Check or change your student visa conditions

Your student visa will have conditions on it. Conditions describe what you can and cannot do on your visa.

You can find your visa conditions:

• in your eVisa
• in the letter we sent you when we gave you the visa
• online using the Visa Verification Service.

The Visa Verification Service

To change any of your visa conditions, you will need to apply for a variation of conditions.

Working on your student visa

You can apply to change your visa conditions to allow you to work part-time or during your holidays, if your visa does not allow you to do this already and if you are eligible.

On 3 November 2025, the work hours allowed on student visas increased from 20 to 25 hours a week. If your student visa was granted before 3 November and allows you to work part-time for 20 hours a week, you can apply for a variation of conditions to increase your allowed work hours to 25 hours a week.

To apply for a variation of conditions to work, you must meet the requirements for working on a student visa that are relevant to you.

Working on a student visa

Changing your course or where you are studying

You can apply for a variation of conditions if you want to change:

• the location of your study, if you are staying with the same education provider, or
• your of study to one at the same or a higher level, if you are staying with the same education provider.

If you need a longer visa for your new course, you will need to apply for a new student visa — visa durations cannot be changed through a variation of conditions.

If you want to change your education provider, even if your course of study stays the same, you must apply for a new student visa. A variation of conditions does not cover changing provider, unless the change is due to circumstances outside of your control (for example, your education provider closes).

You should apply for a new student visa if:

• you are changing to a lower-level course, even if it is with the same education provider
• you are changing education provider (unless it is for reasons outside of your control)
• your new course will finish on a date that is much sooner or much later than your current finish date
• your current course will finish soon — we cannot change your visa expiry date when you change your visa conditions, or
• you have a Pathway Student Visa and you want to change your education provider.

Explore study options

If you meet the criteria for a variation of conditions to change your course, education provider, or study location, we must be satisfied that you:

• meet student visa requirements
• have not breached your visa conditions
• would have been granted your current student visa if you had applied for the proposed new course, education provider, or study location in that application, and
• genuinely intend to study.

To apply to change your visa conditions, you will need to provide evidence:

• showing the reason for the change is outside of your control, if you are changing education provider
• of an 'offer of place' from the new education provider you want to study at
• that you have paid the course fees — you can provide this after your application is

Changing your travel conditions

If you need to change the travel conditions on your visa, you can apply on paper for a 'variation of travel conditions'.

In some cases, it is not possible to apply for a variation of conditions, and you will need a new visa.

The following are some examples of when you will need a new visa.

Studying part-time instead of full-time

Student visas are given for full-time study. If you want to change to part-time study, you will need to apply for a new visa.

In most cases, you can apply for a visitor visa then apply for a variation of conditions to let you study part-time.

Explore and select a visa

Studying by correspondence or distance learning

Many education providers offer remote or distance learning. Student visa conditions require that you attend the place of study noted on your visa. For this reason, we do not normally grant student visas for remote, correspondence or distance learning.

However, if you are overseas doing a New Zealand correspondence course and need to come to New Zealand for a practical or an exam, you will need to apply for a visitor visa (if you need to come for less than 3 months) or a student visa to allow you to do this part of your study.

Staying longer to finish your course

Sometimes, you may need to stay longer to finish your study, for example, if you have failed one of your courses.

You will need to apply for a new student visa.

In your visa application, you will need to provide proof of:

• your previous student performance
• satisfactory attendance
• an assessment of your progress by your education provider.

Staying after your course finishes

You must have a valid visa to stay in New Zealand after your course finishes. You cannot apply for a variation of conditions.

You can apply for a:

• general Visitor Visa or other visitor visa, if you want to stay for your graduation but plan to leave New Zealand afterwards
• Post Study Work Visa, if you plan to work after graduation
• different visa to visit, work, study, live or invest in New Zealand.

Visitor Visa

Staying to work after finishing your study

Post Study Work Visa