New Zealand Student Visa Requirements for Filipinos: The Money You Must Show, the Documents, and What Comes After Study

The admission letter is on the table, the family is doing the sums, and someone has already said this part is easy.

To study in New Zealand for more than 3 months, you need a student visa. Most students who pay their own way use the Fee Paying Student Visa from Immigration New Zealand (INZ), and you need an offer of place from an approved education provider first.

Which student visa you need

Short courses of up to 3 months in any 12 months can be done on a visitor visa or a work visa. A visitor visa is for a visit and short travel, not a way into a degree. Anything longer means one of these:

Fee Paying Student Visa: full-time study for up to 4 years, paying the full cost of your course at an approved education provider.
Pathway Student Visa: up to 3 courses, one after the other, on a Pathway Student Visa offer of place.
Government-funded: the Manaaki scholarship, if you qualify.

The student visa requirements INZ lists

Each requirement needs evidence in your application:

an offer of place on a course from an approved education provider
money to pay your tuition fees, or a scholarship
enough money to live on, or an acceptable sponsor
good health and good character
a genuine intention to study in New Zealand
full medical and travel insurance for your stay (not needed for PhD students)
proof you can leave when your stay ends

Your offer of place must state the course, its length and whether it is full-time, and your provider signs a declaration on it that you have the English language ability and academic capability to pass. From outside New Zealand you can apply with a conditional one, and INZ can approve your application in principle, but needs the unconditional one before it approves the visa.

How much money you need to show for a New Zealand student visa

INZ's funds requirement, as of 5 October 2026, is that a tertiary student shows NZD $20,000 for each year of study for living costs, or NZD $1,667 a month if the study is shorter than a year.

That is on top of tuition, which must be paid for 1 course or 1 year, whichever is shorter. Applying from outside New Zealand, you may pay after INZ approves your application in principle, usually within 10 days. Miss that deadline and the application will likely be declined. You also need a ticket out, or money for one, beyond living costs.

What counts as evidence of funds

INZ asks you to provide bank statements in the account holder's name with the last 3 months of transactions, term deposits held at least 3 months, a scholarship letter, or education loan letters. Deposits over NZD $2,000, or many smaller ones, must be explained with documents. Screenshots of bank transfers and receipts from education agents are not accepted as proof of paid tuition.

If your parents in the Philippines are paying

A parent in the Philippines who will fund your studies can be your sponsor only if they are a New Zealand citizen or resident. This is where we see families trip most. Otherwise, a parent can support you as a guarantor, by completing INZ's Financial Undertaking for a Student form (INZ 1014) with money that is their own and not loaned.

Table: if your parents in the Philippines are paying. Sponsor: a parent can be your sponsor only if they are a New Zealand citizen or resident. Guarantor: otherwise, a parent can support you as a guarantor, by completing INZ's Financial Undertaking for a Student form (INZ 1014) with money that is their own and not loaned.

INZ may also ask you to use its Funds Transfer Scheme, run with ANZ, which covers students from the Philippines. INZ tells you if you need it, and using it does not guarantee approval.

INZ's money rules ask one question: does the plan hold together? A real source, a clean paper trail and, for a longer course, a plan for how you will fund the later years, which INZ says "can strengthen your application". Starting that trail months early is the first practice of a professional habit: a plan you can explain to someone with every reason to doubt it.

A Filipino father planes a board at the workbench of his home carpentry workshop in late-afternoon sun.

Can you get a New Zealand study visa without IELTS?

INZ does not make an English test result mandatory, though results can help show you genuinely intend to study. The English language requirement is set by your education provider. If your provider asks for a test, here is how IELTS testing works in the Philippines.

Health and character checks for Filipino students

Staying 6 months or more, you must provide a chest X-ray certificate if you come from a country INZ does not list as low-incidence for tuberculosis, and the Philippines is not on that list. You do not need a full medical examination unless one of INZ's listed exceptions applies or INZ asks for one. Certificates must be under 3 months old when INZ receives them. See how destination-run medicals work.

The police certificate requirement applies if you are 17 or older and your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or more: the certificate must be under 6 months old, and a receipt is not accepted. INZ's police certificate tool names what to get for each country. If it points you to the NBI, our NBI clearance guide has the steps.

The application process, the fee and the wait

Get your offer of place.
Gather your supporting documents: passport, photo, tuition and funds evidence, X-ray and police certificate if required, and certified translations of any police or medical certificate not in English.
Apply online and pay.
Answer anything INZ asks for while it assesses your visa application.
Receive your eVisa.

On 5 October 2026, INZ's fee tool showed a cost of NZD $850 for a Philippine citizen applying online from the Philippines, including NZD $100 for the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy, paid by credit or debit card. INZ's current processing time is 80% of applications within 8 weeks. Apply at least 3 months before you travel. You must declare any assistance you received with the visa application or in getting your place on the course.

Diagram: if you apply from outside New Zealand for a Fee Paying Student Visa — you can apply with a conditional offer of place; INZ can approve your application in principle; you may pay your tuition after approval in principle, usually within 10 days; INZ needs the unconditional offer of place before it approves the visa.

Working while you study

You may be able to work part-time, up to 25 hours a week, and full time in scheduled holidays, but only if the conditions on your eVisa say so. For tertiary students, the 25 hours apply if you study full time for at least 2 academic years, or for a Level 4 or higher qualification. Full-time work in scheduled holidays needs full-time study on a course with at least 2 semesters over at least 8 months, plus, outside the Christmas and New Year break, at least 1 academic year and 120 credits. You must work for an employer under an employment agreement; international students cannot be self-employed.

After your studies: what changes on 16 November 2026

A Post-Study Work Visa needs a degree at Level 7 or higher and at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand, or a listed qualification below degree level with a related job. You get one, ever.

From 16 November 2026, INZ will open a Short-Term Graduate Work Visa: 6 months of open work rights for some Level 5 to 7 qualifications studied full-time in New Zealand for at least 24 weeks, if you have at least NZD $5,000 to support yourself; INZ's announcement lists the other conditions. Post-Study Work Visa eligibility will extend to a Level 7 graduate diploma studied full-time there for its full duration by someone who also holds a bachelor's degree, wherever it was completed, for up to 1 year. A Philippine degree counts, whenever it was awarded.

The qualification is the rung; permission to stay only keeps the door open. Choose a course you can explain as a career step, because INZ says a temporary visa carries "no guarantees" of residence. The work routes have a separate guide.

Protect yourself: advice, agents and fake fees

Immigration advice must come from a licensed immigration adviser or someone exempt; education agents outside New Zealand may advise on student visas only. Check a licence on the Immigration Advisers Authority's register first. INZ never asks for the visa fee as a bank deposit; no adviser can buy you priority; a promise of residence is a scam sign; INZ's web addresses contain ".immigration.govt.nz" exactly; and lying on a visa application is illegal and follows you into future applications.

Before You Apply: Your Checklist

Offer of place with the provider's declaration
Tuition receipt from the provider, not an agent (now, or after approval in principle)
Three months of bank history, large deposits explained
INZ 1014 if a parent is your guarantor
Chest X-ray if staying 6 months or more
Police certificate if 17+ and staying 24 months or more

The Questions Filipinos Ask Us Most

How much bank balance is required for a New Zealand student visa? As of October 2026, NZD $20,000 a year for a tertiary course, or NZD $1,667 a month under a year, plus tuition and the cost of a ticket out.

Sources

Immigration New Zealand, read 5 October 2026: