Student visa wait times
Find out how long it takes us to process student visa applications for international students.
Due to the high volume of applications in October to February, we recommend that you apply at least 3 months before you intend to travel to New Zealand.
| Education provider | *Average wait time | *Most completed within |
|---|---|---|
| Te Pūkenga | 4 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Private Training Establishments | 3.5 weeks | 5.5 weeks |
| Universities | 2.5 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Schools | 2 weeks | 3 weeks |
*'Average wait time' is how long it took for 50% of applications to be processed. 'Most completed within' is based on 80% of applications processed. Both figures are calculated using working days. ‘Working days’ excludes Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
If your application includes all the documentation we need, it will be processed closer to the average wait time. We also provide the timeframe that we complete most applications in, to provide certainty when planning your application.
These processing times show the combined time for the most common student visas used by international students. They are:
- Fee Paying Student Visa — including English language students
- Pathway Student Visa
- MFAT-funded NZ Scholarship Student Visa, and
- Exchange Student Visa.
The processing time is broken down by the type of education provider:
- universities
- Te Pūkenga
- Private Training Establishments (PTE), and
- schools.
Find other visa wait times
To find the wait time for a visa that is not listed on this page you can use our fees, decision times and where to apply tool.
Fees, decision times and where to apply
Check your application status
To find out information on your visa application you can log in to your Immigration Online account and check your visa status.
Checking your visa application status
Some applications can take longer to process
Some visa applications may take longer to process than others. If your application is taking longer than what is shown in Table 1 you can find out what factors may affect visa wait times.
Why some visa applications take longer to process than others
Escalating an urgent application
You can request to have your application allocated urgently for assessment using our visa escalation process.