Visa cost

New Zealand student visa cost — Fee Paying Student Visa

$501 in fees nobody can skip, up to $826 if every situational extra applies. Checked August 2026.

How much does a New Zealand student visa cost in 2026?

Applying for a student visa in New Zealand — the Fee Paying Student Visa — costs $501 in fees you cannot skip: Student visa application fee ($286), Immigration levy ($156) and International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) ($59). Situational extras (transferring your visa to a new passport and variation of conditions on your visa) add up to $325 more. Tuition, living costs and proof-of-funds sit outside this total. All amounts are US dollars, last checked August 2026.

Fee Paying Student Visa cost breakdown

Every line the New Zealand application puts on your card, in US dollars, as of August 2026.

Student visa application fee$286
NZD 485 — Band C, applicants outside New Zealand and the Pacific Immigration New Zealand — Fees Guide (INZ 1028)
Immigration levy$156
NZD 265 — charged per application on top of the fee Immigration New Zealand — Fees Guide (INZ 1028)
International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL)$59
NZD 100 — charged per person on student visas, non-refundable Immigration New Zealand — Paying the International Visitor Levy
Mandatory total$501
What the Fee Paying Student Visa costs before any optional service.
Situational extras — only if they apply to you
Transferring your visa to a new passport$133
NZD 225 — needed if your passport expires mid-course, because the visa expires with it Immigration New Zealand — Fees Guide (INZ 1028)
Variation of conditions on your visa$192
NZD 325 — for example changing your course or work conditions after arrival Immigration New Zealand — Fees Guide (INZ 1028)
If every extra applied$826
Worst case — most applicants pay none or one of these.

Amounts are US dollars. New Zealand bills in its own currency, so the exact charge moves with the exchange rate — the native figures are in the notes column where the fee schedule publishes them.

Things to watch

  • Immigration New Zealand quotes the visa as 'from NZD 850' — that is the NZD 485 fee plus the NZD 265 levy plus the NZD 100 IVL, all paid in a single online transaction.
  • USD figures use NZD 1 = USD 0.59 (August 2026); Immigration New Zealand bills in NZD and notes the amount can shift slightly when you pay in another currency.
  • Fees and levies are never refunded, even if the application is declined.
  • Living costs sit outside these fees: tertiary students must separately show NZD 20,000 for each year of study, plus money for an onward ticket.
  • The Post Study Work Visa afterwards costs from NZD 1,670 (NZD 320 fee plus a NZD 1,350 levy) and is not included above.

How much bank balance do you need for a New Zealand student visa?

For the Fee Paying Student Visa, New Zealand asks you to show NZD 20,000 (about $11,800). The accepted form is Bank statements, scholarship or loan evidence, or an acceptable sponsor, and it covers 12 months of living costs, on top of tuition fees and your onward ticket. This is money you show, not money you pay, so it never appears in the fee table above. The figure comes from Immigration New Zealand — Student fund requirements, checked August 2026.

Immigration New Zealand — Student fund requirements · checked August 2026

New Zealand student visa requirements

  • Offer of place from an approved education provider

    Your provider must be a signatory to the Education (Pastoral Care of Tertiary and International Learners) Code of Practice 2021, and the offer must carry a signed declaration that the course suits you and that you can pass it. You can apply from outside New Zealand on a conditional offer, but the visa is only issued once the offer is unconditional.

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  • Proof you have paid or can pay your tuition fees

    You must show you have paid the fees for one course or one year of study, whichever is shorter. If you apply from outside New Zealand you can wait to pay until Immigration New Zealand approves your application in principle, though that lengthens processing.

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  • NZD 20,000 a year in living costs

    Tertiary students paying their own way must show NZD 20,000 for each year of study, or NZD 1,667 for each month if the course is shorter than a year. A sponsor or a guarantor completing a Financial Undertaking for a Student form can cover this instead.

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  • Medical and travel insurance for your whole stay

    You must agree to hold insurance acceptable to your education provider from the start of your course until your visa expires; this becomes a condition of the visa. PhD students are not required to hold insurance.

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  • Chest X-ray if you are staying more than six months

    Citizens of countries that do not have a low incidence of tuberculosis, and anyone who has spent more than three months in the last five years in such a country, need a chest X-ray certificate less than three months old. Full fee-paying students do not usually need a full medical certificate.

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  • Police certificates if your total time in New Zealand reaches 24 months

    Applicants aged 17 or older whose total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer must supply police certificates less than six months old from every country of citizenship and any country they have spent more than five years in since turning 17. A receipt showing you applied for one is not accepted.

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  • Evidence you can leave New Zealand at the end of your stay

    You need an onward ticket, or bank statements showing you can buy one. This money must be on top of the living costs you are already showing.

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  • A genuine intention to study

    Immigration New Zealand weighs your personal circumstances and everything you have previously told them. English test results such as IELTS or TOEFL are not compulsory but help demonstrate you can pass the course.

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  • Passport valid for three months past your planned departure

    Your passport or certificate of identity must stay valid for at least three months after the date you plan to leave New Zealand. Because the visa cannot outlast the passport, an expiring passport shortens the visa you are granted.

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How to apply for a New Zealand student visa

  1. Get an offer of place from an approved provider

    Apply to a provider that appears on Immigration New Zealand's approved list and obtain an offer of place naming the course, its length, whether study is full-time, and the dates of scheduled holidays. Returning students supply a confirmation of enrolment instead.

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  2. Gather your documents and evidence of funds

    Collect the offer of place, tuition receipt, proof of NZD 20,000 a year in living costs from a source Immigration New Zealand can verify, a chest X-ray and police certificates if you need them, and certified English translations of any police or medical certificate not already in English.

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  3. Apply online and pay the fee, levy and IVL together

    Paper applications are no longer accepted. You submit through the Immigration Online account, upload documents, and pay the NZD 485 application fee, the NZD 265 immigration levy and the NZD 100 International Visitor Levy in one transaction — NZD 850 in total for applicants outside the Pacific fee band.

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  4. Meet any approval-in-principle conditions

    If Immigration New Zealand approves your application in principle it may ask you to pay tuition, or to move your maintenance funds into an ANZ Funds Transfer Scheme savings account, before the visa is granted. The visa is only finalised once ANZ confirms the funds and you send a paid-fees receipt.

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  5. Wait for the decision and collect your eVisa

    Immigration New Zealand decides 80% of Fee Paying Student Visa applications within 8.5 weeks and emails you an eVisa when it approves one. They advise international students to apply three months before the intended travel date.

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  6. File a New Zealand Traveller Declaration before you fly

    Everyone entering New Zealand must complete an NZTD, which you can submit from 24 hours before your journey begins. At the border you also need your onward ticket or proof you can buy one, plus proof of your living costs.

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New Zealand student visa work rights, dependants and processing time

Work rights

A Fee Paying Student Visa normally allows part-time work of up to 25 hours a week during term and full-time work during scheduled holidays and the Christmas and New Year break. To get full-time holiday rights your course must be worth 120 credits, and students aged 16 or 17 need written permission from both a parent and the education provider.

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Dependants

You cannot include a partner or children in your own application; each applies separately. Any student can support visitor visas for family, but a partner only qualifies for a Partner of a Student Work Visa if you are studying a level 9 or 10 qualification, or a level 7 or 8 qualification tied to the Green List or the Post Study Work Visa list. Dependent children get student visas only if you are doing a PhD, an approved exchange, or an MFAT-funded scholarship.

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Processing time

Immigration New Zealand decides 80% of Fee Paying Student Visa applications within 8.5 weeks. It advises international students to apply about three months before their intended travel date.

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After graduation

The Post Study Work Visa lets graduates stay and work for up to three years, costs from NZD 1,670 and is decided for 80% of applicants within four weeks. You need a degree at level 7 or above studied full-time in New Zealand for at least 30 weeks, NZD 5,000 in living costs, and you must apply within three months of your student visa expiring — six months after a doctorate. You can only hold this visa once.

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Language requirement

New Zealand sets no compulsory English test score for the student visa itself. Immigration New Zealand says evidence of IELTS or TOEFL results is not mandatory but helps show you genuinely intend to study, and your education provider must separately declare that your English is good enough to pass the course.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Indian students

Funds Transfer Scheme is open to you

Indian citizens are among the nationalities Immigration New Zealand may ask to use the ANZ-operated Funds Transfer Scheme, moving at least NZD 20,000 per year of tertiary study into a New Zealand FTS savings account that pays out up to NZD 1,666 a month once you arrive.

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Only immediate family can sponsor you from South Asia

If you apply in India, only your partner, parents, siblings, grandparents or parents-in-law may act as your sponsor or give a financial undertaking. Sponsorship by a friend or wider relative, which is allowed elsewhere, is not accepted.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Chinese students

Funds Transfer Scheme is open to you

Chinese citizens can be asked to show access to their maintenance funds through the ANZ Funds Transfer Scheme rather than by bank statement alone. You transfer at least NZD 20,000 for a year of tertiary study, and Immigration New Zealand only grants the visa once ANZ confirms the money has landed.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Nepali students

Funds Transfer Scheme is open to you

Nepali citizens are on Immigration New Zealand's Funds Transfer Scheme list, so you may be asked to move NZD 20,000 a year into an ANZ FTS savings account before your visa is finalised.

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Only immediate family can sponsor you from South Asia

Applying from Nepal restricts sponsorship and financial undertakings to immediate family — partner, parents, siblings, grandparents and parents-in-law. Family friends are not accepted as sponsors.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Sri Lankan students

Funds Transfer Scheme is open to you

Sri Lankan citizens can use the ANZ Funds Transfer Scheme to prove genuine access to their maintenance funds, transferring at least NZD 20,000 for a year of tertiary study into a New Zealand account before the visa is granted.

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Optional IOM document verification can speed you up

Applicants in Sri Lanka may pay the International Organization for Migration to authenticate their documents and report the result directly to Immigration New Zealand. It is optional and guarantees nothing, but it may shorten processing; include the IOM receipt with your application.

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Only immediate family can sponsor you from South Asia

Sponsorship and financial undertakings from Sri Lanka are limited to your partner, parents, siblings, grandparents and parents-in-law.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Bangladeshi students

Only immediate family can sponsor you from South Asia

If you apply in Bangladesh, only immediate family — partner, parents, siblings, grandparents and parents-in-law — can sponsor you or sign a Financial Undertaking for a Student form.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Vietnamese students

Funds Transfer Scheme is open to you

Vietnamese citizens are on the Funds Transfer Scheme list, so Immigration New Zealand may require your NZD 20,000 of maintenance funds to sit in an ANZ FTS savings account before granting the visa.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Filipino students

Funds Transfer Scheme is open to you

Filipino citizens can be asked to use the ANZ Funds Transfer Scheme to demonstrate genuine access to living costs, transferring at least NZD 20,000 for a year of tertiary study before the visa is issued.

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New Zealand student visa requirements for Indonesian students

You must include your Kartu Keluarga

Immigration New Zealand asks Indonesian citizens to submit their family card (Kartu Keluarga) alongside the standard document set for a Fee Paying Student Visa.

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United States
From $535 all-in
United Kingdom
From $1,760 all-in
Canada
From $175 all-in
Australia
From $2,250 all-in
Germany
From $190 all-in
France
From $183 all-in

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much is the New Zealand student visa fee?
The Fee Paying Student Visa application charge is $286 (Student visa application fee). Add the other mandatory items — Immigration levy $156 and International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) $59 — and the all-in mandatory total is $501. Optional extras add up to $325 on top.
How much bank balance is required for a New Zealand student visa?
NZD 20,000 (about $11,800), held as Bank statements, scholarship or loan evidence, or an acceptable sponsor, covering 12 months of living costs, on top of tuition fees and your onward ticket. It is money you show rather than money you pay, so it is separate from the visa fees. NZD 20,000 per year for tertiary, English-language and other non-compulsory study, or NZD 1,667 per month if your course is shorter than a year. School students in Years 1 to 13 show NZD 17,000 a year. USD figure at NZD 1 = USD 0.59, August 2026. Source: Immigration New Zealand — Student fund requirements (August 2026).
Can you work on a New Zealand student visa?
A Fee Paying Student Visa normally allows part-time work of up to 25 hours a week during term and full-time work during scheduled holidays and the Christmas and New Year break. To get full-time holiday rights your course must be worth 120 credits, and students aged 16 or 17 need written permission from both a parent and the education provider. Source: Immigration New Zealand — Fee Paying Student Visa (August 2026).
How long does a New Zealand student visa take?
Immigration New Zealand decides 80% of Fee Paying Student Visa applications within 8.5 weeks. It advises international students to apply about three months before their intended travel date. Source: Immigration New Zealand — Fee Paying Student Visa (August 2026).
Can you bring your family on a New Zealand student visa?
You cannot include a partner or children in your own application; each applies separately. Any student can support visitor visas for family, but a partner only qualifies for a Partner of a Student Work Visa if you are studying a level 9 or 10 qualification, or a level 7 or 8 qualification tied to the Green List or the Post Study Work Visa list. Dependent children get student visas only if you are doing a PhD, an approved exchange, or an MFAT-funded scholarship. Source: Immigration New Zealand — Bringing family if you have a student visa (August 2026).
What's not included in the Fee Paying Student Visa fee?
Tuition, living costs and the money you have to show in your account are separate from the fees on this page. Use our cost-of-study calculator at /tools/cost-calculator for a complete budget.
When are these fees due?
Application and biometric fees are paid before submission. Health surcharges (UK IHS, Australian OSHC) are paid as part of the visa application. Some fees (Anmeldung in Germany, OFII in France) are paid after arrival.

Official sources

Last verified August 2026.