28 January 2025Update from INZ - Student Visa Applications

Student visa processing update; warning on late applications 
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is in a strong position for processing student visas, following initiatives put in place to make our processing more efficient.
Throughout 2024 we received 10,000 more student visa applications than 2023 and processed these faster.
By the end of 2024, we were processing student visas in 19 days on average – 40% faster than December 2023. We had just 5,100 applications on hand to process, close to half of what we had a year earlier.
Initiatives to improve processing efficiencies 
Last year, INZ put 30 extra staff into student visa processing, worked closely with education providers to monitor offers of place granted, and communicated extensively alongside our stakeholders to encourage students to apply 3 months ahead of travel.
In February, we will begin implementing a new processing approach for student visas, to group similar applications. We applied a similar model under the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme, which resulted in significant processing efficiencies.
The way we group student visa applications for processing could include applications:
-  for students in New Zealand applying for a further student visa and changing their course or provider-  for students studying the same course or with the same education provider-  where all required information to make a decision is or is not present-  for students whose applications were submitted in good time but their courses are approaching the start date within a short timeframe.
When we start using this approach, we will publish and regularly update the way we group applications on our website.
Late applications will affect study plans 
While our initiatives put us in a good place for managing the summer peak period, our message to students that to have certainty they should have applied 3 months before travel still applies.
Education providers have shared information with us on the number of offers of place granted, and also the general interest for studying in New Zealand, which has informed our resourcing.
We know not all offers will result in a visa application, but when we compare them to the number of student visa applications received, we are concerned about the potential volume of late applications, despite working with the sector to encourage students to apply early.
We are also aware some providers are still issuing offers for study that begins in a few weeks. It is important that prospective students understand that if they have not yet applied for their visa, or only applied recently, it is unlikely their visa will be approved in time.
If a student visa application has been submitted and has not been decided by the student’s start date, we encourage the education provider to issue an updated offer of place or confirmation of study start dates, so the student can upload this to Immigration Online to prevent delays when their application is assessed.
In some instances, students or agents may be able to use our escalations process if they have been unable to submit applications due to delays outside of their control.