Study in New Zealand, Eligibility, Required Documents, Fee and VISA Procedures

About New Zealand

New Zealand is a wonderful country with beautiful coast lines and huge mountain ranges. The standard of living in New Zealand is very high and ranks among the top 5 countries in terms of citizens quality of life as per the United Nations survey conducted in 2011. 95% of the New Zealanders live in cities and 99% of the country population is literates.

New Zealand gives high priority to education and cordially invites people visiting their country as tourists, immigrants or students in the same manner. As common language in New Zealand is English it is very comfortable for the Indian students to live, study and interact in NZ. The accent of NZ is also pretty easy to understand.

Education system in New Zealand

There are three main categories of education system in NZ which comprises of public universities, private training providers and polytechnics. All degrees and diplomas issued by private institutions are accredited by the New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA).

Moreover the cost of living in NZ is very low attributing to the NZD exchange rates when compared with other currencies like USD or AUD and hence the NZ courses are more affordable with low tuition fees and living expenses. New Zealand offers vast choice of courses for aspirants to pick up other than the regular management courses, engineering or sciences. One can check out courses like aviation flight training, English, business computing, air traffic control, dance, arts and design, religious studies, travel and tourism, hospitality courses and so on to select from.

New Zealand offers courses for both post graduation and graduation programs for one to study.  Students can choose degree or diploma courses based on their interest and qualification. These programs have recognition in New Zealand for getting jobs and also immigration purpose.

Eligibility criterion

Academic qualification for admission into courses

 Those who would like to apply for the undergraduate courses need to complete 10+2 or equivalent education. Those applying for post graduate courses should already have a bachelor’s degree in any field. However relevant degree in the same field is required by the students applying to courses other than the management course which is open to all but some universities look out for previous work experience from students to join the management courses. All academic programs in NZ are divided into various levels and based on the academic record of the students they are enrolled into either higher level or lower level courses depending on the student’s caliber. Students can find courses suitable to their educational profile. Doctoral programs also offered by NZ universities in some subjects.

Proficiency in English- Students who are interested to study in New Zealand must be proficient in English. For getting admission and visa one need to get good scores in IELTS, TOFEL or other proficiency exams in English. However we can suggest waiver of IELTS/TOFEL wherever possible.

Admissions Period New Zealand

Main Intakes - July
Other Intakes – Feb and some institutions have rolling intakes

Process of Admission in New Zealand Universities

The admission process for NZ universities is very simple where the student is required to submit their application form along with the English proficiency certificate, academic documents and the fees amount. The time taken for admission procedure varies where the public universities take 8 to 12 weeks time, polytechnics 3 to 4 weeks and the private institutions 1 to 2 weeks to complete the process. The academic year in New Zealand starts from mid or late February to the early November and usually universities have 2 semesters and 4 weeks holiday in June. However some universities may vary slightly on the dates while few universities offer courses as summer school during the main holiday months of November to February.

Documents Required for Admission in NZ Universities

Graduation certificate
Intermediate certificate
S.S.C or 10^th Class certificate

TOETL / IELTS Score card
Passport  1^st and last Page (Xerox Copy)
Statement of purpose (if required)
Experience letter (if required)

Education, living and tutions expenses in New Zealand

The living costs in New Zealand are NZD 10,000 pa. The expenses may vary as per the life style. 

Tuition fee for Undergraduate students - NZD 14,000 to NZD 19,000 pa & for post graduate programs - NZD 12,000 to NZD 20,000 pa (up to NZD 24,000 pa for management courses)

New Zealand Work options

All international students who have joined in the study program are allowed to work for 20 hours in a week during their academic year. But students can work 40 hours full time during their summer vacation. The average earnings for part time jobs is anything between NZ$10 - NZ$12 as paid per hour.     

The spouse of students enrolled for post graduation programs or attending courses that are listed in the immediate or long term shortage can join the student on the work permit.

On completion of education students can actually apply for a graduate job search visa valid for one year if they have not yet immediately got a job and those who have got a job in their field of education can get work permit for 2 to 3 years provided if they have done an advanced diploma or 1/2 years post graduation diploma. Those foreign students who have done graduation course in New Zealand would actually gain some points under the category of skilled migrant in case their study is in the mentioned list. These students on a case to case basis are also entitled for long term visas and a waiver of two years past experience in work.

Process for getting New Zealand visa

The time taken for Visa processing is about 3 to 6 weeks time where the visa officer does a check on all the submitted documents like educational certificates, work experience papers, financial documents and so on.

It may also require for some students to attend for a telephonic interview with the New Zealand High Commission, New Delhi or required to furnish more information to the visa officer for making a decision about granting the visa. The students have to prove their financial eligibility by showing caution amount of NZ$15,000 per year to cover their living expenses in NZ for the visa processing. A new scheme FTZ helps students to deposit this amount in concerned bank account for the amount to be released periodically to cover their expenses during the course of study which is however optional and not mandatory.

As soon as the visa officer is satisfied that all requirements for the visa are met they shall inform the student in writing that their application has been cleared in principle and are given a month time to submit their documents regarding the receipts of fee that are issued by the New Zealand education institute and any other specific requirements.

The visa shall be issued just before 14 to 21 working days before the commencement of the course. The visa is valid according to the duration for which one has paid the fee. If the student has already paid fee for the total period of the course duration then the visa is generated to cover the full term of the study course.

Published by Employment News Today