The post study work visa in New Zealand runs for up to three years, and the two small words at the front are the ones that decide your outcome. Immigration New Zealand grants the full three years only for a master’s degree or a doctorate studied here for at least 30 weeks. For a bachelor’s degree, a postgraduate diploma or anything else at Level 8 and below, the visa lasts exactly as long as you spent studying. A one year postgraduate diploma buys a one year visa.
That is not a change anyone announced loudly, which is why so much of what you’ll read still says three years flat. The rules below are INZ’s own operational instructions WD3.1, effective 18 November 2024, and WD3.5, effective 20 April 2026, checked at the origin on 4 August 2026.
A separate set of changes takes effect on Monday 16 November 2026. None of it has commenced yet, so it sits in its own section below and is not the position today.
How long is a New Zealand post study work visa, and who gets the full three years?
Only a Level 9 master’s or a Level 10 doctorate gets three years. Everything else gets the number of weeks you were actually enrolled and studying in New Zealand, converted into a visa of the same length. INZ writes this out as a table in WD3.5, and it is worth reading as a table rather than as a headline, because the second column is what most people never check.
| What you completed | Full-time study in New Zealand | Visa may be granted for |
|---|---|---|
| Non-degree qualification at Level 7 or below, on INZ’s eligible list | The full duration the qualification requires | The time you spent studying it, as your provider states |
| Level 7 bachelor’s degree, or any qualification at Level 8 | At least 30 weeks | The time you spent studying it, as your provider states |
| Level 9 master’s degree or Level 10 doctorate | At least 30 weeks | 3 years |
| A bachelor’s degree immediately followed by honours or a postgraduate diploma | At least 30 weeks in each one | The total time spent on all of them, to a maximum of three years |
| An eligible qualification immediately followed by a higher one studied for under 30 weeks | The first qualification meets the rule | The time you spent on the first qualification |
| Non-degree at Level 8 or below that needs occupational registration | As above for its level | One extra year on top of study time, total still capped at three years |
Level 9 or 10 with 30+ weeks = 3 years · everything else = the weeks you studied, capped at 3 years
Run your own plan through that and the results are not intuitive. A twelve month taught master’s degree in New Zealand earns the maximum visa for the minimum study. A three year New Zealand bachelor’s degree also earns three years, because three years of study reaches the cap by a completely different route. A postgraduate diploma costs a comparable amount of money and returns a third of the work rights.
| Your study plan in New Zealand | Post study work visa you can expect |
|---|---|
| A one year taught master’s, at least 30 weeks enrolled | Three years. The shortest qualification on this list produces the longest visa. |
| A three year New Zealand bachelor’s degree | Three years, because the time you spent studying reaches the three year ceiling anyway. |
| A one year postgraduate diploma at Level 8 | One year. This is where the “2 year work visa” searches come from as well, since two years of Level 7 or Level 8 study returns a two year visa. |
| A bachelor’s here, then an honours year on a second student visa | The two study periods are added together and then capped at three years. |
| A standalone Level 7 graduate diploma that is not on INZ’s eligible list | No post study work visa at all today. That is the case the 16 November 2026 change is aimed at. |
One more sequence is worth knowing before you enrol. If you finish a postgraduate diploma over at least 30 weeks and then move straight into a master’s you complete in fewer than 30 weeks, INZ lets you apply on the strength of the diploma, a change it announced on 19 November 2024. It preserves your eligibility. It does not buy you the three years. In INZ’s words, a student who wants a three year visa “would need to complete at least 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand, enrolled in the Master’s degree itself”.
What counts as 30 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand?
Your education provider decides the number, not you and not INZ, and it is confirmed through your offer of place or a letter from the provider. INZ then counts a narrower set of weeks than a student would.
“Study weeks include exam preparation time and exclude holiday periods, time spent repeating failed components, and time spent studying a different qualification where the credits have been transferred to the qualification that has been completed.”
That is Immigration New Zealand’s instruction WD3.1, and it is worth taking clause by clause. The weeks you sat revising for exams count. The summer between semesters does not. A paper you failed and sat again does not, and credits you carried over from an earlier qualification do not either.
The consequence sits on INZ’s own page in one flat sentence. “If you fail a course or take longer to complete your study than what is stated on your offer of place, this will not extend the length of your visa.” A failed paper stretches your degree and your living costs without adding a single day to your work rights.
There’s a harder version of the same rule. If you do not complete the qualification recorded on your New Zealand student visa, INZ says it may not approve the application at all. Switching programmes mid-degree is therefore an immigration decision as much as an academic one. An immigration officer can also ask for more evidence where the study duration you claim does not line up with how long the qualification normally takes.
Which non-degree qualifications get a post study work visa?
Only the ones INZ has named, and the list is short and unusually specific. It runs to 24 entries in Appendix 13 of the Immigration Operational Manual, effective 23 March 2026, and each entry ties you to a named job.
| Field | Qualifications INZ names | Job your visa is tied to |
|---|---|---|
| Civil and highway engineering | Graduate diploma at Level 7; New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Level 6) with a Civil Engineering strand, 240 credits | Construction Project Manager, Civil Engineering Technician |
| Construction and building | Graduate diploma in construction or construction management; New Zealand Diploma in Construction (Level 6 or higher), 240 credits | Construction Project Manager, Project Builder |
| Quantity surveying | Graduate Diploma in Quantity Surveying; New Zealand Diploma in Construction (Quantity Surveying) at Level 6 or higher | Quantity Surveyor |
| Electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering | New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Level 6) with the matching strand, 240 credits | Telecommunications Network Engineer, Electrical, Electronic or Mechanical Engineering Technician |
| Teaching | A graduate diploma the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand accepts for registration, with the Council’s other requirements met | Primary, Intermediate, Secondary or Early Childhood Teacher |
| Agriculture and dairy | Diploma at Level 5 or higher in farm management, agriculture or dairy technology; New Zealand Certificate in Agriculture (Level 4), Dairy or Livestock strand | Dairy Cattle Farmer |
| Automotive | New Zealand Certificate in Automotive Electrical Engineering (Level 4); New Zealand Certificate in Heavy Automotive Engineering (Level 4) | Automotive Electrician, Diesel Motor Mechanic |
Read the list for what is missing and it tells you more. There is no business qualification on it, no information technology diploma, no hospitality or tourism certificate, and no health or care qualification below degree level. If you are looking at a sub-degree course in New Zealand for the work rights, those seven fields are the entire universe.
Two of those fields get something extra that almost nobody mentions. If you hold a listed non-degree qualification at Level 7 or below, or any non-degree qualification at Level 8, and you are working towards registration with the Teaching Council or affiliate membership of the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors, INZ can add up to one extra year on top of your study time, with the total still capped at three years. A Level 6 quantity surveying diploma plus a year of New Zealand experience is the exact combination the instruction names as meeting the institute’s Pathway 1.
Can you work for any employer on a post study work visa, or only in your field?
It depends entirely on whether your qualification was a degree. If you hold a Level 7 bachelor’s degree or anything at Levels 8 to 10, the visa is an open work visa in New Zealand. INZ’s wording is that you may “undertake any work, in any occupation and in any location”. No employer sponsorship, no job offer, no field restriction, and you can change jobs as often as you like.
If your qualification was a non-degree at Level 7 or below, the visa is tied. You may only work in the occupation Appendix 13 names against your qualification, and that occupation is written into your visa conditions. A New Zealand Diploma in Construction holder cannot take a marketing job for a year and stay lawful.
Three conditions apply either way and each one catches somebody out.
- You can run a business, but you cannot employ anyone. Being a sole trader or owning a business is allowed. Hiring staff is not, whether you hire them yourself or your business manager does it for you. This is a real change of position from the student visa, where self-employment is banned outright.
- You can study for up to three months in any twelve month period without doing anything. Beyond that you need a variation of conditions, unless the study is required by your employer as part of the job.
- Check your travel conditions before you fly home. If your visa does not carry a multiple-entry travel condition and you leave New Zealand, INZ says the visa expires.
Your family comes with the visa rather than separately. A post study work visa holder’s partner can apply for a work visa of their own, and dependent children can apply for student visas.
When do you have to apply after your student visa expires?
Three months, in the ordinary case, counted from the end date of the student visa for that qualification. Three other windows exist and they are set out in WD3.1.
- Three months after your student visa ends, for a standard single qualification.
- Six months after it ends if your qualification is a doctoral degree.
- Three months from the second qualification’s student visa, if you completed a bachelor’s degree immediately followed by honours or a postgraduate diploma on consecutive student visas.
- Twelve months from the first qualification’s student visa, if you finished an eligible qualification and then immediately completed a higher one you studied for under 30 weeks.
Doctoral students get one more concession that is easy to miss and worth a lot. You can apply after submitting your thesis for examination, on evidence from your provider, rather than waiting for the result. Given how long a thesis examination takes, that is months of work rights recovered.
Note: INZ’s step-by-step instructions on the visa page currently print “in less than 30 months” where the rule and the same page’s own “When to apply” section both say 30 weeks. Work to the 30 week figure in WD3.1.
INZ checks its own records against your dates, so there is nothing to prove here and nothing to negotiate. Two smaller points round it off. You must hold a valid visa the whole time you are in New Zealand, and if your student visa runs out while the application is being processed, INZ normally issues an interim visa to keep you lawful. And if you are outside New Zealand when the visa is approved, it does not start running until you land, whereas an onshore approval starts the clock on the day it is granted.
What does the post study work visa cost, and how fast is the decision?
INZ publishes it as “From NZD $1670”, and 80% of applications are decided within three weeks. The two numbers together make it the fastest and the most expensive step in a New Zealand study plan.
The figure breaks into an application fee of NZD 320 and an immigration levy of NZD 1,350, from the INZ Fees Guide, form INZ 1028, May 2026 edition. An Indian citizen applying from outside New Zealand pays Band C, which is the same 320 as Band A. So the levy is more than four times the fee itself, and it is the levy that makes this visa cost roughly double what the student visa did.
You also have to show at least NZD 5,000 in your own name, usually through recent bank statements. That amount does not scale. INZ states plainly that the same NZD 5,000 applies whether the visa runs for one, two or three years.
NZD 1,670 × 55.33 = about INR 92,400 · NZD 5,000 × 55.33 = about INR 2.77 lakh
The rate is NZD 1 = INR 55.33 on 28 July 2026. There is no direct INR to NZD official reference rate, so it comes from the European Central Bank’s daily euro rates for the same day, where EUR 1 = INR 108.9610 and EUR 1 = NZD 1.9693. Divide 108.9610 by 1.9693 and you get 55.33. Redo the division on the day you actually pay.
Two things about the money that are easy to assume wrongly. If INZ declines the application, the fee and the levy are not refunded. And you do not need a job to apply. Employment appears nowhere in WD3.1, the current instruction setting out what an applicant must have, and nowhere in what INZ’s own visa page asks you to provide. The visa is a period to find work, not a reward for having found it. Set against the student visa’s own fees and timeline, this is the step to budget for early.
What health and police documents does an Indian graduate need for this visa?
More than you needed for the student visa, and there are two reasons for it. The first is policy. Instruction A4.25 excuses a fee paying student from the general medical certificate however long the course runs, and its list of exempt visa types names no work visa of any kind, so that exemption ends when your student visa does. The second is arithmetic. Both of the thresholds below count the time you have already spent in New Zealand.
On health, the chest X-ray rule works in two bands. For a stay of six to twelve months you need one only if you are a citizen of a country that does not have a low incidence of tuberculosis, or you have spent more than three months in the past five years in such a country. India is not on INZ’s low-incidence list, so an Indian graduate meets that test. For a stay of more than twelve months the nationality condition falls away entirely, and INZ’s wording is that you must have a chest X-ray “no matter where you are from”.
The medical certificate turns on the same twelve month figure, and that figure is a total rather than the length of the visa you are applying for. INZ counts the time you have already spent in New Zealand towards it. A graduate who has just finished a twelve month master’s has reached twelve months before the new visa even starts, so a one year post study work visa puts the total at about twenty four months and the medical certificate is owed. Avoiding it would mean keeping your whole New Zealand stay under twelve months, which the 30 week study minimum makes very hard. Plan for both documents.
On character, the rule is a police certificate if you are 17 or older and your total time in New Zealand will reach 24 months or more, counting every visa you have already held. Run the numbers on a common plan. A twelve month master’s followed by a three year post study work visa is 48 months in total. A student who was never asked for an Indian Police Clearance Certificate at the student visa stage will be asked for one now.
Certificates must be less than six months old when you submit, and anything not in English needs a certified translation. Your passport has to be valid for at least three months beyond the date you plan to leave New Zealand.
What changes on 16 November 2026, and does any of it apply to you today?
None of it applies today. Everything in this section starts on Monday 16 November 2026, and as at 4 August 2026 the current rules are the ones described above. INZ set the changes out in an announcement published on 29 May 2026, and there are two of them plus one restriction that already exists.
A new Short-term Graduate Work Visa arrives for graduates whose qualification does not qualify them for a post study work visa. It gives six months of open work rights. To be eligible you’ll need an NZQCF Level 5 to 7 qualification studied full-time in New Zealand for at least 24 weeks, which is not an English language, foundation or bridging qualification, plus NZD 5,000 in funds, and you must apply within three months of your student visa expiring. Work has to be for an employer under an employment agreement or a contract for services, and business ownership is not allowed. Unlike the post study work visa, it does not let you support a partner for a work visa or children for a dependent child student visa.
Post study work visa eligibility extends to Level 7 graduate diplomas, but only for graduates who also hold a bachelor’s degree, from New Zealand or overseas, with no time limit on when it was awarded. The visa runs for the length of the graduate diploma study, to a maximum of one year, and it carries open work conditions. INZ has confirmed that an International Qualification Assessment is not required for the overseas bachelor’s degree, which removes an NZQA step and its NZD 445 standard fee from that route. Cross credits and recognition of prior learning do not count towards the graduate diploma duration.
Nobody gets two. This is the sentence to weigh before you apply for anything. In INZ’s words, “An individual can only be granted 1 Post Study Work Visa. Anyone who has held a Post Study Work Visa in the past is not eligible for another, even if the study is at the same or higher level.” Someone who has held a post study work visa will also be shut out of the new Short-term Graduate Work Visa. If you are choosing between a one year visa now on a Level 8 qualification and a three year one later on a master’s, that is a once only decision, not a sequence.
What can a post study work visa lead to after it expires?
It can lead to residence, and INZ says so on the visa page itself, where the “Residence option” panel answers “Can lead to a resident visa” with a plain yes. The usual sequence is that you use the post study work visa to find an employer, move onto an Accredited Employer Work Visa, and then apply for a resident visa from there.
The obstacle in the middle is the employer, not you. An Accredited Employer Work Visa requires an employer who already holds INZ accreditation and has passed a Job Check for the specific role. Job hunting in New Zealand therefore means checking a company’s immigration status alongside its salary band. The wage matters as well, because immigration thresholds are indexed to a median wage of NZD 35.00 an hour, effective 9 March 2026 under Amendment Circular 2026-01.
Your New Zealand qualification helps once more at this point. For an Accredited Employer Work Visa, a qualification earned overseas that is not a Level 7 bachelor’s or higher has to come with an NZQA International Qualification Assessment. One earned in New Zealand does not.
Then compare the timing honestly. The Skilled Migrant Category needs six points, and a Level 9 master’s is worth five of them, with one more coming from twelve months of skilled New Zealand work experience. A three year visa gives you room to find the job, hold it for a year and lodge the application. A one year visa gives you almost none. That gap is what the length rule actually costs, and the full arithmetic sits with New Zealand PR after study.
- Three years is granted only for a Level 9 master’s or a Level 10 doctorate studied full-time in New Zealand for at least 30 weeks.
- At Level 8 and below, including a Level 7 bachelor’s degree, the visa equals the time you actually spent studying, as your education provider confirms it.
- A degree at Level 7 or higher gives open work rights, any job and any employer. A non-degree qualification at Level 7 or below ties you to the occupation named in Appendix 13.
- Only 24 non-degree qualifications qualify at all, across engineering, construction, quantity surveying, teaching, agriculture and automotive. There is no business or IT qualification on the list.
- You must apply within 3 months of your student visa expiring, 6 months for a doctorate, or 12 months where you moved straight into a higher qualification you studied for under 30 weeks.
- The visa costs from NZD 1,670, about INR 92,400, of which NZD 1,350 is the immigration levy, and you must show NZD 5,000 in funds regardless of visa length.
- A one year master’s plus a three year work visa puts your total New Zealand stay at 48 months, which triggers the police certificate requirement even if your student visa did not.
- From 16 November 2026 a six month Short-term Graduate Work Visa arrives and the post study work visa extends to Level 7 graduate diploma holders who also hold a bachelor’s. None of it has commenced as at 4 August 2026.
- You can hold a post study work visa once in your life, so a shorter visa taken now rules out a longer one later.
Frequently asked questions
Is the New Zealand post study work visa three years for everyone?
No. Three years is granted only for a Level 9 master’s degree or a Level 10 doctorate studied full-time in New Zealand for at least 30 weeks. Every qualification at Level 8 or below, including a Level 7 bachelor’s degree, receives a visa equal to the time actually spent studying, as confirmed by the education provider.
Does a one year master’s in New Zealand get a three year work visa?
Yes, provided you were enrolled full-time in the master’s degree itself for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand. The 30 weeks must sit inside the master’s. A postgraduate diploma followed by a shorter master’s preserves your eligibility to apply, but the visa is then based on the diploma and its length.
When does a 2 year work visa in New Zealand happen?
When you spent about two years studying a qualification at Level 7 or Level 8, since those levels produce a visa equal to your study time. A two year bachelor’s component or a two year Level 8 programme returns roughly two years of work rights. A master’s returns three regardless of whether it took one year or two.
Can you get a second post study work visa in New Zealand?
No. Immigration New Zealand states that an individual can only be granted one Post Study Work Visa, and anyone who has held one before is not eligible for another even if the later study is at a higher level. From 16 November 2026 a previous holder is also barred from the new Short-term Graduate Work Visa.
How much does the New Zealand post study work visa cost in rupees?
INZ publishes it as from NZD 1,670, which is about INR 92,400 at NZD 1 = INR 55.33 on 28 July 2026. That splits into a NZD 320 application fee and a NZD 1,350 immigration levy. You must separately show NZD 5,000 in living funds, roughly INR 2.77 lakh, whatever the visa length.
What are the new post study work visa rules in New Zealand?
From 16 November 2026 a Short-term Graduate Work Visa gives six months of open work rights to NZQCF Level 5 to 7 graduates with 24 weeks of full-time study, and post study work visa eligibility extends to Level 7 graduate diploma holders who also hold a bachelor’s, for up to one year. Neither has commenced yet.
Can you work for any employer on a New Zealand post study work visa?
Yes if your qualification is a degree at Level 7 or higher, which gives an open work visa covering any occupation and any location in New Zealand. If your qualification is a non-degree at Level 7 or below, you may work only in the occupation Appendix 13 names against it, and that restriction appears in your visa conditions.
Do you need a job offer to apply for a post study work visa?
No. INZ’s current instruction WD3.1 lists what you must have, and a job is not on it, nor does the visa page ask for one anywhere. You need proof of your completed New Zealand qualification, at least NZD 5,000 in funds, and an application made inside the deadline. The visa exists to give you time to find work.
More questions students ask
Each one is a short answer on its own page.
Sources
- Immigration New Zealand, Post Study Work Visa (from NZD 1670, 80% within 3 weeks, NZD 5,000 in living funds whatever the visa length, open work rights at degree level 7 and above, the police certificate rule at 24 months of total New Zealand time including time on earlier visas, passport validity, “You can only have this visa once”, and the residence option panel; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual, WD3.1 Determining a Post-Study work visa (the eligible qualifications and minimum study durations, the 3, 6 and 12 month application deadlines, the doctoral thesis submission concession, the NZ$5,000 funds requirement, the rule that nobody is granted a second post-study work visa, and the note on what counts as a study week; effective 18 November 2024, no archived banner, read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual, WD3.5 Currency and conditions of Post-study work visas (the six row duration table reproduced on this page, the education provider determining study length, “any work, in any occupation and in any location” for a degree at level 7 or above, the tie to the Appendix 13 occupation for a non-degree, self-employment allowed while employing others is not, and the extra registration year at WD3.5.5 for the Teaching Council and the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors; effective 20 April 2026, no archived banner, read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual, Appendix 13 (the 24 row list of Qualifications Eligible for a Post-Study Work Visa, which is the second table on that page below the Green List, and the occupation each qualification ties you to; effective 23 March 2026, read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand Operational Manual, A4.25 Medical and Chest X-ray Certificates (clause (a) requiring both certificates for an intended stay of more than 12 months, clause (d) whose seven exempt visa types include the fee paying student but no work visa of any kind, and clause (k) making the 12 months a total that counts time already spent in New Zealand; effective 8 December 2025, read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Who needs an X-ray or medical examination (the nationality and travel history test for a stay of 6 to 12 months, the rule that above 12 months a chest X-ray is required “no matter where you are from”, and the medical examination rule that counts time already spent in New Zealand towards the 12 months; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Countries with a low incidence of tuberculosis (the full list, whose entries run Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel and Italy where India would sit, and which does not include India; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, staying to work after finishing your study (three years for a master’s or doctoral qualification studied at least 30 weeks, a visa equal to study time at level 8 or below confirmed by the education provider, and the rule that failing a course does not extend the visa; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Qualifications needed for a Post Study Work Visa (the public copy of the same 24 row eligible qualifications table; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Changes to the Post Study Work Visa (PSWV), published 19 November 2024 (eligibility on the strength of a postgraduate diploma where a higher qualification followed for under 30 weeks, the 12 month application window that goes with it, and the statement that a three year visa needs 30 weeks of full-time study enrolled in the master’s degree itself; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, New and updated post-study work visa options (the 16 November 2026 start date, the six month Short-term Graduate Work Visa and its NZQCF level 5 to 7 and 24 week conditions, the extension of the post study work visa to level 7 graduate diploma holders who also hold a bachelor’s degree for up to one year, the removal of the International Qualification Assessment for that overseas degree, and the rule that nobody is granted either visa twice; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Fees Guide, INZ 1028, May 2026 (the post-study work visa row, an application fee of 320 in Band A and Band C with an immigration levy of 1,350, and the rule that a declined application is not refunded; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Amendment Circular 2026-01 (the median wage of NZD 35.00 an hour, taken from the twice median wage rate of NZD 70.00, effective 9 March 2026; read 4 August 2026)
- Immigration New Zealand, Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa (the requirement for 6 skilled resident points, 5 of them for a level 9 master’s degree, and up to 3 more for skilled work experience in New Zealand. INZ has announced changes to this visa from 24 August 2026, so check the points before you rely on them; read 4 August 2026)
- NZQA, qualification evaluation fees (the Standard International Qualification Assessment at NZ$445 for one qualification; read 4 August 2026)
- European Central Bank, euro foreign exchange reference rates (EUR 1 = INR 108.9610 and EUR 1 = NZD 1.9693 on 28 July 2026, giving the NZD 1 = INR 55.33 rate used for every rupee figure on this page)
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