March 25

Testimonial from Susana Nascimento

A big dream that was realized with our help! We are grateful for your trust, Susana! May your life here in New Zealand be incredibly happy.

I am Brazilian from the interior of SP and graduated in nursing. In 2009 I arrived in NZ with my fiance Leandro, a biomedic and scientist, also Brazilian. We came after our dreams!

New Zealand has always been our first choice. We always had great references from my cousin Ligia, a Brazilian who lived in Auckland for 4 years when we arrived. So we arrived with a tourist visa and ventured into this wonderful quest to acquire professional and life experience. Wow, how many difficulties! I get emotional just remembering! The money was barely enough to keep us going and our English was not fluent, but we remained resilient.

Don't they say the world conspires when we really want something? So; the universe sent us our dear Tania Camargo, founding director of the agency – Vida Feliz which offers complete and integrated Education and Immigration services in NZ. She was our mentor and helped us make small to big decisions that were paramount in our lives! Under her guardianship and guidance, we won, in the first year, the “Working Holiday” visa. This visa gave us the right to work and study in the country for a period of 12 months.

At the same time, we began a difficult and time-consuming stage. We strive to validate our health care qualifications. One year passed and we were still not allowed to practice our profession. We remained united and worked hard to be able to pay the high costs of recognizing our diplomas. We save to eat and cut out all kinds of superfluous items. Discouragement knocked on our door countless times, but one encouraged the other to continue the fight! Tania, our guardian angel, suggested that I enroll at the Cornell Institute in a 12-month Professional Cooking course. This was the best cost-benefit option for us to remain in the country. Through the course, I obtained a student visa with permission to work 20 hours a week. During the course I worked in a Brazilian restaurant preparing caipirinha and in an Asian as a waitress at night and studied in the morning. Learning the trade of professional cooking also allowed my fiance to get a visa to work. It was at the University of Auckland that he exercised, at that time, the profession of “research assistant”.

New horizons were dawning! With the course completed, the documentation legalized to act as a health professional and safer with the language, I found the opportunity to work in a Traumatic Rehabilitation Clinic in Auckland. The clinic offered me greater qualifications through several courses. Start a career as a rehabilitation technician, dealing with highly complex patients, a fantastic experience!

It was through this same institution that I got my residency in the country, the so dreamed of “Green Card”, so known by many. I currently work at Middlemore Hospital as a nursing assistant alongside the nursing staff of the largest emergency department in Australasia, and taking courses in the area of Biological Sciences at Auckland University of Technology. This way I will be able to specialize as an anesthesia technician, a promising profession, although it is only recognized in England, Australia and here in NZ. After 8 years living in NZ, I want to win this challenge again!

Today I am married, happy with my husband and about to get my New Zealand citizenship. We enjoy an excellent quality of life with our dear Brazilian friends who also live here. New Zealand gave me the greatest gift in the world: my Sophia, now almost 2 years old!

I leave a loving advice: keep your dreams alive, study the language in advance if you want to live in another country, seek help from immigration specialists and come willing to overcome obstacles, it's worth it!!!!


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