Help Dr. Diana King pay for her visa to stay in New Zealand.

Hi, my name is Dr. Diana King.

I'm an environmental scientist, geologist, and trans woman from the UK who has lived in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2018. During my time here I've contributed significant volumes of important scientific research into sea-level rise and its impacts, as well as contributed to a bunch of research on climate-change mitigation for NZ.

I started HRT almost a year ago after realising I was trans back in 2017. In 2023, after finishing my PhD, I spent 9 months in the UK between jobs, during which I was forced to face up to the fact that my Dad is a right-wing transphobe, and that under the Conservative and now Labour governments in the UK, trans healthcare is getting harder and harder to access, and the media and political landscapes are getting crueler and crueler towards trans people. After getting a job as an environmental scientist in Invercargill, life seemed good for most of the past year, despite not being paid well.

Unfortunately, a vehicle incident I got into in a work vehicle due to severe insomnia led to my work forcing me to move to Christchurch under the threat of me being fired, a move which destroyed my savings and utterly bankrupted me.

Since then, I have basically been living paycheck to paycheck, and there's a severe problem:

My post-study work visa expires in October. And it gets worse. My contract for my job as an environmental scientist ALSO expires in October, the same week my visa expires.

AND IT GETS EVEN WORSE

If I'm to apply for a residency visa (https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/visas/visa/skilled-migrant-category-resident-visa) I need $6,450, which is considerably more money than I actually have or could realistically save up in the next few months (I will be aiming to apply in May since the website says it can take 5 months to process my visa application)!

And it gets even worse.

Because, in addition to these fees, I also need to get an immigration medical assessment, which I don't know the exact cost for.

In 2023, my 9 months back in the UK almost killed me. Without a visa, and with some indeterminate amount of time forced to detransition, I honestly don't think I will mentally be able to survive having to go back there. I think it would kill me.

I need your help. I need your support. Please help me get this visa so I am not forced into a situation that's too horrifying to think about.

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Diana.

p.s. if you're confused about why this is being done in British pounds and lists my location as the UK, GoFundMe doesn't recognise New Zealand as a place you can run funding campaigns from.