We were really excited to hear about the new announcement regarding the one-off visa but then, were very depressed after reading the eligibility criteria and conditions. This petition is to expand for students who entered New Zealand after 2018 and now under post study work visa suffering equally in the pandemic. 

• Paid full fees for education but failed to utilise benefits because of pandemic.
• Very hard finding jobs with post study work visa due to pandemic.
• We are having the same impact of mental stress, family detachment and depression like others who are now eligible for one-off resident visa 2021.

Only because we don't fall under long term short skilled category, doesn't mean we are unskilled people. We did not get a proper platform to showcase our talent as we were not preferred to get hired during COVID.Despite all these struggle, some people managed to be working in skilled category who are also not eligible.

Most of these people served as essential workers for NZ despite risking their lives during COVID. The main purpose of this visa is to acknowledge people who suffered during this crisis, but we feel it did not serve equal justice as it did for other eligible people. 

Is it fair to exclude us from this visa, though we served and suffered in NZ from the start of the pandemic till now just only because we were not here in 2018?