COVID UPDATE: International students with a current student visa can now travel to New Zealand. Border exception is no longer needed. New student visa application will resume from 23:59 NZST on 31 July 2022. More details here
Happy to inform you that the New Zealand student visa application is available online. You now have a choice of applying online or on paper. Hooray!! In my time, that wasn’t the case, and this was 5 years ago. Damn, 5 years don waka!!
You will need to apply for a New Zealand student visa if you’ll be studying for longer than three months. There are four types of student visas:
- Fee-paying student visa
- Exchange student visa
- Foreign government-supported student visa
- Pathway student visa
New Zealand has no high commission in some countries, including my beloved Nigeria – the nearest to us is South Africa. The application process is online, straightforward and applies whether you have a scholarship or not. It is broken into three simple steps:
- Gather documents.
- Submit an application online (register, fill in the required information, upload documents, pay applicable fees). Find a checklist here.
- Wait.
The criteria that must be met as a requirement for visa approval for a fee-paying student are
- Identity (your full name must match your offer of place, your passport, and the name on the application form. Evidence of change of name will be required where the case is different)
- Health and character (chest x-ray or medical certificate and police certificate)
- Genuine intentions (do you intend to meet the conditions of your visa? Prove it.)
- Offer of place
- Tuition fees (proof you have paid in full, or paid the first annual fee, or have a recognized* scholarship to support your cost of studying)
- Medical and travel insurance (it’s a must for international students, usually included as part of fees. Students may opt out of university provider but must bring theirs)
- Funds for living expenses. This includes scholarships or financial undertakings by sponsor/family member. You need to show evidence that you have sufficient money to support yourself while you study in NZ. One of the following: NZ$20,000 for your first year of study or $1,667 per month if you’ll be studying for less than 12 months. Some scholarships may require to show proof of funds (from experience). Learn about proof of funds for New Zealand visa application.
- Onward travel (No idea why this is asked, but you have to show you have money to leave NZ).
- Criteria for under 18 (permission to work)
- Other supporting documents (cover letter or statement of purpose, a copy your current passport with visa labels, any document to show your genuine intent).
* not all scholarships are recognized by INZ. In this case, the scholarship provider will have to sign the financial undertaking form (correct as of 2017).
The criteria and evidence vary based on country of origin and country of residence. Once your visa is approved, you’ll need to finalize your travel plans then be all set and ready to go.
Last step: Cost of living in NZ
Haha, not exactly but let’s end it here.
