Want to study in New Zealand as an international student?

The Fee Paying Student Visa is a temporary visa for international students who pay full international tuition fees to study full-time at an approved New Zealand education provider. It covers study at schools, English language schools, private training establishments, polytechnics and universities.

The visa is granted for the length of the study you have paid for, usually one year at a time, up to a maximum of four years. It allows part-time work during term and full-time work in scheduled holidays for most courses, and it lets your partner and dependent children apply for visas if you are studying an eligible course.

It is called “Fee Paying” to distinguish it from the other student visa types: students on a Pathway Student Visa, exchange students, students funded by a foreign government, and the dependent children of visa holders who study as domestic students. Those are covered later in this guide. If you are an international student paying your own way, or a family member or sponsor is paying for you, this is the visa you need.

To be granted the visa you must meet all of the following.

• An offer of place from an education provider approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, for full-time study. The offer has to contain specific information, covered in the next section.
• Tuition fees paid or arranged for the whole course or the first year, whichever is shorter. Fees can be paid by you, a family member, a sponsor, a scholarship or a study loan.
• Enough money to live on while you study, shown through funds, a sponsor or a guarantor. This is the funds rule, and it is where many applications fail.
• Genuine intentions to study, and to comply with the conditions of your visa. INZ assesses this on the whole of your application, not one document.
• Health and character. Chest X-ray certificates and police certificates depending on your length of stay and where you have lived.
• Acceptable medical and travel insurance for the full length of your stay. Your education provider will usually arrange this, but you must hold it. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students do not need insurance.
• Care arrangements if you are under 18. Students aged 9 and under must live with a parent or legal guardian, or in an approved school hostel. Students aged 10 to 17 must live with a parent or guardian, in an approved hostel, or in accommodation the school has approved.
• A passport valid for at least three months beyond the end of your intended stay.

There is no upper age limit for a Fee Paying Student Visa, and English language ability is set by your education provider, not by INZ.

The offer of place is the anchor document. INZ checks it against everything else in your application, and an offer that is vague or incomplete slows the whole file. Your offer must be from a provider on INZ’s approved list and must state:

• Your full name, and the name and contact details of the provider
• The name of the course, its level on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework, and its duration with start and end dates
• Whether the course is full-time, and the number of hours or credits
• The total tuition fee and whether this has been paid
• A declaration from the provider that they have checked you can meet the course’s entry requirements, including English, and that you have the academic ability to succeed

Two details catch people out. The provider must be approved for international students, not simply a registered education provider, and the offer of place must be an unconditional one – that is, you have met all academic requirements to take the course. If your offer of place is conditional on meeting an English requirement, you cannot be approved a visa for that course.

INZ needs to be satisfied that you can pay for your study and support yourself without working more than your visa allows. The living costs requirement is:

• NZD 20,000 for each year of study, or NZD 1,667 for each month if your course is shorter than a year, for tertiary and English language students.
• NZD 17,000 for each year, or NZD 1,417 a month, for students at primary or secondary school.

You will also need to show that you have funds to pay for your tuition fee.

If your course lasts more than one year, you do not need to have all of the money in hand now. What INZ needs to be satisfied of is that funding for your tuition fees and living costs will be available for the whole time you are in New Zealand. If you cannot show the full amount today, show how the money will become available. For example, if your parents have a high ongoing annual income, evidence of that income can be used.

Unless your tuition fees or living costs have already been paid or covered, you can usually show your funds through one or more of the following ways:

Your own funds

Bank statements showing the money is available to you and has been held for a reasonable period. INZ looks not just at how much money there is, but also where the money came from. Funds that appeared in the account shortly before the application, with no explanation of their source, are a common reason a student visa is declined. A large deposit from a relative may be acceptable, but the relationship and the source of their money need to be proven.

A sponsor

A sponsor is an acceptable individual or organisation who completes Immigration New Zealand’s online sponsorship process or required sponsorship form and takes responsibility for your accommodation and living costs while you are in New Zealand. An individual sponsor must be a New Zealand citizen or resident and must be a family member or friend. If you are a citizen of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal or Bhutan and you are applying from one of those countries, only immediate family can sponsor you or provide a financial undertaking. For this purpose, immediate family means your partner, parents, siblings, grandparents or parents-in-law.

A financial guarantor

This is a commonly used option because your guarantor can be overseas. A parent, another relative, a close family friend or an organisation outside New Zealand can agree to support you. They complete INZ’s Financial Undertaking for a Student form and provide evidence that the money is genuinely their own.

INZ looks at the strength of your relationship with your guarantor, so prove the connection as well as the money. A parent is usually straightforward. A family friend needs more explaining.

If you are a citizen of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal or Bhutan and you are applying from one of those countries, only immediate family can provide a financial undertaking for you. Immediate family means your partner, parents, siblings, grandparents or parents-in-law.

The Funds Transfer Scheme

For students from certain countries, INZ runs a scheme where you transfer a year’s living costs to a New Zealand bank account and receive it back in monthly instalments once you arrive. It is designed for applicants whose bank documents are hard for INZ to verify, and it removes most of the argument about source of funds. More information is available on the INZ website.

What INZ is really checking

Whether the money is real, whether it is genuinely available for you to use, and whether it will still be there when you need it. Statements in a language other than English need certified translations. Fixed deposits, education loans and property valuations may be acceptable in the right circumstances, but each needs a document showing the funds can actually be drawn on for your study. Where the picture is unclear, INZ may interview you, ask for more evidence, or decline.

Every student visa applicant must satisfy INZ that they are a bona fide applicant: someone whose real purpose is to study, who will comply with their visa conditions, and who will leave New Zealand at the end of their stay unless they qualify for another visa. INZ assesses this across the whole application, and this is where the statistics turn against applicants from some countries.

INZ looks at whether the course makes sense based on your previous study and work, whether the choice of New Zealand and this provider is reasonable, whether your plans afterwards are realistic, and whether everything in your file, including any interview, tells the same story. An applicant with a business degree applying for a Level 4 cookery certificate, or a 35-year-old with a decade of career experience applying for a foundation course, will be asked to explain why.

Your study plan is where you explain it. INZ does not publish a template, and the plans that fail are the ones that could have been written by anyone: better opportunities, world class education, global exposure. Our Student Visa Study Plan Guide sets out what INZ assesses in the plan, the five things a strong plan covers, and the mistakes that lead to declines, including plans the applicant did not write themselves.

Two points worth knowing: If you intend to look for work in New Zealand after you graduate, say so, because a Post Study Work Visa pathway exists for many qualifications and INZ knows it. What INZ objects to is a plan that says one thing while the rest of the application suggests another. And your provider’s own recruitment materials are not evidence of your intentions. Your reasons have to be yours.

Police certificates: the 2026 rule

If you are 17 or older and intend to stay in New Zealand for 24 months or more, you need police certificates from your country of citizenship and from every country you have lived in for five years or more since the age of 17. In 2026, INZ changed how it handles them: police certificates must be included when you lodge the application, and if one is missing INZ will generally decline rather than ask for it. Certificates must be less than six months old when INZ receives them. Police certificate processing times vary widely by country, so order them before you have the offer of place if you can. Applicants from Fiji, Hong Kong and Israel, whose certificates are sent to INZ directly, can lodge with proof they have applied. INZ’s notice on the rule is here.

Medical certificates

What you need depends on how long you intend to stay and where you have lived. If you are staying more than 6 months and you are from a country where tuberculosis (TB) is prevalent, you need an INZ Chest X-ray Certificate if you are aged 11 or over. Certificates must be less than three months old when INZ receives them. These are completed by an INZ approved panel physician, and in most countries the results are sent to INZ electronically.

Full fee-paying students do not usually need to provide a General Medical Certificate. However, INZ may ask you to provide a medical examination, chest X-ray, or both, when you apply or while your application is being processed, including where your health answers or previous medical evidence raise concerns.

Yes, within limits, and only if your visa conditions allow you to work. The work rights rules changed on 3 November 2025.

Your work rights are included as a condition on your visa. If your visa does not say you can work, you cannot, even if your course qualifies, unless you obtain a variation of conditions or a new visa with work rights. Working more hours than your visa allows is a breach of conditions and can affect your current visa and future applications. INZ may find out about this when it asks for your bank statements or tax records in a future visa application.

The visa is granted for the period of study you have paid for, up to 12 months at a time for most students and up to four years in total. Multi-year courses usually mean applying again each year, from inside New Zealand, before your current visa expires.

Each subsequent application is assessed again. INZ looks at attendance and progress in the year just finished, evidence that fees for the next year are paid or arranged, and living funds for the coming year. A student who failed courses, changed provider, or worked beyond their hours will be asked to explain. If you apply before your current visa expires, INZ normally grants an interim visa that keeps you lawful while the decision is made, but an interim visa does not always carry the same work rights, so check your interim visa conditions.

If you are in New Zealand holding a visitor visa, work visa or student visa and you apply for a new student visa, your interim visa will allow “open” student visa conditions which will allow you to begin studying the course for which you have applied for a student visa. However, the risk is that, if INZ declines your student visa application, you will need to stop studying and you may forfeit some or all of your tuition fees. Our advice is to apply for a student visa well in advance of your current visa’s expiry date.

It depends on what you are studying. Your partner can usually apply for a visitor visa to be with you while you study, but they cannot work on a visitor visa. Your partner may be able to apply for a Partner of a Student Work Visa only if you are studying an eligible qualification, such as a Level 9 or 10 qualification, or an eligible Level 7 or 8 qualification specified by INZ. For Level 7 or 8 study, this generally means a qualification linked to the Green List, a qualification on INZ’s Post Study Work Visa eligibility list, or a Long Term Skill Shortage List qualification where the study started on or before 7 September 2022.

Dependent children can usually apply for visitor visas to be with you while you study. A school-aged child on a visitor visa can study for up to three months in any calendar year. A Dependent Child Student Visa may be available only in limited situations, such as where the student parent is studying a PhD at a New Zealand university, studying under a New Zealand Government-approved exchange scheme, or holding a Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship. In other cases, the child may need a different visa, including a Fee Paying Student Visa, if they will study for longer than three months.

Bringing family members usually increases the evidence needed for funds, health and character. For example, a Partner of a Student Work Visa applicant must show at least NZD 4,200 for living costs. Visitor visa applicants have their own funds requirements, usually assessed by the length of stay.

Most international students hold a Fee Paying Student Visa. These are the alternatives, and who they are for.

Pathway Student Visa

One visa covering up to three consecutive courses with approved pathway providers, for up to five years. It suits students who will move from English language study to a foundation course and then a qualification. From 20 July 2026 the visa became more flexible: eligible students can change academic discipline without applying for a new visa if they stay with the same provider and qualification type, pathways at Levels 1 to 4 are now covered, and first-time holders can study English for up to 30 weeks before their main course, up from 20. Not every provider offers it. See INZ’s Pathway Student Visa page.

Dependent Child Student Visa

For children of people holding certain work, student and other visas, letting them attend a New Zealand school as a domestic student rather than paying international fees. Eligibility depends on the parent’s visa type.

Exchange Student Visa

For students on an approved exchange programme between a New Zealand institution and an overseas one, where tuition is usually waived.

Foreign Government Supported Student Visa

For students funded by a scholarship or loan from their own government.

Domestic student status

Some visa holders and their families qualify as domestic students, paying domestic fees and holding a different visa. This is a status rather than a visa type, and it is worth checking before you pay international fees.

Student visa declines cluster around a handful of causes, and almost all of them are preventable before lodgement.

• Funds that cannot be traced. Money deposited shortly before the application with no explanation of its source, statements that do not match the sponsor’s stated income, or a sponsor with no documented relationship to the applicant.
• A generic study plan. Reasons that could apply to anyone, a course that does not follow from the applicant’s history, or plans after study that are vague or contradict the rest of the file.
• A missing police certificate. Since 2026, INZ generally declines rather than requests. Lodging without one because it has not arrived yet is now a decline risk.
• Lodging too late. INZ received about 20 percent more student applications in 2026 than in 2025 and has asked students to apply at least three months before travel. Applications lodged a month before the course start may not be decided in time for an overseas applicant to travel to New Zealand and begin studies. INZ will not prioritise such applications.
• Inconsistency. Different dates, different employment history, or different reasons in the study plan, the sponsorship form and the interview. One inconsistency is usually enough for INZ to doubt the whole file.
• Working beyond your hours on a previous visa, or a previous visa breach, which INZ will see when assessing a subsequent application.

When INZ has concerns, it will usually write first, either requesting further information or setting out potentially prejudicial information and giving you a deadline to respond. Our PPI and RFI Letters Guide explains what those letters mean and how much time you have. If the application has been declined, the options depend on whether you applied from inside or outside New Zealand. Our Reconsideration Requests Guide covers the onshore route.

The visa application fee is from NZD 850 when you apply online, with lower fees for some nationalities and application routes. Check the current figure on INZ’s Fee Paying Student Visa page. On top of the fee, budget for medical examinations, police certificates, certified translations, any English test your provider requires, and your medical and travel insurance for the full length of your stay.

Processing times change through the year, with the busiest period from October to March ahead of the main intakes. INZ publishes a live figure for student visas, and in 2026 has asked all students to apply at least three months before their intended travel date. Check the current wait time on INZ’s student visa wait times page and lodge a complete application, because a file that needs a request for information joins a slower queue.

How much money do I need to show for a New Zealand student visa?

Living expenses:

NZD 20,000 for each year of study, or NZD 1,667 a month for shorter courses, on top of your tuition fees. School students need NZD 17,000 a year. The money must be traceable to a legitimate source.

Tuition fees: The amount of the fee specified in the offer of place, plus additional funds to pay for continuing studies OR evidence of the ability to pay for continuing studies.

How many hours can I work on a student visa in New Zealand?

Up to 25 hours a week during term for eligible courses, and full-time in scheduled breaks if your course is full-time and lasts at least one academic year, meaning at least 120 credits over at least eight months with a minimum of two semesters. Research master’s and doctoral students have no limit. The right must be written on your visa.

How long does a student visa take to process?

It varies by time of year, type of education provider, and how complete the application is. Check INZ’s live student visa wait times and apply at least three months before you need to travel.

Can I apply for a student visa from inside New Zealand?

Yes, if you hold a valid visa. Students already in New Zealand applying for a further student visa with a new provider or course are prioritised by INZ so that they can start on time.

Do I need IELTS for a New Zealand student visa?

INZ does not set an English test requirement for most Fee Paying Student Visa applicants. Your education provider sets the English entry requirement for your course and declares in the offer of place that you meet it. English language school students who want work rights do need a qualifying test score.

Can I change course or provider on my student visa?

Usually only with a new student visa, which you must hold before you start the new course. Changing to a course at the same provider and level may be possible with a variation of conditions. Check before you enrol.

What happens if my student visa is declined?

INZ will tell you why in the decline letter. If you applied from inside New Zealand you may be able to request reconsideration within 14 days. If you applied from overseas there is no reconsideration, and the route is a new application that addresses the reasons given. Getting advice before you reapply matters, because a second decline is harder to overcome.

Does a student visa lead to residence?

Not directly, but it is the start of a recognised pathway. Most graduates move to a Post Study Work Visa, then to an Accredited Employer Work Visa or a residence application under the Skilled Migrant Category once they have skilled work.