Dependent Child Student Visa

Apply for this visa to bring your dependent children to study at primary or secondary school in New Zealand. You must hold an appropriate work or student visa.

Length of stay
A dependent child can stay

Same length as parent’s visa

 

Age range

19 and under

Cost
From
NZD $375
Processing time
80% within
9 weeks
With this visa you can
  • A dependent child can join their parent in New Zealand.
  • A dependent child can study at a primary or secondary school in New Zealand.
  • A dependent child can be treated as a domestic student, which means you don’t have to pay tuition fees for them to go to school.
Things to note
  • If your child wants to study at tertiary level, and you are not eligible for the 2021 Resident Visa they may need to apply for a ‘Fee Paying Student Visa’ instead.
    Fee Paying Student Visa
  • Some work visa holders are not eligible to support applications for this visa.
    Find out if you are eligible to support your child's visa
  • Dependent children of Student Visa holders are only eligible for this visa if one of their parents is in New Zealand for an approved student exchange scheme, is enrolled in a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in a New Zealand university, or has a New Zealand Aid Programme Scholarship.

What you need to apply

Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.

View All Evidence

 

Acceptable photos

If you apply online, you must upload a copy of your child’s passport. After you’ve applied, we’ll tell you if you must send us your child’s passport as well.

If you use a paper application form, you may send us your child’s passport, or a certified copy. If you provide a certified copy, we may ask for your child’s passport before we complete the application.

Tips

Please also provide your children’s Kartu Keluarga.

Please also provide a copy of your children’s livret de famille.

If your child isn't a French national, please also provide a copy of their carte d’assuré.

If you are a citizen of China and you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

Supplementary form for Chinese citizens (INZ 1027) PDF 338KB

If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

Supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students (INZ 1220) PDF 240KB

Please also provide a copy of:

  • your child’s Hukou (household registration book)
  • your child’s identity cards.

The child may need to have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of their good health.

Who needs an x-ray or medical examination

Tips

You must provide a chest x-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you have provided one to us previously, if:

  • your children have spent 6 consecutive months in China since the last x-ray certificate was issued, and
  • your children are now coming to NZ for more than 6 months.

When we assess if the child’s application is bona fide, we consider all of the information that:

  • you provide to support the child’s application
  • we have about your personal circumstances and previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in NZ

Because only the children of certain visa holders are eligible for this visa, you must have one of the following kinds of visa.

If you are a student, your children will only be eligible for this visa, if one of the following apply to you:

  • you’re in New Zealand for a New Zealand Government-approved student exchange scheme
  • you’re enrolled in a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme in a New Zealand university
  • you have a New Zealand Aid Programme Scholarship.

If you have a work visa, your children will be eligible for this visa unless you have one of the following kinds of visa:

  • a Foreign Crew on Fishing Vessels Work Visa
  • a Recognised Seasonal Employer Limited Visa  
  • a Supplementary Seasonal Employment Work Visa
  • a Silver Fern Job Search Work Visa
  • a Skilled Migrant Job Search Visa
  • a Working Holiday Visa
  • a Domestic Staff of Diplomatic, Consular and Official Staff Work Visa.
  • an Essential Skills Work Visa and you are undertaking lower-skilled work.

We’ll use our records to check what kind of visa you have.

Tips

It’s OK to apply for a Student Visa for your child at the same time you apply for your own visa.

We will consider your child dependent if they rely on you for financial support, and they are aged either:

  • 17 or under
  • 18 -19 with no children of their own.

If your child is 17 or under, we will consider they rely on you for financial support and you will not need to provide any evidence of this.

If your child is 18 or 19, we may ask you to provide supporting evidence, such as:

  • school receipts showing parents paying daily expenses like phone, clothes or food
  • bank account details showing allowance paid, receipts for big purchases by parents for children, or travel.

Dependent children

Tips

If your dependent child is under 5 years old, and you are applying 6 months or more before they start school - we may be unable to issue them a Dependent Child Student Visitor. We may issue them a Visitor Visa instead. This is because children under the age of 5 cannot attend school in New Zealand.

You must provide evidence that confirms your relationship to the child, which may include:

  • birth certificates 
  • adoption papers
  • any other documents that confirm your relationship to each other.

If you’re separated or divorced, you must provide legal documents that show that one of the following applies:

  • you have the sole right to decide where your children live
  • you have the right to remove your children from their home country
  • you have custody of the children and your children’s other parent agrees they can move to New Zealand if their application is approved.

If your children’s other parent has died, you must provide their death certificate.

Tips

If you have a statutory right to the custody of your children and it’s not possible to get legal documents to confirm this right, we will assess your right to remove the children on a case-by-case basis.

You must declare in your visa application that, if they’re not entitled to free health care, you’ll pay for any health care or medical assistance your child receives in New Zealand.

Tips

We recommend your child has full medical insurance for the length of their visit.

Evidence can include either of the following:

  • documents that show the amount you earn in salary or wages, eg pay slips, employment agreements, or tax records
  • if you’re a Religious Worker work visa holder, a ‘Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry’ form completed by the religious organisation that’s sponsoring you.

Sponsorship for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025) PDF 414KB

Tips

If you don’t continue to earn the minimum income amount, you and your children may have to leave New Zealand.

If both parents hold an Essential Skills Work Visa, their incomes can be combined to meet the minimum income threshold.

Evidence can include:

  • a travel ticket for your child
  • proof you have enough money to buy your child a travel ticket 
  • a ‘Sponsorship for Temporary Entry’ form  completed by an acceptable sponsor.

Sponsorship for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025) PDF 414KB

What sponsors must do – responsibilities and obligations

Tips

This requirement doesn’t apply to Military Visa holders.

Evidence can include:

  • proof that you have, for each child, NZD $17,000 for a full year of study or NZD $1,417 for every month they will be in New Zealand
  • copies of evidence that the child’s living costs have already been paid
  • a ‘Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry’ completed by an acceptable sponsor
  • a completed ‘Financial Undertaking for a Student’ form.

If you are sponsored, your sponsor must provide evidence they can look after you in New Zealand. Evidence can include:

  • recent bank statements
  • pay slips
  • employment agreement
  • accommodation ownership or payment of rent

What sponsors must do – responsibilities and obligations

Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025) PDF 414KB

Financial Undertaking for a Student (INZ 1014) PDF 535KB

Tips

The only evidence you must provide is a written guarantee of maintenance for the child from a relative in New Zealand. This relative must be a New Zealand citizen or resident.

You must provide a letter from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Protocol Division confirming that your child has their approval to study in New Zealand.

Tips

If your posting ends in the middle of a school year, your child will need to apply for another Student Visa to finish the school year in New Zealand.

Process and costs

The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.

Notes

We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

Enter country details

How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

We cannot display any receiving centre or payment method information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

Enter country details

Conditions

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.

Entry permission

Your child must apply for entry permission when they arrive in New Zealand. They can do this by completing a paper arrival card or a digital traveller declaration on the way to New Zealand.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes

The children can be refused entry permission if:

  • they don’t meet our character requirements
  • their circumstances have changed since they were granted a visa
  • they refuse to let us take a photo or provide us with their fingerprints or an iris scan, if asked for them.

Travelling to and arriving in New Zealand

Travel

If the children want to travel in and out of New Zealand, they must have valid multiple entry travel conditions to return to New Zealand.

Notes

If you’re applying from inside New Zealand, we’ll normally give your children multiple entry travel conditions when we grant them a Student Visa.

If your children don’t have multiple entry travel conditions and they leave New Zealand, their visa will expire.

Your child’s travel conditions will be listed on their visa label, or in a visa letter

Onward travel (children of work visa holders)

Dependent children of work visa holders must have the means to leave New Zealand at all times during their visit. This can be in the form of any of the following:

  • a travel ticket
  • enough money to buy a travel ticket
  • a financial undertaking
  • sponsorship by an acceptable sponsor.

Acceptable sponsors

Notes

If your child’s visa label or letter doesn’t say ‘Return/onward ticket not required’ or ‘The holder of this visa is sponsored’, they may be asked for evidence of their travel arrangements when they check in or arrive in New Zealand.

Funds or sponsorship (children of student visa holders)

You must have enough money to support your child while they’re in New Zealand, or the child must have a sponsor or guarantor.

Notes

If your child’s visa label or letter doesn’t say ‘Financial evidence not required’ or ‘The holder of this visa is sponsored’, we may ask for evidence of funds when they arrive in New Zealand.

Work

Students studying in year 12 or 13, the last 2 years of secondary school can work up to 20 hours a week during the school year and full-time in the Christmas and New Year holiday period between school years.

  • Students under 18 must have written permission from their school, and parents or legal guardian to work.
  • Students over 18 don’t need permission to work in the summer holidays.
Notes

Everyone who has a job in New Zealand pays tax on what they earn. An IRD number can be applied for online through Inland Revenue.

Apply online for an IRD number

We do not grant work rights to students under 16.

The children are not allowed to be self-employed. They have to work as an employee with an employment agreement and not as an independent contractor.

Visa expiry

The child must leave New Zealand before their visa expires.

Notes

Visa expiry dates are printed on a visa label or included in a visa letter.