Continuing PhD candidates
Visa information for continuing international PhD candidates who have been enrolled at the University of Auckland previously.
Before you start your student visa application
You will not be able to study at the University of Auckland without a valid visa. It is also often not permitted to study on a work or visitor visa without a Variation of Conditions approved by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
Before submitting your application to INZ ensure you have all required documentation. If you submit an incomplete application, it will delay processing and your application may be declined.
Submit your visa application before your current visa expires. Allow plenty of time to get your documentation organised and expect for the visa processing to take at least four weeks when submitting a complete application.
It is very important to submit your visa application before your current visa expires, even if you are missing documentation. If this is still the case a few days prior to your visa expiring, you should include a cover letter with your application, explaining your situation.
You must provide a copy of your visa to the University by the first day of term.
Step-by-step: How to apply for your student visa
Step one - Enrolment
- Ensure you are enrolled for a sufficient period of time, i.e. 12 months.
- Contact the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) if you need an additional enrolment to be processed: doctoraladvice@auckland.ac.nz.
- If you are recipient of a CSC scholarship, make sure to include this information in your email, and to attach your CSC scholarship letter. Please account for some extra processing time as the request will need to be processed by both SGS and the Fees Office.
- Obtain an updated Candidature/Registration summary: If you are enrolled under the old statues, generate your Registration Summary in Student Services Online (SSO) and not in Wahapū. If you are managed via Wahapū, you can download a Candidature Summary via the Thesis page.
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Step two - Pay your fees
- When your enrolment is complete, pay your fees including the insurance fees.
- Once you have paid, it may take a few days for your payment to be allocated to your tuition fees account depending on the form of payment used.
- After your payment has been allocated you will need to generate a statement/invoice and save a pdf copy to upload with your visa application. The receipt is not sufficient.
- If you are a receiving an University of Auckland scholarship, you will need to provide an updated scholarship letter.
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Step three - Request a "Confirmation of enrolment" letter
- As a continuing student you have to provide a confirmation of your enrolment
- To do so you have to request a "Confirmation of current enrolment" letter from the University.
- Allow at least one week for the letter to be generated.
- Combine the letter into a single pdf document with the updated Registration/Candidature summary before submitting your visa application.
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Step four - Evidence of your progress and attendance
- To provide evidence of your academic progress, generate an unofficial transcript through your Student Services Online (SSO) account.
- As the University of Auckland does not record attendance you won’t need to submit an attendance record.
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Step five - Evidence you have enough money to live on
INZ requires you to show evidence that you can support yourself during your studies:
- For a one year enrolment you will need to show evidence that you have funds available of at least NZ$20,000 or NZ$1,667 per month of study.
- Refer to the Student Visa guide and checklist below for further information and for acceptable forms of evidence.
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Step six - Evidence you have enough money to leave New Zealand
- In addition to the funds mentioned in the previous step, you’ll also need to show evidence that you have funds available covering the equivalent of a flexible flight ticket to your home country.
Step seven - Evidence of your health and character
- You may be required to submit a chest x-ray and/or medical certificate with your visa application.
- You may be required to submit a police certificate (or certificates) and a certified translation if it is not in English to show you are of good character.
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Step eight - Electronic copies of visa application documents
- Ensure you have electronic copies available of all the above documents to upload with your student visa application.
- You will also need to upload a copy of the identity pages on your current passport.
Step nine - Submit your visa application through the INZ portal
Most students will apply under the Fee paying student visa category.
If you are unsure which category applies to you (e.g. if you are holding a government scholarship) please contact Immigration New Zealand.
Note:
You may need to provide documents in addition to the ones mentioned above.