Documents You Need for a New Zealand Student Visa
A New Zealand student visa application needs an offer of place from a Code-signatory provider, evidence of funds, medical and travel insurance, health and character evidence, identity documents, and a translation plus the scanned original of anything not in English. Applications are online only.
Quick Facts
| Anchor document | Offer of place from a provider signed up to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021 |
| Funds evidence | NZ$20,000 a year tertiary, NZ$17,000 a year school years 1–13, plus tuition |
| Insurance | Appropriate medical and travel insurance; the Pathway Student Visa requires full medical and travel insurance |
| Non-English documents | Translation plus the scanned original — both |
| Chinese applicants 17+ | Form INZ 1027; Hong Kong and Macau applicants use INZ 1220 |
| Police certificates | Required where you plan to stay 24 months or longer, and must be less than 6 months old when you submit |
| Missing police certificate | Under 2026 upfront-certificate settings, an application may be declined without further contact |
| Format | Online only — paper student visa applications are no longer accepted |
| Figures checked | 20 August 2026 |
The checklist
| Document | Why INZ wants it | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Passport | Identity, and it caps the visa length | A passport expiring before your course ends shortens the visa |
| Offer of place | The course, level, dates and tuition | The provider must be a Code signatory |
| Evidence of funds | Living costs plus tuition | Unexplained recent deposits invite questions |
| Evidence of tuition payment or arrangement | Whether the course is actually funded | Comes from the provider, not from you |
| Medical and travel insurance | A stated visa requirement | Must cover the whole time you are in New Zealand |
| Medical certificate / chest x-ray | Acceptable standard of health | Panel physicians have their own queues |
| Police certificate | Good character | Recency rule; missing one can end the application |
| Passport photo | Identity | INZ publishes format rules |
| Translations | Assessability | Translation and original, not one or the other |
| Form INZ 1027 or INZ 1220 | Mandatory for Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau applicants aged 17+ | Applies to every applicant in that group |
The offer of place is the document everything hangs on
Without an offer of place there is no application. It names your provider, your course, its level, its start and end dates and its tuition — and each of those feeds a different part of the assessment. Course length sets the funds figure. End date shapes the visa length. Level determines what happens afterwards under the Post Study Work Visa rules.
The provider must be a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021. The Code sets minimum standards of care for international students — wellbeing, accommodation, complaints, and what happens if a provider closes. NZQA is the authority on which providers and qualifications New Zealand recognises.
Check the provider's Code status and NZQA recognition before you pay a deposit, not after. A deposit paid to a provider who cannot support a student visa is a bad day that is entirely avoidable.
Evidence of funds
Two figures, both required.
Living costs: NZ$20,000 for a full year of tertiary or English language study, or NZ$1,667 a month for courses under twelve months. For school years 1 to 13, NZ$17,000 a year or NZ$1,417 a month.
Tuition: the ability to pay for one year, or the whole course if shorter.
Acceptable evidence usually means bank statements, a documented sponsor with their own financial evidence, a scholarship letter, an approved student loan, or the Funds Transfer Scheme. What causes trouble is money whose source is not visible. Full detail is on the funds page.
Insurance
Appropriate medical and travel insurance is a stated requirement of the Fee Paying Student Visa, listed alongside funds, health, character and genuine intention. The Pathway Student Visa and the Foreign Government Supported Student Visa both specifically require full medical and travel insurance.
We do not publish premium figures. Insurers price on age, cover level and medical history, and no national schedule exists. Most providers have an arranged policy that meets the requirement — worth comparing rather than assuming, but it is the practical starting point.
Health evidence
New Zealand requires an acceptable standard of health. What you have to produce depends on how long you are staying and where you are coming from.
- A chest x-ray is generally required for stays of more than 6 months from countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis.
- A full medical examination may be required depending on the length of stay and your circumstances.
- Examinations are done by panel physicians, who INZ approves, and they book out — particularly ahead of peak intakes.
INZ may decline an application where a medical assessor considers likely health service costs would exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over five years or over the predicted course of the condition. Details are on our insurance and health page.
Character evidence and the upfront police certificate rule
A police certificate is required where you plan to stay in New Zealand for 24 months or longer, and it must be less than 6 months old when you submit the application. If you provided certificates in a previous application you may not need to provide them again.
The change that matters in 2026: an application lacking a required police certificate may be declined without further contact. Under earlier practice a missing certificate typically produced a request; under upfront settings it can end the application, with no refund of the fee or levies.
Certificates are issued by police or justice authorities in each country and can take weeks. They are the single most common reason a well-prepared application is lodged late. See upfront police certificates.
Translations, and the rule people get half right
Documents not in English need a translation and the scanned original. Both. Submitting a translation alone is not compliant, and submitting an untranslated original is not assessable.
Translations must be done by someone competent and independent — not by the applicant, and not by a family member with good English. The translation requirements page sets out what INZ accepts.
Forms INZ 1027 and INZ 1220
Chinese applicants aged 17 and over must complete form INZ 1027. Applicants from Hong Kong and Macau use form INZ 1220 instead.
This is mandatory, it applies to every applicant in that group regardless of visa type, and a missing form is a straightforward avoidable delay. See INZ 1027 and INZ 1220 explained.
Evidence for genuine intention
A genuine intention to study is a separate requirement, not a by-product of the other documents. What supports it is the coherence of the application as a whole: a course that follows from your education history, a provider that matches the course, funding that matches the cost, and an explanation of why this qualification and this country.
INZ assesses that; we do not, and no honest page can tell you whether yours will satisfy it. What we can do is explain what the test is, which is on the genuine intention page.
Applications are online only
Paper student visa applications are no longer accepted. Most student visas run through Enhanced Immigration Online, which uses smart forms that ask only the questions relevant to your visa type, and lets you track status in real time.
Practical consequences: you need scans, not photocopies; files must be legible; and each document should be named so a stranger can tell what it is. A poorly scanned bank statement is a request for further information waiting to happen. See uploading evidence.
What a missing document actually costs
Fees and levies are not refunded if an application is declined, and the IVL is never refunded. A missing police certificate under upfront settings can end an application outright.
The arithmetic is simple. Spending three extra weeks assembling documents costs three weeks. Lodging without them can cost NZ$850 and a refusal in your immigration history.
Where to confirm this
- Evidence and documents: immigration.govt.nz supporting documents
- Fee Paying Student Visa: immigration.govt.nz/visas/fee-paying-student-visa
- Provider and qualification recognition: nzqa.govt.nz
General information about published requirements. Not immigration advice, and it cannot tell you whether your particular documents are sufficient.
Frequently Asked Questions
What documents do I need for a New Zealand student visa?
An offer of place from a Code-signatory provider, evidence of funds for living costs and tuition, medical and travel insurance, health evidence where required, a police certificate where the stay is 24 months or longer, identity documents, and translations plus scanned originals of anything not in English.
Is a bank statement enough for proof of funds?
It is the most common evidence, but INZ is assessing whether the money exists, where it came from and whether you can use it. Statements showing unexplained recent deposits commonly generate further questions.
Do I need a police certificate for a New Zealand student visa?
One is required where you plan to stay 24 months or longer, and it must be less than 6 months old when you submit. Under 2026 upfront-certificate settings an application missing a required certificate may be declined without further contact.
Do I need to translate my documents for a New Zealand student visa?
Yes, if they are not in English. INZ requires the translation and a scan of the original document. A translation on its own is not sufficient.
What is form INZ 1027?
It is a form that Chinese applicants aged 17 and over must complete with their visa application. Applicants from Hong Kong and Macau use form INZ 1220 instead.
Can I apply for a New Zealand student visa on paper?
No. Paper student visa applications are no longer accepted. Most student visas are processed through Enhanced Immigration Online.
Do I need a medical or chest x-ray for a student visa?
A chest x-ray is generally required for stays of more than six months from countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis, and a full medical may be required depending on your circumstances and length of stay. Examinations are done by INZ-approved panel physicians.
Does my insurance have to be bought in New Zealand?
INZ requires appropriate medical and travel insurance covering your time in New Zealand, and the Pathway Student Visa specifies full medical and travel insurance. Most providers offer an arranged policy that meets the requirement; the requirement is about the cover, not the country it was bought in.
