Update from Immigration NZ
Immigration NZ (INZ) updates about student visas and the Accredited Employer Work Visa.
Register for LIA phone line with INZ Customer Service Centre
A reminder from INZ that LIAs (and lawyers) can register for and use our LIA line when calling our Customer Service Centre. If you have not registered, please call:
NZ-wide: 0800 542 469
Auckland/overseas: 09 969 1464
Wellington/overseas: 04 910 9923
A staff member will be able to guide you through this when you call.
Student visas
Below are some updates and statistics on INZ’s student visa work. New initiatives mean INZ is in a good position to process student visas more efficiently.
- At the end of March 2025, international student visas were being decided in 10 days (2 weeks) on average.
- On average Te Pūkenga (New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology) applications are being processed within 2.5 weeks, 2 weeks for University applications, 3 weeks for Private Training Establishment applications and 1.5 weeks for school applications.
- Immigration New Zealand has decided 20,694 student visa applications already this year, and approved 18,349 student visa applications (from 1 Jan – 31 March 2025).
- Processing times differ by market. This depends on the volume of applications from different markets and reflects complexity and verification requirements.
· To help with faster visa processing, it is key that INZ receives applications that contain all the information and documents needed to decide the application.
Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV)
The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) continues to be a key priority INZ. We are starting to roll out a number of changes that were announced by the Government in December last year.
The second phase of changes to the AEWV came into effect on 10 March 2025 and were well received by both staff and external stakeholders. These changes aim to better support businesses to fill current skills and labour gaps.
There has been a consistent increase in submission volumes for job checks and work visas. These remain within forecasted levels, and applications are being allocated as soon as they become available for assessment.