A Queenstown ballet and dance teacher is fighting deportation.
Russian-born Marianna Dogum arrived in town last August on a six-month visa.
Her application for a new work visa has been rejected by Immigration NZ and she could be kicked out of the country.
The 26-year-old has appealed on humanitarian grounds to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
Ms Dogum teaches up to 50 students in Queenstown, Arrowtown and Cromwell through Arrowtown School of Russian Ballet and Creative Arts, owned by her Kiwi partner and his mother.
Ms Dogum is the only Russian Ballet Society-registered teacher in NZ, specialising in its traditional Legat system. She also teaches and performs belly dancing and has formed a small dance group for functions.
"I cannot give up on this school,'' she said.
"We've put so much effort into it; it's working so well.''
In a supporting letter, Queenstown Performing Arts Centre Trust trustee Craig McLachlan, whose wife, Yuriko, is a student, wrote that she was "an excellent dance teacher with an avid group of followers here in Queenstown''.
Local parent and singing teacher Margaret O'Hanlon, whose daughter has been taught by Ms Dogum, said in her letter: "I have watched her working tirelessly and passionately, devoting many hours to advancing the skills and technique of students who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to work with such an advanced teacher.''
Immigration NZ told Ms Dogum in March her employment agreement was incomplete.
In her appeal, she said her partner sent the wrong file on her first application and that she had since sent "the correct file containing the up-to-date employment contract''.
Ms Dogum said: "You can't just decline a visa just because of a contract and because you think there's something not right.''
Immigration NZ area manager Michael Carley said Ms Dogum's visa application was declined because she did not meet the requirements.
It was not satisfied her employment contract complied with all relevant immigration and employment laws, he said, including holiday and special leave requirements.
Mr Carley said no "compliance action'' would be taken until the tribunal had made its decision.
-By Philip Chandler
