⚠️ Sensitive information — always check the official source
Visa requirements, quotas, amounts and dates change often. Every fact in this guide was checked against the official source on 24 September 2026 and we re-check it periodically, but before starting any procedure confirm the details on the official links (embassy, consulate or ministry) shown on this page. viajacongus.com does not process visas and does not replace official information.
💵 How much it costs
From NZD 850 for the application, for all four student visas. The course tuition and living costs are separate: NZD 20.000 per year, or NZD 1.667 per month if the course lasts less than a year.
⏳ How long it takes
Eight weeks for 80 % of applications. Immigration New Zealand recommends applying three months in advance, and warns that the busiest period runs from October to March.
📅 How long it's valid
Up to four years. In practice they give it to you for the length of the course you paid for, or until your passport expires if that comes first.
👤 Who needs it?
For anyone who wants to study for more than three months in New Zealand. If it's less than three months you don't need a student visa: the NZeTA or a visitor visa is enough. And if you're already on the Working Holiday, you can study for up to six months without changing visas, which is one and a half times what Australia's allows, which is 4 months.
🧭 The step by step
1
First: check whether you really need a student visa
If you're going to study for three months or less, you don't need one: with the NZeTA or a visitor visa you can study for up to three months in any twelve-month period. And if you come on a Working Holiday, the limit goes up to six months. Getting a student visa you don't need is NZD 850 down the drain.
Watch out: With the Working Holiday, study has to be secondary: the official page says you have to be coming mainly for a holiday («You must be coming mainly to holiday — study should be a secondary intention»).
2
Choose which of the four student visas is yours
They're not interchangeable. The Fee Paying is for any course paying the international fee. The English Language Student Visa is only for English courses. The Pathway lets you chain up to three courses on a single visa. The Dependent Child is for children of someone who already holds a work or student visa.
3
Get the offer of place from an approved institution
Without the «offer of place» there's no visa. The institution has to be a signatory to the 2021 Code of Practice, which is what allows it to enrol foreign students. The offer has to state the name of the course, how long it lasts, whether it's full-time or part-time, and the dates of all holidays if it lasts more than one academic year.
Watch out: From outside New Zealand you can apply with a CONDITIONAL offer: they approve the visa «in principle» and only then do you send the final offer. That saves you paying for the course before knowing whether you'll get the visa.
4
Put together the money for living costs
NZD 20.000 for each year if the course lasts a year or more, or NZD 1.667 per month if it's shorter, for tertiary, English and other non-compulsory studies. If it's school (years 1 to 13) it's NZD 17.000 per year or NZD 1.417 per month. This is on top of tuition.
5
Pay the tuition, or wait for approval in principle
You have to show you've paid the fee for one course or one year, whichever is shorter. But if you apply from outside the country, you can choose not to pay until they tell you the application has been approved in principle. It takes longer, and in exchange you don't put the course money at risk.
Watch out: If you're studying for more than a year, Immigration New Zealand says it helps to show a credible plan for how you'll pay for the following years. You don't need to have that money now.
6
Get medical and travel insurance
It has to be full insurance, medical and travel, for the whole stay, and acceptable to your institution. For the Fee Paying it appears as a declaration; for the English Language Student Visa it's among the entry requirements.
7
Check whether you need an X-ray or a medical certificate
If you're staying more than six months, you need a chest X-ray if you're from a country without a low incidence of tuberculosis, or if you spent more than three months of the last five in one. If you're staying less than six months you normally don't need it, and under twelve months, normally not the medical certificate either.
Watch out: The X-ray or the medical examination must be less than three months old when they receive them.
8
Police certificate, where applicable
You need it if you're 17 or older AND your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or more, counting time you've already spent there on other visas. It has to be less than six months old at the time of applying, and come from the countries you're a citizen of and from those where you spent more than five years since turning 17.
Watch out: They don't accept proof that you requested it. The only exceptions are Fiji, Hong Kong and Israel, which send it directly to Immigration New Zealand.
9
Apply online and wait
All four visas are applied for online. Eight weeks for 80 % of cases. Immigration New Zealand recommends doing it three months before the trip, and warns that October to March is when the most applications come in.
Watch out: If someone helped you with the application or with getting the offer of place, you have to declare it. It's an explicit requirement.
🏦 The money you have to show
These are the living-cost amounts published by Immigration New Zealand. They're separate from course tuition.
| Tertiary, English and other non-compulsory studies, per year | NZD 20.000 |
| The same, per month, if the course lasts less than a year | NZD 1.667 |
| Compulsory education (school, years 1 to 13), per year | NZD 17.000 |
| The same, per month | NZD 1.417 |
| The visa application | from NZD 850 |
Instead of your own money you can present an acceptable sponsor, who takes responsibility for accommodation and living expenses. It can be an organisation or a person; if it's a person, they have to be a relative or friend.
A full or partial scholarship also works, as does a student loan with the award letter, a term deposit, or confirmation of a *homestay* that already has the costs covered.
If the course lasts more than a year, you don't need to have the money for the following years. It does help to show a credible plan for how you'll pay for them.
💼 Working while you study
- Up to 25 hours a week while the course is running. It's a weekly cap, not fortnightly like in Australia.
- Full-time during scheduled holidays, but only if the course is worth 120 credits. That detail is usually on the invoice or the offer of place.
- The hours of compulsory work placement in the course are separate from the 25 weekly hours: they aren't deducted.
- If you're 16 or 17, or in years 12 or 13 of secondary school, you need written permission from a parent or guardian and from the institution for the visa to come with the right to work.
- From 18 you don't need written permission to work during the summer holidays.
- At 15 or younger you can't work on a student visa.
- If your main activity becomes work rather than study, the official page is explicit: you have to apply for a work visa.
📋 What you need at hand
- Valid passport.
- The «offer of place» from an approved institution, signed, with the statement that they've assessed that the course is right for you and that you have the English level and academic ability to pass it.
- Proof of paid tuition, or confirmation that you don't have to pay it.
- Bank statements or other proof that you have NZD 20.000 per year (or NZD 1.667 per month).
- Full medical and travel insurance for the whole stay.
- Chest X-ray or medical certificate, if required by your length of stay.
- Police certificate, if you'll be there 24 months or more and are 17 or older.
- The course holiday calendar, if it lasts more than one academic year.
- Written permission from the institution (and from a parent or guardian if you're 16 or 17) to be able to work.
- If you've held a student visa before: grades, attendance and a letter from the institution showing you've been passing.
⚠️ The mistakes that cost you
- Getting a student visa for a three-month course. You don't need one: the NZeTA is enough, and you save NZD 850.
- Believing the Working Holiday doesn't allow study. It does, and up to six months: one and a half times what Australia's allows, which is 4.
- Paying for the course before you have the visa. From outside the country you can wait for approval in principle and pay afterwards.
- Applying with an offer of place that's missing the holiday calendar, when the course lasts more than one academic year.
- Assuming you absolutely have to take IELTS. It's not compulsory for the visa; for an English course they don't ask for any prior level.
- Mixing up the course level: the English score the institution asks for changes with the level of the programme, from 3 to 10.
- Choosing an institution that isn't a signatory to the Code of Practice. If it isn't, it can't enrol you as an international student.
- Counting the hours of compulsory work placement within the 25 weekly hours. They don't go there: they're separate.
- Asking for full-time work during holidays without checking that the course is worth 120 credits.
- Forgetting to declare that an agent helped you with the application or the offer of place.
- Submitting the X-ray or medical examination when it's more than three months old.
- Sending proof that you requested the police certificate instead of the certificate itself. They don't accept it, except from Fiji, Hong Kong and Israel.
- Leaving the application for the southern summer: October to March is when it takes longest.
🕳️ What we couldn't confirm
We say so because a guide that hides its gaps is useless.
- Course fees. Unlike Australia, New Zealand doesn't publish a register with the price of each course. The NZQA register lists institutions and where they are, but not what they charge. That's why there's no price table here: you have to ask for them one by one.
- The approval rate by course type. Immigration New Zealand publishes waiting times, but we couldn't find the approval percentage by sector, which in Australia is public and is the figure that most shapes the decision.
- How many institutions are signatories to the Code of Practice. The NZQA register we downloaded has 3.377 campus records, but it doesn't mark which ones are approved for international students.
🔎 Where this comes from
This is a guide, not immigration advice. Everything here we read on 24 September 2026 on the official pages of Immigration New Zealand and NZQA, and we cite each one with its link. Rules and amounts change: before paying for anything, confirm with the official source. We are not licensed immigration advisers and we don't charge for this.
