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Pathway

New Zealand Fee Paying Student Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

New Zealand's Fee Paying Student Visa is for international students accepted by an approved New Zealand education provider who can show tuition, living funds, health insurance, and standard visa requirements.

Type
Temporary study visa
Study plan
Offer from an approved New Zealand education provider
Core requirements
Offer, funds, insurance, and admissibility
What to know
Post-study options depend on the qualification
What it gives
The student may study the approved course and travel while valid multiple-entry conditions remain.
Main limit
It is not an open work visa.

Summary

The Fee Paying Student Visa is for international students paying tuition themselves or with support from family, a loan, or a partial scholarship. It requires an offer of place from an approved New Zealand education provider and credible evidence for tuition, living costs, insurance, and genuine study plans.

The visa normally follows the period of study paid for and can be issued for up to 4 years. It is temporary and does not by itself guarantee post-study work or residence.

Pathway fit check

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 demonstrably available. An applicant filing outside New Zealand can wait for 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 its conditions were varied.

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, study logic, prior academic record, and intention to comply and leave or obtain another lawful status.

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 grant, read the eVisa for the exact provider, course, work hours, holidays, travel, and expiry conditions.
Compare your options

Similar study pathways in other destinations.

Sources