Pathway Student Visa

At a Glance

Item	Details
Visa name	Pathway Student Visa
Purpose	Study sequential pathway programmes
Stay	Up to 5 years
Cost	From NZD $750
Processing	80% within 8.5 weeks
Eligibility timing	Apply 3 months before travel
Study	Up to 3 consecutive courses
Work rights	Up to 25 hours weekly
Holiday work	Full-time, if eligible
Medicare	Not stated in the source
Public health care	Some people may qualify
Insurance	Full medical and travel insurance
Travel facility	Multiple entry, if granted
Citizenship	Not stated in the source
Family sponsorship	Partner and children apply separately
Financial sponsorship	Acceptable sponsor or guarantor
Visa record	Conditions recorded in eVisa
Application method	Online only

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Purpose

This visa allows you to study a pathway of up to 3 programmes, one after another, with pathway education provider(s), on one visa. You must progress through the planned courses.

You may take a break of up to 16 weeks between programmes.

Stay

You may stay in New Zealand for up to 5 years.

The visa may expire no more than 3 months after completing your final pathway programme. Your stay may be shorter if your passport expires earlier.

Your visa starts:

• On entry to New Zealand, if approved while overseas.
• On visa grant, if approved while in New Zealand.

You must leave before it expires.

Eligibility

You must:

• Have a valid pathway offer from eligible provider(s).
• Have an offer of place for each course.
• Pay, or show ability to pay, tuition fees.
• Have living-cost funds, sponsorship or a guarantor.
• Be in good health and of good character.
• Genuinely intend to study and meet visa conditions.
• Have full medical and travel insurance.
• Show plans to leave New Zealand after study.
• Meet prerequisites for second and third courses.

If you already hold a student visa, provide evidence of satisfactory attendance, progress and performance.

Students under 10

If you are under 10 and will not live in an NZQA-approved school hostel, you must be accompanied by, and live with, a parent or legal guardian.

The parent or guardian must separately apply for an appropriate visa and prove their legal right to care for you.

Study Pathway Requirements

A provider must be authorised to offer Pathway Student Visa programmes.

Your provider’s support letter, or a joint letter from multiple providers, must state:

• Each course in the pathway.
• Start and end dates for each course.

Your offer of place must state the provider, course, study level, dates and study mode. For courses over one academic year, it must also state scheduled holiday dates.

The provider must declare that it has assessed your English ability and academic capability, and considers the course appropriate to your expectations.

Year 12 and 13 Students

If progressing to tertiary study, confirm your intended:

• Study discipline.
• Qualification.
• Education provider.

Your visa conditions will state the tertiary qualification and provider, not the discipline.

English-Language Study

For some English-language pathways resulting in NZQCF Levels 1–8, Immigration New Zealand may request IELTS or equivalent evidence.

All English-language study must be completed within 30 weeks.

Financial Requirements

Tuition Fees

Provide evidence that you have paid tuition for your first course or first year, whichever is shorter, and can pay for later pathway study.

Evidence may include:

• Bank statements or accessible savings.
• Fee receipt or provider confirmation.
• Eligible government-loan documents.
• Scholarship confirmation.
• Evidence that fees are not required.

Applicants outside New Zealand may wait until approval in principle before paying fees. This can extend processing because payment evidence is required before visa issue.

Living Costs

For tertiary, English-language or other non-compulsory study, you need:

Study duration	Required funds
One year or longer	NZD $20,000 yearly
Less than one year	NZD $1,667 monthly

For study longer than one year, a credible plan for later living costs can strengthen the application.

Evidence may include bank statements, scholarship evidence, education-loan documents, fixed-term deposits or proof that living costs are already paid.

Sponsor or Guarantor

An acceptable sponsor may be an organisation or an individual. An individual sponsor must be a family member or friend.

Provide the sponsor’s sharing ID. The sponsor must complete an online form and show they can fund accommodation and living costs.

A guarantor may be an organisation or, for a child, a relative or friend. The guarantor must complete the Financial Undertaking for a Student (INZ 1014) form and prove they hold their own funds.

If applying in New Zealand for a further student visa, sponsorship is only available where your first student visa was sponsored by the same sponsor.

Applicants from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal or Bhutan applying from those countries may only use immediate family as sponsors or financial-undertaking providers.

Health, Character and Insurance

Health

You must be in good health. Immigration New Zealand may require a medical examination, chest X-ray or both.

Health evidence must be less than 3 months old when received.

For stays exceeding 6 months, a chest X-ray is required if you are from, or recently spent over 3 months in, a country with a high tuberculosis incidence.

Character

You must be of good character.

Police certificates are required if you are:

• Aged 17 or older; and
• Staying in New Zealand for 24 months or longer in total.

Certificates must be less than 6 months old when you apply. They are required from countries where you are a citizen and countries where you have spent more than 5 years since turning 17.

Applications may be declined or issued for a shorter period without required police certificates.

Insurance

You must hold medical and travel insurance from arrival until departure. This is a visa condition.

Insurance must cover:

• Travel to, from and within New Zealand.
• Medical care, prescriptions, surgery and hospitalisation.
• Medical evacuation and family assistance.
• Death, funerals and return travel.

PhD students do not need to hold insurance.

You or your sponsor must pay for health care received in New Zealand. Some people may qualify for public health care.

Work Rights

Your work rights are stated in your eVisa.

You may be allowed to:

• Work up to 25 hours a week during study.
• Work full-time during scheduled holidays.
• Work full-time over the Christmas and New Year period.

Work rights depend on your course and visa conditions.

Students aged 16 or 17, or in Years 12 or 13, need written work permission from both their parent or guardian and pathway provider. Exchange students also need permission from their exchange organiser.

Students aged 15 or younger cannot work on a student visa.

To receive full-time scheduled-holiday work rights, provide course and holiday information, including evidence that the course is worth 120 credits.

Practical work experience required by your course is additional to permitted work hours. Provide evidence that the work experience is a compulsory course requirement.

You cannot:

• Be self-employed.
• Work as an independent contractor.
• Provide commercial sexual services.
• Operate a business providing commercial sexual services.

If your first pathway course does not provide work rights, but a later course does, apply for a variation of conditions.

You need an IRD number to pay tax on New Zealand employment income.

Family Provisions

You cannot include your partner or dependent children in this application.

They may apply separately for visas based on their relationship to you.

Travel

You may travel in and out of New Zealand until your visa expires if you have valid multiple-entry travel conditions.

Applicants applying from inside New Zealand will normally receive multiple-entry conditions.

If you leave without valid multiple-entry travel conditions, your visa expires. Check your eVisa for travel conditions.

Required Documents

Provide:

• Passport or travel-document identity-page scan.
• One acceptable visa photo.
• Offers of place from pathway provider(s).
• Provider support letter or joint pathway offer.
• Tuition-fee payment or funding evidence.
• Living-cost funding evidence.
• Sponsor sharing ID, if sponsored.
• INZ 1014 form, if using a guarantor.
• Evidence of required practical work experience.
• Work permissions, if applicable.
• Course and holiday information for holiday work rights.
• Guardianship evidence, if applicable.
• Medical or chest X-ray evidence, if required.
• Police certificates, if required.
• Evidence of onward travel or funds for a ticket.
• Certified English translations of non-English police or medical certificates.

Your passport or certificate of identity must remain valid for at least 3 months after your intended departure date.

How to Apply

1. Obtain a valid pathway offer and offers of place.
2. Gather identity, financial, study, health and character documents.
3. Obtain certified translations where required.
4. Create or log into an online Immigration New Zealand account.
5. Apply online, upload documents and pay applicable fees.
6. Respond to requests for further information.
7. Check application status online.
8. Receive an eVisa if approved.

Paper applications are no longer accepted.

International students are strongly encouraged to apply 3 months before intended travel.

Arrival Requirements

Complete a New Zealand Traveller Declaration:

• By air: from 24 hours before your journey begins.
• By sea: from 24 hours before departure from the last overseas port.

At arrival, carry evidence of:

• Onward travel, funds for a ticket, or sponsor agreement.
• Sufficient living-cost funds.

Entry permission can be refused if you are not a genuine student, no longer meet requirements, have changed circumstances, refuse biometrics, or cannot show onward-travel arrangements.

Conditions and Obligations

You must:

• Study full-time with the provider named on your visa.
• Attend your course unless you have a good reason for absence.
• Make satisfactory study progress.
• Maintain required medical and travel insurance.
• Comply with all conditions recorded in your eVisa.
• Leave New Zealand before visa expiry.

To change provider or move to a lower-level course, apply for a new student visa.

To change to a same-level or higher-level course with the same provider, apply for a variation of conditions.