New Zealand student visa financial requirement

At a glance

The requirement, as published

For tertiary, English language or other non-compulsory study, as published: "NZD $20,000 for each year, if you are studying for 1 year or more, or NZD $1,667 for each month" if your study is shorter than 1 year. For compulsory education (school Years 1-13): "NZD $17,000 for each year... or NZD $1,417 for each month." These living-cost amounts are in ADDITION to tuition fees, and you must also show a return travel ticket or enough funds to buy onward travel. Indian students are among the nationalities (China, India, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam) who may be asked to use the Funds Transfer Scheme (FTS), operated by ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited — INZ notes "INZ will let you know if you need to use the FTS" and that using it "does not guarantee approval of your student visa application."

The form of the money matters as much as the amount

Applicants concentrate on reaching the figure and are refused on how the money is held. Across every major student visa route the same four questions decide it.

• Whose account is it in? Routes differ on whether a parent's account is acceptable and what proof of relationship is needed.
• How long has it been there? Many routes require the funds to have been held for a continuous period, and a deposit made last week usually fails.
• What kind of account? Some routes exclude accounts you cannot access immediately.
• Can you evidence the source? A large recent credit without an explanation invites a refusal even when the balance is correct.

Education loans as proof of funds

A sanctioned education loan is accepted as evidence of funds by several routes, which is why the loan timeline and the visa timeline are the same timeline. A sanction letter is usually needed, not an in-principle approval.

1. Confirm your route accepts a loan sanction letter, and from which kind of lender.
2. Allow for the loan taking longer than the lender indicates — collateral valuation is the usual delay.
3. Keep the sanction letter, the disbursement schedule and the lender's letterhead details together.

Our lender pages at /education-loan carry each lender's processing indication and how recently we read it. Work backwards from the visa date, not from the course start.