Ivett Kerekes moved with her husband and three children from Kecskemét to New Zealand in 2017 on a businessman visa. The family runs a catering and event business called Anzil, and they’ve managed to incorporate in the years since. This may have been an everyday story, but the Kerekes’ situation took a turn on November 28: to their greatest surprise, New Zealand’s Immigration Office rejected their application for residency, describing their story in things.
Kereks family – Photo: Anzel’s Facebook page
The Immigration Office justified its decision by saying that the Hungarian family did not fulfill all the work requirements of the entrepreneur’s residence visa. In the days since then, the Hungarian family is doing everything they can to stay in the country.
They launched a petition for their residence, which was signed by more than 43,000 people within a few days.
“My 7-year-old said to me, ‘Mom, do you think these people think we’re not good enough, that’s why we have to leave?'” Kerekes said. It was hard for them to live with the rejection, he said, all he could tell his son was that they might not have gone through their papers well enough. “Maybe they don’t know us well enough.”
The whole process was very frustrating
The family filed the settlement application a long time ago, and Crix described the whole process as endlessly frustrating, because they felt they had to constantly start from the beginning.
Kerekes said that although things didn’t turn out quite as they originally thought, their business was successful, they paid taxes and contributed to their community. Moreover, they donated food at charity events several times and tried to cope.
Despite this, when faced with the fact that their application was refused, they released it out of desperation. that pageWhere the petition can be filled out. Although they thought they were loved in the community, they didn’t expect such a quick response and so much support either.
The family can still appeal to the local immigration office within 42 days of receiving the refusal. As Kereks told the newspaper:
“Let’s do what we decide. Let’s work here. Let’s be a part of people’s lives through our actions.”
