From Student Visa to New Zealand Residence: The Real Pathway
A New Zealand student visa does not lead to residence by itself. The chain runs student visa → Post Study Work Visa → a skilled work visa → residence, and every link has a filter. The Post Study Work Visa is the only one INZ describes as leading to a resident visa.
Quick Facts
| Does a student visa grant residence? | No. Not directly, and not eventually without further visas |
| The link that counts | The Post Study Work Visa — INZ describes it as leading to a resident visa |
| Post Study Work Visa cost | From NZ$1,670; up to 3 years; once, ever |
| Skilled residence | Skilled Migrant Category — 6 skilled resident points from one primary claim, topped up by New Zealand skilled work experience |
| SMC skilled work thresholds from 9 March 2026 | NZ$35.00 an hour for ANZSCO skill levels 1–3; NZ$52.50 for levels 4–5 and unlisted occupations |
| From 24 August 2026 | The Skilled Migrant Category gains two extra pathways and cuts maximum New Zealand work experience from 3 years to 2 |
| SMC resident visa cost | NZ$6,450 = $2,880 fee + $3,570 immigration levy; 10 weeks average, 4 months for 80% |
| Figures checked | 20 August 2026 |
The chain, honestly
| Step | Visa | What it gives | The filter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fee Paying Student Visa | Study, 25 hours' work a week | Funds, health, character, insurance, genuine intention |
| 2 | Post Study Work Visa | Up to 3 years' work rights | The qualification decides the length and whether work rights are open |
| 3 | A skilled work visa | Employer-sponsored work | You need an accredited employer and a job that meets the rules |
| 4 | Residence | The right to live in New Zealand indefinitely | Points, skill level and wage thresholds |
Four visas. Four sets of fees. Four separate assessments, each of which can end the sequence.
That is the honest version, and it is worth stating plainly because a large amount of marketing implies something much smoother. Studying in New Zealand does not put you in a queue for residence. It puts you in a position to apply for the next visa.
Step 1: The student visa
The Fee Paying Student Visa costs from NZ$850, runs to a maximum of four years, and allows 25 hours of work a week in term time for visas granted on or after 3 November 2025.
The decision that matters for everything downstream is the qualification you enrol in, because it determines what the next visa gives you. A level 9 master's and a level 6 diploma are different courses, at different prices, with different visa consequences years later.
Step 2: The Post Study Work Visa
This is the link INZ itself describes as leading to a resident visa.
It costs from NZ$1,670 ($320 fee plus a $1,350 immigration levy), requires at least NZ$5,000 in documented funds, is decided for 80% of applicants within 3.5 weeks, and can be held once, ever.
What it gives depends on the qualification:
- A degree at level 7 or above produces open work rights — any job, any employer, anywhere in New Zealand.
- A non-degree qualification at level 7 or lower on INZ's approved list produces work rights restricted to the field studied.
And how long you get:
- Master's (level 9) or doctorate (level 10), studied full time for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand: 3 years.
- Level 8 or below: equal to the time spent studying.
Those two facts together define the runway. Three years of open work rights is a genuinely different position from one year of restricted rights, and the difference was decided at enrolment. See the Post Study Work Visa explained.
Step 3: A skilled work visa
The Post Study Work Visa runs out. What most graduates move to next is the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which requires an employer who has been accredited by INZ, a job that has passed a job check where one is required, and pay at the New Zealand market rate for the role.
Two things about that visa often surprise graduates. It is employer-tied — you work in the job, for the employer, in the location on your visa, and changing any of those requires a variation of conditions or a new application. And the old median-wage rule was removed on 10 March 2025; pay is now assessed against the market rate for the occupation.
This is where the chain most often breaks, and not because of immigration rules. It breaks because finding an accredited employer willing to sponsor a graduate, in a role that meets the requirements, is a job-market problem rather than a paperwork problem. See the AEWV explained.
Step 4: Residence
New Zealand's main skilled residence category is the Skilled Migrant Category. It requires 6 skilled resident points, claimed from one primary source, topped up by New Zealand skilled work experience.
Whether work counts as "skilled" is measured against published wage thresholds. From 9 March 2026 those are:
| Occupation skill level | Hourly threshold |
|---|---|
| ANZSCO skill levels 1, 2 and 3 | NZ$35.00 an hour |
| ANZSCO skill levels 4 and 5, and unlisted occupations | NZ$52.50 an hour |
A graduate in a job paying below the applicable threshold is not accruing skilled work experience for these purposes, however skilled the work feels.
The Skilled Migrant Category is being restructured from 24 August 2026. Two extra pathways are added, and the maximum New Zealand work experience required falls from three years to two. The new points table is published in full: a New Zealand bachelor's degree rises from 3 points to 5, an overseas bachelor's from 3 to 4, and two years of New Zealand work experience now earns the 3 points that used to take three years. See Skilled Migrant Category points, explained. See Skilled Migrant Category changes.
The resident visa itself costs NZ$6,450 — a $2,880 fee plus a $3,570 immigration levy — and takes 10 weeks on average, with 80% decided within 4 months.
There is also the Green List, which gives faster residence routes for specific occupations. It is occupation-based, not study-based: what matters is the job you hold, not where you studied.
What the numbers say about why this matters now
New Zealand's migration composition has inverted since 2023.
- Work-visa arrivals are down 56%.
- Student arrivals are down only 1%.
- Students are now 26.6% of non-New Zealand migrant arrivals, up from 15.5%.
- The government targets 105,000 international enrolments by 2027, and 119,000 by 2034.
Study is the vertical the country is actively growing while it tightens elsewhere. That is the strategic reason the study route is worth understanding properly — and also the reason the marketing around it has become louder than the facts.
Where the chain actually breaks
At the qualification. A non-degree qualification not on the approved list produces no Post Study Work Visa at all.
At the deadline. The Post Study Work Visa must be applied for within three months of the student visa expiring — six for doctoral graduates — and it can only be held once. A missed deadline removes step 2 permanently.
At the job. Open work rights are not a job offer. Finding an accredited employer with a compliant role is the hardest link for most graduates.
At the wage. Work below the applicable skilled threshold does not build the experience residence categories are looking for.
At the points. Residence is decided on points, skill level and wage, not on having studied in New Zealand. Study is a route in; it is not a credential the residence system rewards on its own.
What nobody can tell you
Whether you will get residence. Whether your qualification is the right one for your goal. Whether your circumstances fit a category.
Those are assessments of an individual against immigration criteria, which is regulated advice in New Zealand under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 — an offence carrying up to $100,000 and seven years' imprisonment if given without a licence, whether or not anyone is paid for it. Sites that publish "your chances" are not doing you a favour.
What a general information site can do is set out the chain, the filters and the costs, so you can ask a licensed immigration adviser or a New Zealand lawyer a much better question.
Where to confirm this
- Post Study Work Visa: immigration.govt.nz/visas/post-study-work-visa
- Skilled Migrant Category: immigration.govt.nz/visas/skilled-migrant-category-resident-visa
- Our residence overview: pathways to New Zealand residence
General information about published rules. Not immigration advice, and not a prediction about any application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a student visa lead to permanent residence in New Zealand?
Not directly. A student visa gives no residence entitlement. The published route runs student visa, then Post Study Work Visa, then a skilled work visa, then a residence category — and each step is a separate application with its own requirements.
Is it easy to get permanent residence in New Zealand after studying?
Residence is decided on points, occupation skill level and wage thresholds, not on having studied in New Zealand. The most common reason the chain breaks is not immigration rules but finding an accredited employer with a role that meets the requirements.
How many years does the study-to-residence route take?
It depends on the qualification, the Post Study Work Visa length it produces, and how quickly skilled work is found and held. From 24 August 2026 the Skilled Migrant Category reduces the maximum New Zealand work experience required from three years to two, which shortens the last stage for some applicants.
What is the Post Study Work Visa's role in getting residence?
INZ describes it as a visa that can lead to a resident visa. It is the step that converts a graduate into a worker: up to three years of work rights, open for degrees at level 7 and above, and it can only be held once.
How much does the whole path cost in visa fees?
Roughly: from NZ$850 for the student visa, from NZ$1,670 for the Post Study Work Visa, from NZ$1,540 for an Accredited Employer Work Visa, and NZ$6,450 for a Skilled Migrant Category resident visa. That is before tuition, insurance, medicals and police certificates.
What wage counts as skilled work for New Zealand residence?
From 9 March 2026, NZ$35.00 an hour for occupations at ANZSCO skill levels 1 to 3, and NZ$52.50 an hour for skill levels 4 and 5 and unlisted occupations. Work below the applicable threshold does not count as skilled for these purposes.
Is studying a level 6 diploma enough for residence in New Zealand?
Qualification level affects the Post Study Work Visa — whether it is available at all, how long it lasts and whether work rights are open or restricted to the field studied. Residence itself is assessed on the job you hold and what it pays, not on the qualification alone.
What changes for skilled residence on 24 August 2026?
The Skilled Migrant Category gains two additional pathways and reduces the maximum New Zealand work experience required from three years to two. The new points table is published: a New Zealand bachelor's degree is worth 5 points, an overseas bachelor's 4, and two years of New Zealand work experience earns 3 points.
