulations!!!
Thanks, Ian and Bronnie! xoxo
F’yeah… so happy for you !!
…opening a whole new chapter for your life ahead in NZ.
I can not express how happy I am for you with this news.
And… I love the whole planned timeline in the next post 🙂
So pumped you will be there, when I come home!
F’yeah indeed!! I will most certainly be here when you come home. Miss you tons, my friend.
F**K yeah!!!! Good on you!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!
You Go!!! Love following you in this life xox
Alexandra
Thanks so much, Alex! Sending hugs from far off.
Yay!!!! Soooo happy for you. I know it is such a long road. And having to prove you legitimacy is nerve wracking! Many congratulations for putting yourself out there and getting it done ❤️ Supper happy for you both!
Thank you thank you thank you! Your turn now!!
Hooray and congratulations! 🎉🎉🎉🍾
Thank you Suzette!!!
I couldn’t be happier for you, Hilary!!! Instead of exclamation points they could have added footnote about how AWESOME your application was 😉. YOU DID IT!!! 💖
THANK YOU!!! I certainly hope someone got a kick out of reading our story, but I guess I’ll never know. 🙂
“I honestly was confused by the lack of exclamation points”
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You are hilarious and are aptly named, Hil.
You’re such a good cheerleader, Sheila! You’re an invaluable person to have on your side. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!!! <3
Fabulous news this is! Congratulations!
Thank you, Chris!!
Fuck yeah!!!!!
😂 Thank you, Auntie P!!
Congratulations!!!! We are so happy for you guys!♥️xoxo
Thank you, Renee!! Lots of love to you and the family! xoxo
I’m so, so happy for you! And I can’t see what you decide to do work-wise. Sadly apparently it won’t be sex work, but there’s lots of other fun options!!😁👍
Looking forward to the next chapter in your unfolding story!
Ha! Thank you so much. You’ve always been such a big supporter of this insane journey of mine, and I really appreciate it. xoxo
Congratulations!! I immediately guessed it was your visa as I am constantly thinking about visas these days since David is in the process of applying for one. Well done!! This is really an incredible step. I want to be like you when I grow up ( in maturity years that is)! Can’t wait to see where you end up working. Quite a wonderful adventure wouldn’t you agree?? Squeeeeee
Hi Dor!! I love that 14 (?) years after working together at the bookstore, we are both off in the world on our separate visa journeys to live abroad. How freakin’ cool is that! And yes; it’s quite a wonderful adventure indeed. 🙂 xoxo Love ya!! And good luck to David!!