The New Zealand Student Visa, Explained
New Zealand's main student visa is the Fee Paying Student Visa. It costs from NZ$850, lasts up to four years, and requires an offer of place from an approved provider, evidence of funds, insurance, health, character and a genuine intention to study. Holders may work 25 hours a week in term time.
Quick Facts
| Visa name | Fee Paying Student Visa |
| Cost | From NZ$850 — $485 application fee + $265 immigration levy + $100 IVL |
| Processing | INZ publishes 80% decided within 8.5 weeks for the product; provider-band times run from 2 weeks to 9 weeks |
| Maximum length | 4 years, usually matched to the paid study period or passport expiry, whichever comes first |
| Funds to show | NZ$20,000 a year (tertiary and English language) or NZ$17,000 a year (school years 1–13), plus tuition |
| Work rights | 25 hours a week in term time for visas granted on or after 3 November 2025; full-time in scheduled holidays |
| Family | Cannot include a partner or children — they apply separately |
| Leads to residence | Not directly. It feeds the Post Study Work Visa → work visa → residence chain |
| How to apply | Online only. Paper applications are no longer accepted |
| Figures checked | 20 August 2026 |
What the Fee Paying Student Visa actually is
The Fee Paying Student Visa is the visa for a person who pays their own tuition to study full time in New Zealand. It covers university degrees, polytechnic diplomas, courses at private training providers, and primary and secondary school. It is the visa most international students hold.
The word "fee paying" is the important part. It separates this visa from the other student products, where somebody else covers the tuition — an approved exchange scheme, a foreign government scholarship, or a New Zealand Government scholarship. If you are paying, this is your visa. New Zealand runs nine student visa products in total, and the differences between them are real.
A student visa is tied to a named provider and a named course. It is not a general permission to study anywhere in New Zealand. Changing either usually needs a variation of conditions or a new visa.
What it costs, component by component
Immigration New Zealand advertises this visa as "from $850". That single number hides three separate charges that behave differently.
| Component | Amount | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | $485 | INZ's charge for assessing the application |
| Immigration levy | $265 | Funds settlement programmes, immigration research, system infrastructure and the Immigration Advisers Authority |
| International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) | $100 | Funds conservation and tourism infrastructure |
| Total | from NZ$850 |
Three things follow from that split, and none of them are obvious from INZ's own page.
The levy is charged per application, not per person. The IVL is not refundable in any circumstances, including a decline. And applicants in the Pacific fee band pay a reduced application fee of $270 instead of $485, which changes the total.
There has been no general fee or levy increase in 2025 or 2026. INZ's published schedule still reads as at 1 October 2024. If a website or an agent quotes you a higher "government fee", that is a signal worth checking. The full breakdown for every student product is on our student visa cost page.
The requirements, one at a time
INZ lists the requirements for this visa plainly. There are six, and every one of them is a separate test.
1. An offer of place from an approved education provider. This is the anchor document. The provider must be a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021. The Code sets the minimum standard of care a provider owes international students — accommodation, wellbeing, complaints, and what happens if the provider closes. A provider that is not a signatory cannot support a student visa. NZQA is the body that approves and quality-assures New Zealand providers and their qualifications.
2. Enough money for tuition and living costs. See the next section.
3. Good health. New Zealand calls this an acceptable standard of health. It is a cost test as much as a medical one.
4. Good character. Police certificates are part of this where the stay is long enough.
5. Appropriate insurance. Medical and travel insurance for the whole time you are in New Zealand.
6. A genuine intention to study. This is a requirement in its own right, and it is the one most refusals turn on. We cover it in full on the genuine intention page.
Meeting five of six is not a pass. Each is assessed on its own evidence.
How much money you have to show
The funds test has two parts, and people routinely only prepare for one.
Living costs. For tertiary study and English language study, the figure is NZ$20,000 for a full year, or NZ$1,667 a month for a course shorter than twelve months. For compulsory schooling — years 1 to 13 — it is NZ$17,000 a year, or NZ$1,417 a month.
Tuition, on top. You must also show you can pay tuition for one year, or for the whole course if the course is shorter than a year.
The amount you actually need therefore depends on two things you control: the length of your course and the provider you choose. A ten-month diploma and a three-year degree do not need the same evidence, and two providers teaching the same subject can charge very different tuition.
We do not publish tuition figures on this site. Providers set their own, they change them, and no government schedule exists. The number that matters is on your offer of place. Our funds page explains what evidence INZ will and will not accept, including the Funds Transfer Scheme.
One detail that helps students on multi-year courses: for later years of a long course, a credible funding plan strengthens the application even though the money does not have to be held yet. That is INZ's own position, and it is not widely reported.
Work rights: 25 hours, not 20
Student visas granted on or after 3 November 2025 allow up to 25 hours of work a week during term time. The previous limit was 20 hours.
A very large amount of published material — including material dated 2026 — still says 20. If you are reading a page that says 20 hours and does not mention the change, that page is out of date.
The rest of the rules:
- Full-time work is allowed during scheduled holidays. Students aged 18 and over need no written permission for holiday work.
- Students aged 15 or younger cannot work at all.
- Students aged 16 or 17 at a tertiary provider, or in school years 12 or 13, need a letter of permission from the provider and from a parent before work rights are granted.
- Practical work experience that forms part of the course is in addition to the permitted hours. A required placement does not eat into your 25.
Work rights are a condition printed on the visa. They are not automatic and they are not identical for every student. The work rights page goes through each case, including what the change means for people who already held a visa before November 2025.
How long the visa lasts
The maximum is four years. In practice INZ grants a visa matched to the study you have paid for, or your passport expiry, whichever comes first.
That last clause catches people out. A passport expiring in fourteen months will generally cap the visa at around fourteen months regardless of a three-year enrolment. Renewing a passport before applying avoids a short grant and a second application fee.
If your course runs longer than the visa, you apply for a further student visa from inside New Zealand. There is no renewal button — see extending a student visa. Students planning several courses in a row may instead be able to use the Pathway Student Visa, which covers up to three consecutive courses on one visa for up to five years.
Step 1: Get an offer of place from a Code signatory provider
The offer of place is the document the whole application hangs on. It names the course, the level, the start and end dates, and the tuition. Confirm the provider is a signatory to the Pastoral Care Code and that the qualification is NZQA-recognised before you pay anything.
Step 2: Assemble evidence for every requirement
Funds, insurance, health, character, identity and genuine intention each need their own evidence. Non-English documents need a translation plus a scan of the original — both, not one. Chinese applicants aged 17 and over complete form INZ 1027; Hong Kong and Macau applicants use INZ 1220.
Step 3: Create an online account and complete the application
Student visas are applied for online only. Paper applications are no longer accepted. Most student visas run through Enhanced Immigration Online, which asks only the questions relevant to your visa type and lets you track the application in real time.
Step 4: Pay and submit
The fee, the levy and the IVL are paid together at submission. Fees and levies are not refunded if the application is declined, so a complete application is worth more than a fast one. A decision-ready application — one where nothing has to be asked for — is the single biggest thing within your control.
Step 5: Respond to anything INZ asks for
INZ may issue a request for further information, or a letter setting out concerns before it decides. Both have deadlines. Missing one is a common and avoidable reason for a decline.
How long it takes
INZ publishes two different sets of numbers for student visas, and they do not agree because they measure different things.
The Fee Paying Student Visa page states 80% of applications are decided within 8.5 weeks.
The student visa wait times table publishes times by provider type instead:
| Provider type | Average (50%) | 80% decided within |
|---|---|---|
| Universities | 2.5 weeks | 7 weeks |
| Polytechnics and institutes of technology | 5.5 weeks | 9 weeks |
| Private Training Establishments | 4 weeks | 9 weeks |
| Schools | 2 weeks | 5 weeks |
Neither is wrong. The 8.5-week figure is a whole-of-product number that sits above every individual provider band. Which one describes your application depends on where you are enrolled — a genuine, under-explained consequence of provider choice. See processing times for the detail.
INZ also states plainly that applicants from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan should expect longer processing.
When to apply
INZ advises applying at least three months before you intend to travel, and names two peaks in its own words: a main peak from October to March and a mid-year peak from May to August. Student visa demand in 2026 is running around 20% higher than the previous year.
Applying inside a peak, from a country INZ has flagged, on a provider band with a long tail, is how a nine-week estimate becomes a missed semester. When to apply sets the timing out against the academic calendar.
There is no way to buy a faster decision. New Zealand has no paid priority service for any visa, at any price, and anyone offering one is not selling what they claim.
Bringing family
A Fee Paying Student Visa cannot include a partner or dependent children. They apply separately, on their own visas, and pay their own fee and levy.
A partner may be able to apply for a work visa on the basis of the relationship. Children can apply for a Dependent Child Student Visa to attend primary or secondary school. The rules, costs and limits are on the dependants page.
Parents of a school-age student have a separate route — the Guardian Visitor Visa — which carries a hard obligation to live with and care for the child.
What happens after study
The Fee Paying Student Visa does not lead to residence by itself, and no honest page will tell you otherwise.
What it does is feed the next visa. The Post Study Work Visa gives up to three years of work rights after an eligible qualification, costs from NZ$1,670, and can only be held once, ever. From that visa, people move to an employer-sponsored work visa and then to a residence category. Each link in that chain has its own filter.
Two changes matter here. From 16 November 2026, Post Study Work Visa eligibility expands to holders of a New Zealand level 7 graduate diploma and to bachelor's degree holders. Separately, a level 5–7 short-term graduate product has been reported in the trade press but does not appear in INZ's own visa lookup, so we do not describe it as existing.
The realistic version of the chain is on our study to residence page.
Where to confirm this
- Fee Paying Student Visa: immigration.govt.nz/visas/fee-paying-student-visa
- Fees and when to pay: immigration.govt.nz fees page
- Provider and qualification recognition: nzqa.govt.nz
This page is general information about New Zealand's published immigration rules. It is not immigration advice and cannot take your circumstances into account. If your situation is complicated — a previous decline, a health condition, a character issue — that is the point at which a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer is worth the money.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours can international students work in New Zealand?
Up to 25 hours a week in term time, for student visas granted on or after 3 November 2025. Before that date the limit was 20 hours. Full-time work is allowed during scheduled holidays for students aged 18 and over. Students aged 15 or younger cannot work.
How long does it take to get a New Zealand student visa?
INZ publishes 80% within 8.5 weeks for the Fee Paying Student Visa. By provider type, the averages are 2.5 weeks for universities, 4 weeks for private training establishments, 5.5 weeks for polytechnics and 2 weeks for schools, with 80% figures of 7, 9, 9 and 5 weeks. INZ advises applying at least three months ahead.
What are the requirements for a New Zealand student visa?
An offer of place from a provider that has signed the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021, enough money for tuition and living costs, an acceptable standard of health, good character, appropriate insurance, and a genuine intention to study.
How much money do I need for a New Zealand student visa?
NZ$20,000 for a full year of tertiary or English language study, or NZ$1,667 a month for shorter courses. For school years 1 to 13 it is NZ$17,000 a year or NZ$1,417 a month. Tuition is on top of that, and the tuition figure comes from your offer of place.
Do you need IELTS for a New Zealand student visa?
INZ does not publish a single English score for student visas. English requirements are set mainly by the education provider as an entry condition for the course, and they differ by provider and by level. The provider's admission page is the authority on what test and score it accepts.
Can I extend my student visa in New Zealand?
There is no extension in the sense of pressing renew. You apply for a further student visa from inside New Zealand, paying the fee and levy again and meeting the funds test again. The Fee Paying Student Visa is capped at four years in total.
Can I bring my partner and children on a student visa?
Not on the same application. A student visa cannot include a partner or dependent children. They apply separately for their own visas, and what they are eligible for depends on your course and level.
Is a New Zealand student visa a path to permanent residence?
Not on its own. INZ describes the Post Study Work Visa as the visa that can lead to a resident visa, and that visa sits after your study. Residence itself is decided under separate categories with their own skill, wage and points rules.
