Study in New Zealand from Nepal
Eight universities in the global top 3%, 25 hours of work rights a week, and a post study work visa of up to three years. Here is what it costs, and why the Funds Transfer Scheme is compulsory for Nepali applicants.
Eligibility checklist
These are the baselines you have to clear to study in New Zealand from Nepal, and New Zealand splits the assessment in a way that catches people out. Your education provider judges your academics and your English. Immigration New Zealand judges your funds, health, character and whether your intention to study is genuine. You have to satisfy both.
Academic
- Grade 12 completed, typically 60% or better, for most bachelor’s programmes
- Recognised bachelor’s degree, usually 55 to 60%, for master’s
- Some universities require a foundation year for Nepali +2 holders
Genuine intention to study
- Your ties and commitments in Nepal
- A course that follows logically from what you have studied
- Previous travel and visa history, including any refusal anywhere
- Ability to pay tuition without relying on part time work
Funds, health and character
- Tuition, NZD 20,000 living costs and onward travel
- Three months of bank statements, or term deposits held three months
- Chest X ray over 6 months, full medical over 12 months
- Police certificates for a stay over 24 months
Unsure where you stand? Our visa application assistance team assesses your profile against every line above, free, before you spend a rupee.
Why study in New Zealand?
More families choose to study in New Zealand from Nepal every year, and the rules have been moving in students’ favour while other destinations tightened.
Work rights per week
Up from 20 since 3 November 2025. Full time in scheduled breaks.
Post study work visa
For a master’s or doctorate. Below that, it matches your study length.
Nepali students enrolled in 2025
Up from 1,555 in 2024, a rise of more than 70%.
Worth doing the arithmetic before you compare destinations: 25 hours a week is more than Australia’s 48 hours a fortnight. If you already hold a New Zealand student visa issued under the old rule, a variation of conditions costs NZD 325.
Top courses in New Zealand
The fields Nepali students most often pick, chosen for graduate demand rather than ranking alone. Several map directly onto New Zealand’s Green List of shortage occupations.
Nursing and midwifery
Heavily represented on the Green List. Usually needs IELTS 7.0.
Information technology
Software engineering, data and ICT security.
Engineering
Civil, mechanical, electrical and software.
Construction and quantity surveying
Project managers and quantity surveyors are in shortage.
Business and management
Widest choice. Pick a specialisation, not a generic MBA.
Teaching and early childhood
Primary, secondary and early childhood all listed.
Demand is not a visa guarantee, and occupations move on and off the Green List. A course chosen only for residence is also a course that weakens your genuine intention to study. Talk it through in free career and course counselling first.
Intakes in New Zealand
| Intake | Course starts | Apply from Nepal by |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1, main intake | Late February | Aug to Oct, prior year |
| Semester 2 | Mid July | Feb to Apr |
| Additional starts, some providers | November or rolling | Varies |
February carries the widest course choice. Immigration New Zealand completes 80% of Fee Paying Student Visa applications within 8.5 weeks, and the October to March peak is slower, so start six months out and leave room for the Funds Transfer Scheme. Meet our counsellors in person at an upcoming education expo.
Your journey to New Zealand
- 1
Free counselling
We shortlist providers you can be approved for, not just admitted to. Book a session.
- 2
Apply and receive your offer of place
Most universities respond within 2 to 4 weeks. See our partner institutions.
- 3
No Objection Certificate
NPR 2,000 at noc.moest.gov.np, issued in 3 to 7 working days. You cannot legally remit tuition without it.
- 4
Tuition, financials and medicals
Pay your deposit, gather three months of statements, complete your medical and chest X ray.
- 5
Visa lodgement, then the Funds Transfer Scheme
Everything goes in together. If an Approval in Principle requires FTS, we walk you through the ANZ process.
- 6
Pre departure briefing
Accommodation, insurance, banking, SIM and activating your ANZ accounts on arrival.
Required documents for offer of place
Academic and identity
- Transcripts and certificates, SEE through to your most recent qualification
- Character certificate from your last institution
- Migration certificate, where your board issues one
- Passport bio page and passport photographs
Supporting
- IELTS, PTE, TOEFL or NZCEL score report
- Statement of Purpose, consistent with everything else in your file
- CV plus work experience or training letters, if any
- Marriage certificate, if a partner is applying with you
Every provider sets its own list. Check the provider’s page before paying any application fee, or ask us to confirm it for you.
How much money is required to study in New Zealand?
What you budget depends far more on what you study than on where. A university bachelor’s degree runs NZD 53,000 to 71,000 in year one to study in New Zealand from Nepal. A diploma at an institute of technology can be done for NZD 35,000. The NZD 20,000 living cost figure is what you must evidence to Immigration New Zealand, and for Nepal it has to move through the Funds Transfer Scheme.
| First year cost | NZD |
|---|---|
| Tuition, university bachelor’s | 30,000–49,000 |
| Tuition, university master’s | 38,000–64,000 |
| Tuition, diploma or certificate | 12,000–35,000 |
| Tuition, PhD at the domestic rate | 6,500–9,000 |
| Living costs you must evidence | 20,000 |
| Medical and travel insurance | 600–900 |
| Student visa charge | from 850 |
| Airfare | about 1,500 |
| First year total, diploma | 35,000–58,000 |
| First year total, bachelor’s | 53,000–71,000 |
| First year total, master’s | 61,000–86,000 |
Add NPR 2,000 for your NOC, plus English test, translation, notarisation and medical fees. University tuition here is drawn from published 2026 fee schedules, where an arts degree and an engineering or MBA programme sit at opposite ends of the same table. Let a counsellor cost your actual shortlist rather than working from the range. Beware any figure quoting NZD 15,000 for living costs, or university tuition from NZD 20,000: both are pre 2024 numbers still circulating on Nepali consultancy sites.
The Funds Transfer Scheme
Immigration New Zealand names six countries whose students must use the Funds Transfer Scheme to evidence living costs: China, India, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Showing a healthy balance in a Nepali bank account is not enough on its own. The money has to move.
- 1
Approval in Principle
Immigration New Zealand writes to you requiring the FTS.
- 2
Apply through ANZ
ANZ Bank New Zealand operates the scheme and contacts you within about three business days.
- 3
Transfer your maintenance funds
NZD 20,000 for a year of tertiary study, or NZD 17,000 for compulsory education.
- 4
ANZ confirms to Immigration New Zealand
Usually within 24 hours, and your visa decision proceeds.
- 5
Activate on arrival
Visit an ANZ branch in New Zealand. The savings account then releases funds monthly.
Plan the FTS at the start of your application, not the end. The students who struggle are the ones who reach Approval in Principle without having planned the transfer, then lose weeks to bank paperwork while their intake date moves. It looks like an extra hurdle, and in paperwork terms it is. But it replaces the part of an application most likely to be doubted with a fact the department can verify directly. A file that clears FTS cleanly is a strong file.
Universities and how to check any provider
New Zealand has exactly eight universities, all state funded, and every one sits inside the top 3% worldwide in the QS World University Rankings 2026. A small, uniformly regulated system means far less risk of choosing badly than in a market with hundreds of providers.
| University | QS 2026 |
|---|---|
| University of Auckland | 65 |
| University of Otago | 197 |
| Massey University | 230 |
| Victoria University of Wellington | 240 |
| University of Canterbury | 261 |
| University of Waikato | 281 |
| Lincoln University | 407 |
| Auckland University of Technology | 410 |
Check the provider before you pay anything
Below university level, New Zealand also has Te Pūkenga institutes of technology and a large private training establishment sector. Most of Nepal’s recent growth has gone into that PTE sector, and provider quality is the difference between a qualification that leads somewhere and one that does not. Check any provider’s external evaluation category at nzqa.govt.nz first. Category 1 and 2 mean NZQA is confident in its educational performance. Category 3 and 4 mean it is not. Any consultancy that discourages you from checking has told you something important about itself.
Nepcoms places students who study in New Zealand from Nepal across universities, institutes of technology and private providers alike. See our partner institutions.
Scholarships for Nepali students
Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships
The New Zealand government’s fully funded programme, and Nepal is one of the few South Asian countries on the eligible list. Covers full tuition, a living allowance of around NZD 615 a week, an establishment allowance, return airfares and medical insurance. For Nepal it is postgraduate only. Applications open around March and close in April, for study beginning the following February.
University and provider awards
Every New Zealand university offers international excellence scholarships to strong applicants, typically NZD 5,000 to NZD 20,000 against first year tuition. Some apply automatically on admission, some need a separate application before the offer deadline. Institutes of technology and regional universities offer their own fee reductions, particularly outside Auckland.
Strong Manaaki candidates start preparing a year out. Talk to a counsellor about whether your profile fits, and about which university awards you are automatically considered for.
Frequently asked questions
How much money is required to study in New Zealand from Nepal?
What is the Funds Transfer Scheme and do I have to use it?
Can I work while studying in New Zealand?
What IELTS score do I need for New Zealand?
How much is the New Zealand student visa fee in 2026?
How long does a New Zealand student visa take from Nepal?
What is the Post Study Work Visa?
Can I study in New Zealand without IELTS?
Is it easier to study in New Zealand from Nepal than to go to Australia?
Related Nepcoms pages
Weighing up other destinations before you commit to study in New Zealand from Nepal? If Australia’s Evidence Level 3 rules put it out of reach for your profile, New Zealand’s requirements are structured differently.
Official sources for the figures on this page
- Immigration New Zealand, Fee Paying Student VisaVisa charge, work rights, length of stay and processing times
- Immigration New Zealand, Student fund requirementsThe NZD 20,000 rule and the six countries that must use the FTS
- Immigration New Zealand, Funds Transfer SchemeHow the ANZ account and monthly release work
- Immigration New Zealand, Genuine intentions to studyWhat the department actually assesses
- Immigration New Zealand, Staying to work after studyPost Study Work Visa eligibility and duration
- NZQACheck any provider’s external evaluation category before you pay
- Study with New ZealandOfficial course search and student guidance
- Manaaki New Zealand ScholarshipsFully funded, postgraduate, Nepal eligible
- Ministry of Education, Nepal, NOC portalNo Objection Certificate applications
Immigration New Zealand reviews visa charges and the funds requirement periodically. Last checked 25 August 2026.