Student Visa
You can apply for a ‘Fee Paying Student Visa’ category to study in New Zealand if you meet all the required criteria. You should apply for a student visa at least 3 months before the start date of your course. You will get decision on your student visa application within 4-6 weeks’ time. Your Student Visa is normally for the same length of time as the study you’ve paid for.
Money you need
You must have enough money to pay for your course and support yourself in the New Zealand. How much money you need depends on your circumstances and what you’re applying for.
Course fee
You need enough money to pay for your course. The amount you need to pay will be on your Offer Letter.
Money to support yourself (‘financial requirement’)
You’ll need to show you have enough money to support yourself. You are expected to show evidence covering yourself for 12-month living costs which is NZD $15,000.
Onward Travel
Proof that you have enough money to buy a ticket out of New Zealand, in addition to the funds you have to live on.
Evidence you can provide for your funds
Banking information
You can provide bank statements for the past 6 months, copies of relevant bank deposit statements or certificates, statements or certificates showing fixed term deposits at least 6 months old.
Information about assets or loans
You can provide an education loan sanction letter from an acceptable financial institution, stock transaction reports, or sale of property agreements.
Loan sanction letters
We only accept education loans from nationalised or multi-national banks that are secured against fixed assets that belong to you or your financial guarantor.
If you provide a loan sanction letter it must mention the security, moratorium period which shows – how long before you need to start repaying the loan, interest payable, repayment, and details or a copy of the security offered for the loan. You also need to provide evidence of how you will repay the loan.
Provident fund accounts
We only accept public or employee provident fund accounts if they are supported by documents confirming your employment such as an Income Tax Return, Form 16, salary statements or a employer reference letter from your employer.
Information about your income
You can provide tax returns that show your income and saving patterns, evidence of income generated from your assets — for example, if you own a rental property provide proof of ownership and evidence of the tax you have paid on the income, statements showing income generated from employment — for example a letter from your employer confirming the position you held, how long you were employed for and what you were paid, or if you were self-employed, recent business tax returns with an income statement, or recent bank statements showing daily business transactions.
If you are studying for more than 12 months
If you plan to study in New Zealand for more than a year provide a payment plan that explains how you will fund your future years of study, and evidence to support this that we can verify.
Tertiary students
Part-time work
Your visa conditions will allow you to work up to 20 hours a week if you are doing a full-time course that:
- is at least 2 academic years in duration, or
- is at least 1 academic year in duration and part of an approved tertiary student exchange scheme, or
- results in a New Zealand qualification which gains points under the Skilled Migrant Category.
Full-time work
Your visa conditions will allow you to work full-time during scheduled breaks in study if all of these apply:
- you are studying full-time for at least 1 academic year
- your course is worth at least 120 credits, and
- your course is delivered over a period of at least 8 months (minimum two semesters).
Your visa conditions will allow you to work full-time during the Christmas and New Year holiday period if:
- you are studying full-time, and
- your course has a minimum duration of 2 semesters during a period of at least 8 months.
PhD and Masters by research students
If you are enrolled in Masters by research or doctoral degree programme awarded by a New Zealand tertiary institution, your visa conditions will not have any restrictions on the hours you can work.
Post Study Work Visa
If you have acceptable qualifications(s) that you completed in New Zealand, you can apply for a visa to work here. Depending on your qualification and where you studied, you can work for any employer for between 1 and 3 years, and do almost any work. You can work for any employer and work in almost any job in New Zealand.
You can only apply for this visa once, unless you complete a second higher qualification at bachelor’s degree level or higher. If you complete your study outside Auckland before the end of 2021, your work visa can be valid for 2 or 3 years. Your partner can apply for a work visa and your dependent children can study fee-free as domestic students.
Acceptable qualifications for a Post-study work visa
To apply for a Post-study work visa, you must have a New Zealand qualification.
Work out if your qualification is acceptable
To be acceptable:
you must have studied in New Zealand, and your qualification must be Level 4 or higher on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.
Your qualification is Level 7 or higher
Your qualification at level 7 or higher is acceptable if your course lasted 30 weeks or more.
You studied at Levels 4 to 6
Your Level 4, 5 or 6 qualification is acceptable if you:
- completed it after study of 60 weeks or more, or
- gained 2 qualifications that:
- each involved 30 weeks’ study, and
- the level of your last qualification was higher than the first.
You want to work for longer
You can apply for another Post-study work visa, but only if you complete another qualification in New Zealand that:
- you studied for 30 weeks or more
- is a bachelor’s degree or post-graduate qualification, and
- is at a higher level than the qualification you used to get your previous visa.
How long you can work on a Post-study work visa
You can get a Post-study work visa for 1, 2 or 3 years depending on your qualifications, where you studied and if you are working towards occupational registration.
Check your qualification first
If you studied in Auckland
Confirm that your education provider is in Auckland.
You have a Level 7 qualification or higher
If you have a Level 7 Bachelor’s degree or higher, you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 3 years.
If you have a Level 7 Graduate Diploma, you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 1 year. You can apply to work for 1 more year if you are working towards occupational registration with a registration body included in a list of acceptable registration authorities. For example, teachers need 2 years’ work experience before they can get a full practising certificate.
If you have another Level 7 qualification, you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 1 year.
Your qualification is at Level 4, 5 or 6
If you have 1 or more acceptable qualifications at Levels 4 to 6, you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 1 year.
If you studied outside Auckland
If you have an acceptable qualification that you completed somewhere else in New Zealand before 31 December 2021, then you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 2 or 3 years. If you complete your qualification after 31 December 2021, the length of your visa will be the same as for people who studied in Auckland.
You have a Level 7 qualification or higher
If you have a Level 7 Bachelor’s degree or higher, you can apply for a Post-study work visa to work in New Zealand for 3 years.
If you complete a Graduate Diploma or another Level 7 qualification:
- on or before 31 December 2021, you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 2 years
- after 31 December 2021, you can apply for a Post-study work visa for 1 year.
Your qualification is at Level 4, 5 or 6
If you complete 1 or more acceptable qualifications at Levels 4 to 6:
- on or before 31 December 2021, you can apply for a visa to work in New Zealand for 2 years.
- after 31 December 2021, you can apply for a visa to work in New Zealand for 1 year.
Bringing family if you have a work visa
Most types of work visas allow you to support visas for your partner and dependent children, but there are some restrictions.