A Dependent Child Student Visa lets your child attend primary or secondary school in New Zealand, from NZD $750, with 80% decided within 10 weeks. Who counts as dependent, the NZD $17,000 funds test, and when your child pays domestic school fees.
Written by Inder Singh, Principal Adviser & Founder and Licensed Immigration Adviser (IAA Licence 201301110).
If you hold an appropriate work or student visa, your children can come to New Zealand and go to school here on a Dependent Child Student Visa. It costs from NZD $750, Immigration New Zealand decides 80% of applications within 10 weeks, and the visa runs for the same period as the supporting parent’s visa (immigration.govt.nz). The child must be 19 or younger.
Two things decide most cases: whether your child meets INZ’s definition of a dependent child, and whether your own visa is one that can support them. Neither is obvious from the outside, and the second one has caught out a lot of families since 2024.
The definition changes depending on whether you are applying for a temporary visa or a resident visa, which is a common source of confusion when a family is partway through a residence application (immigration.govt.nz).
| Temporary visas (student, visitor) | Resident visas | |
|---|---|---|
| Age | 19 and under | 24 and under |
| Relationship status | Single | Single |
| Own children | Aged 18 to 19, must have none | Aged 18 and over, must have none |
| Financial dependence | Must rely on you for support | Required for ages 21 to 24 |
| Above the age limit | 20 and over are not eligible | 25 and over are not eligible |
One rule sits outside that table and surprises people: dependent children are not eligible for work visas. A child who wants to work in New Zealand needs to qualify for a work visa in their own right, not as your dependant.
It depends on what they are coming to do.
To attend primary or secondary school, the Dependent Child Student Visa is the route. It is granted for the same duration as your visa, so it does not need renewing on its own schedule as long as your visa holds.
For a short visit without school, a visitor visa is the simpler option. Children can either be included in your own visa application or apply for their own based on their relationship to you.
For tertiary study, the dependent route does not apply. A child going on to university or another tertiary provider needs a Fee Paying Student Visa instead, which is a different application with different requirements.
INZ needs to see that your child can be supported while they are here. The published figures are NZD $17,000 for a full year of study, or NZD $1,417 for every month the child will be in New Zealand. Evidence that the child’s living costs have already been paid also satisfies it.
There is a useful exception. If you hold a work visa and earn enough income to support your dependent child, INZ may waive the funds requirement. That turns what looks like a hard cash threshold into an income question for a lot of working parents, so it is worth putting your income evidence in properly rather than scrambling to show a lump sum.
Often not. INZ states that a child on a Dependent Child Student Visa may be treated as a domestic student, which means you do not pay tuition fees for them to attend school.
Read the wording carefully: “may be treated as”. It follows from your visa type and their status, not from the child’s visa alone, and it applies to school rather than to tertiary study. If your planning depends on domestic fee status, confirm it with both INZ and the school before you commit to enrolment, because the difference between domestic and international fees over a few years is substantial.
You need an appropriate work or student visa. Several visa types are specifically excluded, including Fishing Crew and Seasonal Employer visas, and working holiday visas. A working holiday is an individual visa: partners and children have to qualify separately in their own right.
The bigger restriction arrived in June 2024 and still catches families out. AEWV holders at ANZSCO skill levels 4 and 5 without a residence pathway can no longer sponsor partner or dependent child visas at all, across work, visitor and student categories. Our guide to the AEWV partner and dependent policy change sets out who is affected and who is not.
If you are on that side of the line, the honest answer is that the child’s visa follows your own position rather than the other way round, and the useful question becomes whether your role or your visa can move.
It lets your dependent child study at a New Zealand primary or secondary school while you hold an appropriate work or student visa. The child must be 19 or younger. It costs from NZD $750, INZ decides 80% of applications within 10 weeks, and it is granted for the same period as the supporting parent’s visa.
INZ asks for NZD $17,000 for a full year of study, or NZD $1,417 for every month your child will be in New Zealand. Evidence that the child’s living costs have already been paid also works. If you hold a work visa and earn enough to support your child, INZ may waive the funds requirement, so present your income evidence properly.
A child on a Dependent Child Student Visa may be treated as a domestic student, which means no tuition fees for school. The wording is conditional and depends on your visa and their status, and it covers school rather than tertiary study. Confirm domestic fee status with INZ and the school before enrolling, because the gap between domestic and international fees is large.
No. The dependent route covers primary and secondary school only. A child moving on to university or another tertiary provider needs a Fee Paying Student Visa, which is a separate application with its own requirements and its own fees. Plan for that change before the school years run out.
No. Working holiday visas are excluded from supporting a dependent child’s visa, along with Fishing Crew and Seasonal Employer visas. A working holiday visa covers the individual applicant only, so a partner or child has to qualify for a visa in their own right on separate grounds.
Yes. Children need their own visa to live and study here; they are not covered by yours. If you hold an appropriate work or student visa, a Dependent Child Student Visa is the usual route for school-aged children, and it runs for the same period as your own visa.
Current as at 28 August 2026, based on Immigration New Zealand policy. For advice on your own situation, talk to a ProVisas Licensed Immigration Adviser (IAA Licence 201301110).
Last reviewed . Information may have changed since this article was reviewed. For your specific case, talk to a licensed immigration adviser.
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