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Pathway

New Zealand Fee Paying Student Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

A Fee Paying Student Visa lets international students attend an approved New Zealand course. You need admission, tuition and living-cost funds, insurance and genuine study plans. Eligible students may work up to 25 hours a week during study. Post-study work and residence require separate eligibility.

Course
An approved full-time course with a provider allowed to enroll international students
Tuition
Usually fees for one course or one year, whichever is shorter
Living funds
Generally NZD 20,000 a year, or NZD 17,000 for compulsory schooling

Summary

New Zealand’s fee-paying student visa lets an accepted student stay for full-time study. The approved provider confirms the course, and the applicant documents tuition funding and living costs. Any work is limited by the student visa's conditions. A qualifying course may later support a post-study work application, but education alone does not grant residence.

Applying to study in New Zealand
  1. Secure a place on an approved course Check the provider, course, tuition, and enrollment requirements.
  2. Prepare funding and personal evidence Budget living costs, insurance, and return travel separately from tuition.
  3. Apply and follow the issued visa conditions Check the approved course, work hours, travel rights, and expiry date.

Not every course gives work rights or qualifies for a later Post Study Work Visa.

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Eligibility

The applicant must hold an offer of place or, for a returning student, confirmation of enrollment for an approved full-time course. The provider must be authorized to enroll international students and comply with the learner-wellbeing code.

Tuition for one course or one year, whichever is shorter, must normally be paid or supported by evidence that the funds are available. If applying outside New Zealand, you can wait for conditional approval, called approval in principle, before paying, but the visa is not issued until INZ receives acceptable evidence.

Current living-funds requirements are generally:

Funds must come from a genuine, verifiable source. The applicant also needs acceptable medical and travel insurance, onward-travel funds or a ticket, good health and character, and genuine intentions to study. A child under 10 must normally live with a parent or legal guardian unless living in an approved school hostel.

What This Route Allows

The student may study the approved course and travel while valid multiple-entry conditions remain. Work rights depend on the course, age, and eVisa. Eligible students can now receive permission for up to 25 hours a week during study and full-time work in scheduled holidays. A visa granted before 3 November 2025 may still say 20 hours unless the holder obtained approval to change that limit.

The student cannot include family in the application. A partner or dependent child may apply separately if the student's qualification and circumstances support a family visa.

After an eligible New Zealand qualification, a separate Post Study Work Visa may be available. Its qualification, timing, funds, and work-condition rules must be met independently.

What This Route Is Not

It is not an open work visa. Work is secondary to study, the student must attend and make satisfactory progress, and the exact eVisa conditions control. Practical placement required by the course can be treated separately, but a person whose main purpose is work needs a work visa.

Paying fees or receiving an offer does not guarantee approval. INZ also examines the source of funds, reasons for choosing the course, prior academic record, and plans to follow the visa conditions and either leave on time or obtain another visa.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm that the provider and course are approved and obtain a detailed offer of place.
  2. Budget tuition, living costs, insurance, and return travel separately.
  3. Prepare bank, loan, scholarship, sponsor, or guarantor evidence that shows the genuine source and availability of funds.
  4. Gather passport, academic, attendance, health, character, and study-plan evidence.
  5. Apply online early; INZ recommends about 3 months before intended travel.
  6. After approval, read the eVisa for the exact provider, course, work hours, holidays, travel, and expiry conditions.

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Sources