{"id":327773,"date":"2026-03-13T13:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/327773\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T13:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:41:12","slug":"new-zealand-to-expand-work-rights-for-international-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/327773\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand to expand work rights for international students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

\nPhoto: RNZ \/ Yiting Lin\n<\/p>\n

New Zealand will introduce a new work visa for international graduates and expand post-study work rights for some diploma holders later this year.<\/p>\n

The new visa is part of an effort to attract and retain international graduates with valuable skills.<\/p>\n

The changes, announced by Immigration New Zealand on Thursday<\/a>, include a Short Term Graduate Work Visa that will give eligible graduates up to six months of open work rights to find a job after finishing their studies.<\/p>\n

Those who move into suitable employment may then be able to transition to an Accredited Employer Work Visa.<\/p>\n

The visa will apply to students who complete qualifications at NZQCF Levels 5 to 7 after at least 24 weeks of full-time study in New Zealand. It will not cover English language, foundation or bridging qualifications.<\/p>\n

Immigration New Zealand said holders of the visa must work for an employer under an employment agreement or a contract for services, and would not be allowed to operate a business.<\/p>\n

They would also be barred from supporting a partner for a work visa or children for a Dependent Child Student Visa, the agency said.<\/p>\n

Alongside the new visa, the government is widening eligibility for the Post Study Work Visa.<\/p>\n

From late this year, students who complete a full-time graduate diploma at NZQCF Level 7 in New Zealand will be eligible for the visa, provided they also held a bachelor’s degree earned in New Zealand or overseas.<\/p>\n

The Post Study Work Visa may be granted for up to one year, depending on how long the student spent studying for the graduate diploma in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

The visa also carries broader family sponsorship rights, allowing holders to support partners and dependent children for visitor, work or dependent child student visas, provided relevant conditions are met.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: RNZ \/ Yiting Lin New Zealand will introduce a new work visa for international graduates and expand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-327773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}