Insurance, Medicals and Health Rules for New Zealand Student Visas
New Zealand student visas require appropriate medical and travel insurance and an acceptable standard of health. INZ may decline where likely health service costs are assessed above NZ$81,000. Chest x-rays are generally required for stays over six months from high-tuberculosis countries.
Quick Facts
| Insurance | A stated Fee Paying Student Visa requirement, alongside funds, health, character and genuine intention |
| Pathway Student Visa | Requires full medical and travel insurance, stated explicitly |
| Foreign Government Supported Student Visa | Also requires full medical and travel insurance |
| Significant-cost health threshold | NZ$81,000, assessed over 5 years or over the predicted course of the condition |
| When the threshold changed | Rose from NZ$41,000 to NZ$81,000 on 4 September 2022 |
| Chest x-ray | Generally required for stays over 6 months from countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis |
| Police certificates | Required for stays of 24 months or longer, and must be less than 6 months old at submission |
| Premiums | Set by insurers — no national schedule exists, and we publish none |
| Figures checked | 20 August 2026 |
Insurance is a visa requirement, not a recommendation
INZ lists appropriate insurance among the requirements for the Fee Paying Student Visa, in the same list as funds, health, character and a genuine intention to study. It is not optional and it is not something the provider handles on your behalf by default.
Two student products go further and state the standard explicitly:
- The Pathway Student Visa requires full medical and travel insurance.
- The Foreign Government Supported Student Visa requires full medical and travel insurance.
The cover has to run for the whole time you are in New Zealand, not for the flight or the first month.
What we will not publish
We do not publish insurance premiums. Insurers price individually on age, cover level, duration, pre-existing conditions and the excess you choose, and there is no government schedule to point at. Any single figure would be wrong for most readers.
What we can tell you is what drives the price and where the real number lives. Most education providers have an arranged student policy designed to meet the visa requirement — that is the practical starting point, and it is worth comparing against a policy you find yourself rather than assuming either is better. The Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021, which every approved provider must sign, is the framework under which providers handle student wellbeing and insurance arrangements.
The acceptable standard of health
New Zealand's health requirement is a cost test as much as a medical one. INZ's term for the standard is an acceptable standard of health.
INZ may decline an application where a medical assessor considers the likely cost of health services would exceed NZ$81,000. That assessment is made over a five-year period, or over the predicted course of the applicant's medical condition.
The threshold rose from NZ$41,000 to NZ$81,000 on 4 September 2022 and has been stable since. Older pages still quoting $41,000 are four years out of date.
Two things this does and does not mean. It does mean a condition with high projected treatment costs can lead to a decline even where everything else is in order. It does not mean every medical condition is a problem — the test is projected cost against a threshold, assessed by a medical assessor, not a list of banned diagnoses.
Where an application would otherwise fail the health requirement, a medical waiver may be considered. That is a separate assessment with its own considerations, covered in medical waivers.
What health evidence students actually have to produce
What you need depends on how long you are staying and where you are coming from.
| Trigger | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Stay of more than 6 months from a country with a high incidence of tuberculosis | Chest x-ray generally required |
| Longer stays and certain circumstances | Full medical examination may be required |
| Any medical evidence | Completed by an INZ-approved panel physician |
Panel physicians are doctors INZ has approved to conduct immigration medicals. You cannot use your own GP. They book out, particularly in the months before the main intakes, which is why the medical is one of the first things to arrange rather than one of the last. See the medical examination guide and chest x-ray requirements.
We do not publish a list of high-tuberculosis countries. INZ's own list could not be retrieved in a form we can stand behind, and publishing a guessed list would be worse than publishing none. Your panel physician and INZ will confirm what applies to you.
Character and police certificates
Health and character are assessed together as part of the same stage of the application.
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. Applicants who provided certificates with a previous application may not need to provide them again.
INZ applies age thresholds and country rules that vary between visa categories, and it does not publish a single general age rule on its police certificate page. Confirm what applies to your application rather than relying on a number from a third-party site.
The change that bites in 2026: under upfront-certificate settings, an application lacking a required police certificate may be declined without further contact. No request, no chance to fix it, and no refund of the fee or levies. See the upfront police certificate rule.
Children of temporary visa holders
INZ's own change record shows health requirements being strengthened for children of temporary visa holders in March 2025.
We are not going to describe the detail of that change, because the substance of it is not something we could verify from a primary source. What we can say is that it happened, that it affects the children of temporary visa holders specifically, and that families bringing children — on a Dependent Child Student Visa or otherwise — should confirm the current requirement directly with INZ rather than relying on any secondary source, including this one.
That sentence is less satisfying than a confident summary. It is also more useful than a wrong one.
Insurance is not healthcare eligibility
These are separate systems and confusing them is expensive.
Publicly funded healthcare in New Zealand is available to people who meet eligibility rules based on visa type and length of stay. Most students on temporary visas are not eligible for the full range of publicly funded services, which is precisely why insurance is a visa requirement.
ACC, New Zealand's accident compensation scheme, covers treatment for personal injury by accident for everyone in New Zealand, including visitors and students. It does not cover illness. See ACC explained for migrants and healthcare eligibility.
The gap between what ACC covers, what public health covers and what your policy covers is exactly the gap insurance exists to fill. Read the policy exclusions, particularly around pre-existing conditions, mental health and sports.
Where to confirm this
- Health requirements: immigration.govt.nz health requirements
- The significant-cost threshold: immigration.govt.nz news release
- Fee Paying Student Visa requirements: immigration.govt.nz/visas/fee-paying-student-visa
General information about published requirements. Not immigration advice, and not medical advice. Where a health condition may be relevant to an application, a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer should be involved before the application is lodged, not after a decline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is insurance compulsory for a New Zealand student visa?
Yes. Appropriate medical and travel insurance is a stated requirement of the Fee Paying Student Visa. The Pathway Student Visa and the Foreign Government Supported Student Visa both specifically require full medical and travel insurance.
How much does student insurance cost in New Zealand?
Insurers set their own premiums based on age, duration, cover level, excess and medical history, and no government schedule exists. Most education providers offer an arranged policy designed to meet the visa requirement, which is the practical place to start comparing.
Do I need a medical for a New Zealand student visa?
It depends on the length of your stay and where you are coming from. 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 in other circumstances. Examinations must be done by an INZ-approved panel physician.
What is the NZ$81,000 health threshold?
INZ may decline an application where a medical assessor considers the likely cost of health services would exceed NZ$81,000, assessed over five years or over the predicted course of the condition. The threshold rose from NZ$41,000 on 4 September 2022.
Can I get a New Zealand student visa with a medical condition?
The health requirement is a projected-cost test assessed by a medical assessor, not a list of excluded conditions. Where an application would otherwise fail it, a medical waiver may be considered. Whether either applies to a particular person is a question for INZ or a licensed adviser.
Do I need a police certificate for a student visa?
One is required where you plan to stay 24 months or longer, and it must be less than six months old when you submit. Under 2026 upfront-certificate settings, an application missing a required certificate may be declined without further contact.
Does my insurance need to cover my whole course?
The requirement is for appropriate medical and travel insurance covering your time in New Zealand. A policy that expires partway through the visa does not meet a requirement expressed over the period of stay.
Am I covered by New Zealand's public health system as a student?
Eligibility for publicly funded healthcare depends on visa type and length of stay, and most students on temporary visas are not eligible for the full range of services. ACC covers treatment for accidental injury for everyone in New Zealand, but not illness. That gap is what the insurance requirement exists to fill.
