My name is Francis Anthony A.

Nillas, 35 years old, and I am the 2nd of the 3 children of

Chirlita A. Nillas (my mom) and Antonio A. Nillas (my dad). My mother used to work as a
Supervisor in Phil Gloves Inc. for 25 years till she resigned due to the transfer of her company to
another place far away from our home in Marikina City, Philippines. My father used to work
overseas in Saudi Arabia as generator mechanic in Saudi Diesel Generators Co. Ltd. hence, the
reason why my mom left the company to have someone looking after us when we were younger,
but unfortunately my dad passed away already in December 2013 after years of working
overseas. I have two sisters, the eldest one is Christine N. Pajares who is now married with 3
kids and working as Financial Consultant in PruLife UK here in the Philippines and our youngest
sister Catherine N. Dongel who is also married with 1 daughter with her husband all the 3 of
them in Singapore and she is working as Network Operations Engineer at Equinix Asia Pacific.
My Family is very supportive about my plans to study in New Zealand and they think that this is
a very good point for my qualifications if ever I want to pursue my career in hospitality industry
somewhere else.

I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration major in Hotel and

Restaurant Management from National College of Business and Arts in the Philippines year
2006 where I learned things on how to operate and work in a Restaurant and as well as in the
Hotel where I have had my On the Job Trainings (O.J.T.). In year 2007 I started working
overseas too just like my father in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and I worked as a Butler in Al
Faisaliah hotel, a 5 star hotel in Riyadh, KSA. I was there for 3 years from March 2007 to March
2010 then, I went back to Philippines to stay for a while and be with my family that I never saw
for 3 years, then after that I moved to Dubai and worked at One & Only the Palm Hotel as a
Senior Host but I did not stay there that long, it was only 6 months from Nov. 2010 to May 2011
because I found the job to be very tough and affecting my health so I went back and stayed in the
Philippines for a while and after 2 months since I came back, I had a job interview for St. Regis
Doha which I passed, and the agency promised me to be deployed in September 2011 but was
moved to November and moved again to December but they got postponed and finallygot the job
in February 2012, I left the Philippines again for St. Regis Hotel in Doha, Qatar and that’s where
I met my boyfriend David Strock through friend of a friend that I also met in Doha who invited
me at a small party. So I was there in Doha from February 2012 to August 2015 working as a
Butler where I met our ex Director of Guest Services Mr. Tony Sharp who moved to St. Regis
Macau and hired me there when I decided to move to another St. Regis property which is in
Macau, China and worked there againas a Butlerfrom September 2015 to May 2017. After
working in Macau, I decided to go back to Philippines and try to look for another job locally and
stay in the Philippines for a while but unluckily I was not able to find one, so I started searching
for work overseas once again and passed a job interview for Saudi Arabia again but my
boyfriend David, convinced me to go back in Doha to be reunited with him so I contacted St.
Regis Doha and luckily they offered me a job to work as a Butler Supervisor which I still do
until now since October 2017. This time I have learned how to supervise and manage people in
our department especially when our Manager left in June 2017 and the Supervisor on duty also
acts as a Manager for our department and this gives me another view for my career and felt like I
want to further develop it somewhere else where I can be me with my boyfriend and I felt that
Qatar is not the best place for that especially for this kind of relationship we have. When I have
been travelling the worldfor leisure together with David, we visited many countries such as
Thailand, UAE, UK, Japan, USA and of course also in the Philippines where he met my Family
several times. We realized to seek an opportunity outside Qatar and it seems like this is the right
time to move forward especially with all the things happening now in the Middle East and the
blockade in Qatar, our companies are affected by these issues going on there.
 One of the reasons I have why I want to study in New Zealand is that it will give me an
international qualification, and taking Diploma in Hospitality Management in Auckland Institute
of Studies which I found through internet search and videos in Youtube, I believe they have what
it takes to lead me in that pathway to success since this is the study I started in the Philippines
and my job experiences are all related to hospitality, I believe this course will empower me and
give me more knowledgethat will surely open doors of opportunity for me to be able to work in
New Zealand and experience the life in a place where my boyfriend and I can be just who we
are. It just really motivates me because this is a chance for me to be with the person I love and at
the same time a chance to develop my career further in a beautiful place and safe environment,
nice weather, and where people are so friendly and speak English fluently and natively which I
think a great way to enhance my English communication skills too.

I am very thankful that David is very supportive about this plan and suggested me to study
first to prepare myself living in New Zealand and he is very much willing to support me morally
and financially while he is still capable of doing this for me.He is currently working as Director
of Operations Reproductive Medicine & Gynecology at Sidra Hospital in Doha, Qatar, and all
the proofs of his identity and capabilities to support me for this study were also ready to be
submitted in case you would like to see it.We’ve known each other for 6 years and we believe
that this is a step forward for our relationship and also a chance for me to get a western
qualification. Sometimes, when we talk about our future, we do talk about putting up a bed and
breakfast business someday since hospitality industry is one of the booming industries now in
New Zealand, I think that with my experience and enhancing it further through studying
Hospitality Managementin AIS will enable me to develop the following;

* Principles of Hospitality Management - which is about the hospitality enterprises fundamentals

and the basic things I need to learnabout different aspects of hospitality such as food and
beverage, service basics, and culture of hospitality especially in this particular part of the world.

* Hospitality and Tourism Strategic Management - this module will give me a reflection on what
I have done for the past decade of working in 5 star hotels both in China and in the Middle East
and what else I can improve by going back again to theories and research.This will enhance my
management skills when it comes to modern day hospitality and finding out on how to be
competitive and innovative enough to stay in this industry.

* Tourism And Hospitality Manangement – there are different departments that run a certain
hospitality establishment but the patterns on how to manage them are practically do not differ
from the others. I believe that this course will enable me to be reminded again of what is the
capacity and influence of tourism and hospitality management.

* Integrated Approach to Hospitality Management – this module will help me understand on

how I can apply the knowledge I learned and put them into practice in order to be able to deal
with the possible issues and eventually figuring out on how to be efficientby being logical
enough in a certain situation during the operation.

This study is going to rekindle the time when I was studying in the Philippines about some
particular subjects that were hard to comprehend because I lack the experience on what the
discussion was about and I really didn’t know that time what its like to be actually working in a
Restaurant or in a Hotel till I had my on the job training, but now its going to be the other way
around because I have these experiences for the past 12 years and now im going back again to
 school to re-assemble those knowledge and information I have learned when I was still in the
school.

This is going to be a perfect opportunity for me to understand things clearer, improve, and
defend a thesis in the end, in a more confident and competent way and hopefully this experience
will eventually give me the chance to improve my career in New Zealand and be one of those
who can contribute something essential for this wonderful country.

After this study, I plan to stay in New Zealand and put into action all the skills and knowledge
that I have learned from my international study. To do this, I will apply for Post Study Work
Visa which has two pathways: First is the Post Study Work Visa (open) which will allow me to
stay in New Zealand for 12 months to work. Having a Level 7 diploma will qualify me to apply
for this visa. Next is Post Study Work Visa (Employer-Assisted). To apply for this visa, I need to
have an offer of employment related to my qualification. I may be allowed to stay for 2 years and
work only in the specific occupation, for the employer and in the location specified on my visa.
If granted this visa, it may provide a pathway for me to later apply for residence under New
Zealand Skilled Migrant Category.

I am fully aware that when granted with the student visa as a full-time student, I am only allowed
to work for a maximum of 20 hours per week and granted full-time during all scheduled vacation
including summer vacation period. I must abide by the rules and regulations set by the New
Zealand Government.

As for the future, in about 5 to 10 years, I see myself as a permanent resident of New Zealand
and already a practicing skilled professional specifically as a Hotel Manager. Since the system
and technology in healthcare is ever revolving for the better, I will keep abreast with these
constant changes by continuous learning to keep up with latest development in the hospitality
industry.

Your assistance in processing my student visa will be greatly appreciated. I hope you will look
favourably on this application. Thank you for your kind consideration and assistance.

Respectfully Yours,

FRANCIS ANTHONY A. NILLAS