Update from Immigration New Zealand

Peak processing season in full swing 

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has seen an increase in applications submitted during September 2024, ahead of the 1 October visa fee and levy increase and because of our ‘apply early’ messaging.  

In September 2023, approximately 3,104 international student visa applications were submitted and in September 2024, approximately 6,893 international student visa applications have been submitted, an increase of 122%. 

Now that we are in our peak processing period, we expect these processing times to grow as we receive a higher volume of applications. Students should get their visa application in at least 3 months before they plan to travel to New Zealand for the first semester of 2025. 

By now, most students should have received an offer of place from their chosen education provider. Anyone expecting to study in the first term of 2025 should apply now.  

We acknowledge that some students who are waiting on key study documentation are unable to apply 3 months ahead. In these cases, they should apply as soon as they have all of their documents, but they need to be aware that late applications may not be processed in time for them to start studying.  

Immigration New Zealand has three student processing sites in New Zealand, and has allocated more staff to processing student visas, compared to last year’s peak. 

Ensure you submit a complete application 

To avoid delays, we encourage students, agents and advisers to follow the advice in our student visa information sheets. If they do not include all the required documents when they submit their application, it may be declined.  

Applications that have a statement of purpose letter written by the student, telling us about their personal circumstances and plans in New Zealand, help us assess their intent. If a student intends to apply for another visa after study, they should declare this. Students are allowed to apply for another visa after they finish studying.