Has your New Zealand student visa been declined?

An immigration officer must decline a temporary visa application if they are not satisfied that every requirement of the relevant immigration instructions has been met, and that an exception is not justified. It is not a judgement about you personally. It means something in the merits of your application did not satisfy the officer.

For student visas, the concerns usually sit in one of these areas:

• Funds. The officer is not satisfied you can pay tuition and support yourself for the period applied for, or that the money is genuinely available to you.
• Genuine intentions. The officer is not satisfied your main purpose in coming to or staying in New Zealand is study.
• Your study plan. The officer is not satisfied with your reasons for choosing the course or provider, taking into account matters such as your previous education or training, your study plans and what you intend to do after completing your studies in New Zealand. See the Student Visa Study Plan Guide.
• Attendance and academic progress, on a second or later student visa application. The officer is not satisfied with your previous performance, progress or attendance, or with your explanation for any problems in those areas.
• Enrolment. The offer of place does not meet what INZ requires, or is not from an approved provider.
• Health or character. The officer is not satisfied that you meet the applicable health or character requirements, including where a waiver is required but is not granted.
• Information that was incomplete, inconsistent, or different from what INZ holds on file.

Before declining a student visa application on the basis of potentially prejudicial information, INZ may be required to give you an opportunity to comment. For applicants in New Zealand, potentially prejudicial information includes factual information or material that may adversely affect the outcome of the application. Different rules apply to applicants outside New Zealand. This is commonly referred to as a PPI letter.

A PPI gives you an opportunity to address the concern before INZ makes its decision. If you have received a PPI letter and INZ has not yet made a decision, you still have an opportunity to respond to the concerns before the application is decided. See the PPI and RFI Letters Guide, and get advice while the window is open.

If you are in New Zealand, the immigration officer must give you written reasons for declining the application. Those reasons go to you, or to your licensed immigration adviser or immigration lawyer if you have one.

Read them closely, because everything that follows depends on what they actually say. A decline for insufficient evidence of funds and a decline based on concerns about your genuine intentions may require quite different responses.

After a student visa decline, there may be two important deadlines to deal with at the same time.

14 calendar days to request a reconsideration

If you applied for the student visa while in New Zealand, are still in New Zealand, and still hold a valid visa, you can ask INZ to reconsider the decision. INZ must receive the request no more than 14 calendar days after you receive the decline decision. An interim visa counts as a valid visa for this purpose.

If you are on an interim visa when the application is declined

If you were on an interim visa while your application was assessed, that visa expires 21 days after the decline, or when you leave New Zealand, whichever comes first. When it expires you are unlawful, and the reconsideration route closes with it.

If your student visa application is declined while you are on an interim visa, the interim visa ends 21 calendar days after the decline. It ends sooner if you leave New Zealand. If INZ has not made a decision within six months of the interim visa starting, the interim visa ends at that point. If your existing student visa is still valid when the application is declined, you can remain in New Zealand on that visa until it expires. To request reconsideration, you must still hold a valid visa when you make the request. This can include an interim visa.

If you are on an interim visa when the application is declined, the 14-day reconsideration deadline and the 21-day interim visa expiry period run at the same time, which is why you need to act quickly.

A reconsideration asks INZ to look at the same decision again. It is decided by a different officer at the same level or more senior, and you can put new evidence in front of them.

To be eligible, you must have applied for the student visa while in New Zealand, still be in New Zealand, hold a valid visa when you make the request, and INZ must receive the request no more than 14 calendar days after you receive the decline decision. The decision must not have been made by the Minister.

Two things are worth knowing before you choose this route. You get one reconsideration per decision, and the outcome is final. And lodging it does not extend your right to be here, although INZ will not deport you while it is being decided.

If INZ has not decided your reconsideration before your interim visa expires, you will need to decide whether to leave New Zealand rather than remain here unlawfully while you wait. That is a decision to take with advice, and before the visa runs out rather than after.

If you believe INZ made an error in declining the application, reconsideration may be appropriate. You can also provide further information or evidence with the request. If your circumstances have changed since the decline and you now qualify for the visa, a new application may be the more appropriate option.

Across the five completed financial years from 2021/22 to 2025/26, INZ recorded 548 approved and 592 declined student visa reconsideration decisions, an approval rate of about 48%. The outcome depends on the facts and grounds of each case.

The fee for a reconsideration request is NZD 220.

Working out which of those two situations you are in is the whole decision, and it is worth an adviser’s eye on the decline letter before you spend the one attempt you have. See the Reconsideration Requests Guide for how the process works.

Sometimes. If you still hold a current student or other eligible temporary visa, you may be able to make a new student visa application from within New Zealand.

A new application should address the reasons for the previous decline and include all relevant evidence. INZ considers information from your previous applications and immigration history when assessing genuine intentions.

Timing is critical. If you want to make a new application from within New Zealand, you must do so while you still hold a visa that allows you to apply for another temporary visa.

The options are narrower. If you are outside New Zealand, you do not have the statutory right to request reconsideration that is available to eligible applicants in New Zealand. An immigration officer may nevertheless reconsider an offshore temporary visa decline if new and compelling information is provided promptly, but INZ is not legally obliged to do so.

If your visa has expired and you are still in New Zealand, you are unlawful. Reconsideration is no longer available because you must hold a valid visa when you request it, and you cannot make a standard student visa application from within New Zealand while unlawful.

If you want INZ to grant you a visa while you remain unlawfully in New Zealand, you can make a request under section 61 of the Immigration Act 2009. INZ has no obligation to consider the request, the decision is made in its absolute discretion, and there is no right of appeal against a section 61 decision. A visa cannot be granted under section 61 once a deportation order has been issued.

If you have become unlawful, get advice the same week. See the Section 61 Requests Guide.

A decline itself does not bar you from applying again. What matters is whether the underlying concern has been resolved and whether your applications are consistent with each other.

INZ considers information from your previous visa applications and your immigration history when assessing a new application, so any material differences may need to be explained. If a previous application involved false or misleading information, or relevant information was withheld, future visa applications may also raise character issues and may require a character waiver.

INZ considers each application on its own merits.

Waiting to see what happens

The 14-calendar-day reconsideration window passes while the reasons are being digested. It is the single most common way people lose the best option they had. Once that deadline passes, reconsideration is no longer available

Lodging a reconsideration that does not address the reasons for decline

You only get one reconsideration of the decision. INZ will review the original application and any further information you provide, so the request should directly address why the application was declined.

Applying again without reading the decline properly

The new application answers a different concern from the one INZ actually raised.

Leaving New Zealand while something is still on foot

Travel can end an interim visa and change what is available to you.

Can I appeal a declined student visa in New Zealand?

There is no general right of appeal against a temporary visa decline. If you applied while in New Zealand, are still in New Zealand, hold a valid visa and act within the required timeframe, you may be able to request reconsideration. Appeals to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal are available in other situations, including some residence declines and appeals on humanitarian grounds against liability for deportation.

How long do I have to request a reconsideration?

INZ must receive your request no more than 14 calendar days after you receive the decline decision. You must also still be in New Zealand and hold a valid visa when you make the request.

Does an interim visa count as a valid visa for a reconsideration?

Yes, while it is still current. If your student visa application is declined while you are on an interim visa, the interim visa normally expires 21 calendar days after the decline, unless it ends sooner because you leave New Zealand or reaches its six-month maximum.

Can I apply for a new student visa after being declined?

You may be able to apply again if you still hold a visa that allows you to make another temporary visa application, or if you apply from offshore. You cannot apply for another type of visa while you hold an interim visa. The new student visa application should address the reasons for the previous decline.

Will a declined visa affect my chances next time?

Not by itself. What affects the next application is whether the original concern has been resolved and whether your information is consistent.

Can I stay in New Zealand while I sort this out?

You can remain lawfully in New Zealand only while you hold a valid visa. A reconsideration request does not extend your visa or give you lawful status, although INZ will not start the deportation process while it is still reviewing the decision.

What if I was declined while I was overseas?

If you are outside New Zealand, you do not have the statutory right to request reconsideration that is available. An immigration officer may nevertheless reconsider an offshore temporary visa decline if new and compelling information is provided promptly, but INZ is not legally obliged to do so.