Proving Funds for a New Zealand Student Visa
Immigration New Zealand requires evidence of NZ$20,000 a year for tertiary and English language study, or NZ$17,000 a year for school years 1 to 13 — plus the ability to pay tuition for one year, or the whole course if it is shorter. Shorter courses use a monthly rate instead.
Quick Facts
| Tertiary and English language study | NZ$20,000 a year, or NZ$1,667 a month for courses under 12 months |
| Compulsory schooling, years 1–13 | NZ$17,000 a year, or NZ$1,417 a month |
| Tuition | On top of living costs — for one year, or the course length if shorter |
| Pathway Student Visa | Same NZ$20,000 a year / NZ$1,667 a month test |
| Post Study Work Visa | At least NZ$5,000 in documented funds |
| Multi-year courses | A credible funding plan for later years strengthens the application; the money need not be held now |
| Alternative evidence | The Funds Transfer Scheme can show access to money in New Zealand |
| Figures checked | 20 August 2026 |
The two halves of the funds test
Almost every rejected funds file fails for the same reason: the applicant prepared for living costs and forgot tuition, or the reverse.
INZ's requirement has two parts and both must be evidenced.
Part one — living costs. A fixed published figure, set by level of study.
| Study | Full year | Per month, courses under 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Tertiary and English language | NZ$20,000 | NZ$1,667 |
| Compulsory schooling, years 1–13 | NZ$17,000 | NZ$1,417 |
Part two — tuition. You must show you can pay tuition for one year, or for the length of the course if the course is shorter than a year.
Because tuition is set by your provider, the total you need is not a single national number. How much you must show depends on your course length and your provider. A six-month English language course and a three-year bachelor's degree are different sums, and two providers teaching the same qualification can be thousands of dollars apart.
We do not publish tuition figures. No government schedule exists, providers change them, and a wrong number here would be worse than no number. The figure that counts is on your offer of place — the same document INZ will read.
Why the monthly rate exists
The NZ$1,667 and NZ$1,417 monthly figures are for courses shorter than twelve months. They are the annual figures divided across the year, and they let a student on a seven-month diploma evidence seven months of living costs rather than a full year.
The monthly rate is not a discount you can opt into. It attaches to the course length on your offer of place.
What counts as evidence
INZ needs to see that the money exists and that you can actually use it. In practice that means documents that show a balance, a source, and a link to you.
Common forms of evidence include:
- Bank statements in your name, or in the name of the person supporting you
- A financial undertaking or sponsorship from a parent or supporter, with their own evidence of funds and income
- A scholarship or award letter stating what it covers
- A student loan approval from a recognised lender
- The Funds Transfer Scheme, which is INZ's mechanism for showing you have access to money in New Zealand
What consistently causes problems is money that appears without explanation. A balance that jumps shortly before the application, with no visible source, invites questions about whether the funds are genuinely available to you. INZ is entitled to ask where money came from, and an unanswered question is not a neutral outcome.
Two mechanical requirements catch people out. Non-English documents need a translation plus a scan of the original — both, not one. And bank statements need to be recent enough to be meaningful when INZ assesses them, not when you gathered them. See document translation requirements.
Multi-year courses: the rule almost nobody publishes
For study that runs over several years, a credible funding plan for the later years strengthens the application, even though the money does not have to be held now.
That is INZ's own position and it is genuinely useful. A three-year degree does not require you to produce three years of living costs and three years of tuition up front. It requires the first year evidenced properly, and a plausible, documented account of how the rest will be funded — a sponsor's continuing income, a scholarship that renews, a family business, a loan facility.
"Credible" is doing real work in that sentence. A plan is credible when it rests on evidence someone else can check.
The Funds Transfer Scheme
The Funds Transfer Scheme is a mechanism for demonstrating access to money inside New Zealand. Money is transferred to an approved New Zealand institution and released to the student, which answers the two questions a bank statement from overseas leaves open: is the money real, and can the student actually reach it?
It is one accepted route, not a requirement. Whether it suits any individual depends on their circumstances and their provider, and that is a question for the provider and INZ.
What money you cannot count
Future part-time earnings do not count. Student visas allow up to 25 hours of work a week in term time, and that income is real. It is not evidence for the funds test, because the test is assessed before you arrive.
Money you cannot access does not count. Funds locked in an instrument you cannot withdraw from, or held by someone with no stated obligation to support you, do not answer the question INZ is asking.
The visa fee is not part of the funds test. The NZ$850 you pay for the visa is separate from the NZ$20,000 you evidence.
Funds by visa
| Visa | Funds requirement |
|---|---|
| Fee Paying Student Visa (tertiary / English language) | NZ$20,000 a year or NZ$1,667 a month, plus tuition |
| Fee Paying Student Visa (school years 1–13) | NZ$17,000 a year or NZ$1,417 a month, plus tuition |
| Pathway Student Visa | NZ$20,000 a year or NZ$1,667 a month |
| Dependent Child Student Visa | NZ$17,000 a year or NZ$1,417 a month |
| Guardian Visitor Visa | NZ$1,000 a person a month, or NZ$400 a month if accommodation is prepaid |
| Post Study Work Visa | At least NZ$5,000 |
The Guardian Visitor Visa figure is worth noting by families planning together: a parent accompanying a school-age child has their own separate funds test on top of the child's. See the Guardian Visitor Visa.
Funds and genuine intention are different tests
Money and intention are assessed separately, and passing one does not carry the other.
The funds test asks whether you can pay for your study and your life here. The genuine intention test asks whether study is genuinely why you are coming. A well-evidenced bank balance does not answer the second question, and a modest but well-explained one does not fail it.
Where the two meet is in the story the documents tell together. Funds that match the course, from a source that makes sense given who you are, are easier to assess than funds that do not — which is a statement about evidence, not about applicants.
Where to confirm this
- Student fund requirements: immigration.govt.nz evidence and documents
- Fee Paying Student Visa: immigration.govt.nz/visas/fee-paying-student-visa
- Our cross-visa table: funds requirements for New Zealand visas
This is general information about published requirements. It is not immigration advice, and nothing here assesses whether any particular set of documents will satisfy INZ. Where funding is complex — several sponsors, a family business, money held overseas under exchange controls — a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer can advise on your actual documents.
Frequently Asked Questions
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 courses under twelve months. For school years 1 to 13 the figures are NZ$17,000 a year or NZ$1,417 a month. Tuition for one year, or the course length if shorter, is required on top.
Does tuition count towards the NZ$20,000?
No. The NZ$20,000 is living costs. You must separately show you can pay tuition for one year, or for the whole course if it runs less than a year. The tuition figure comes from your offer of place.
Is a bank statement enough for a New Zealand student visa?
A bank statement is the most common evidence, but it is evidence of a balance, not of where the money came from or whether you can use it. INZ may ask about the source of funds, and unexplained recent deposits are a frequent cause of further questions.
Do I need to show funds for every year of a three-year degree?
No. For multi-year study, INZ's position is that a credible funding plan for the later years strengthens the application even where the money is not yet held. The first year still has to be evidenced properly.
Can my parents' money be used for my student visa?
Support from a parent or another person is common, and it is evidenced by their financial documents together with a statement of their undertaking to support you. The evidence has to show both the money and the commitment.
Can I count the money I will earn working in New Zealand?
No. The funds test is assessed before the visa is granted. Term-time work of up to 25 hours a week is permitted on most student visas, but expected earnings are not evidence of funds.
What is the Funds Transfer Scheme?
It is a mechanism INZ recognises for showing you have access to money in New Zealand, by transferring funds to an approved New Zealand institution which then releases them to you. It answers whether the money is real and reachable, which an overseas statement alone does not.
How much money do I need for a Post Study Work Visa?
At least NZ$5,000 in documented funds, on top of the visa cost of NZ$1,670.
