How to move from India to New Zealand: AEWV work visas, study and post-study pathways, partnership visas and the route to residence, plus the India-specific rules on police certificates, qualification assessments and the Funds Transfer Scheme.
Written by the ProVisas Editorial Team. ProVisas is a licensed New Zealand immigration advisory firm (IAA Licence 201301110).
Indian citizens are New Zealand’s largest migrant group: Stats NZ counted 25,800 arrivals in the January 2025 year, more than from any other country (stats.govt.nz). The pathway that fits you depends on your situation: whether you have a New Zealand job offer, whether you plan to study first, and whether you are joining a partner already there. This guide maps the main routes from India, and the India-specific rules that decide how quickly you can lodge, because two of them changed recently and most older guides have not caught up.
For most working-age applicants, the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) is the primary route. It is job-led: you need a full-time offer from an employer accredited with Immigration New Zealand (INZ), in a role paying the market rate and meeting the skill requirements. The AEWV was overhauled across 2025: the median-wage test was replaced with a market-rate test and the work-experience requirement dropped, so read our AEWV changes guide for the current settings before relying on older information.
One requirement reaches further than it used to: since 2 March 2026, the AEWV English test requirement covers roles at ANZSCO skill levels 3 to 5, not just 4 and 5. IELTS 4.0 overall meets it, and other tests are accepted; check the current thresholds on immigration.govt.nz for your test. If your occupation is on the Green List, a faster residence pathway may be open: check our Green List occupations guide.
Study is the first step for many Indian applicants without a job offer. You need evidence of funds alongside tuition: NZD $20,000 a year for tertiary study, or NZD $17,000 for school years (immigration.govt.nz). India is one of six countries covered by INZ’s Funds Transfer Scheme, run through ANZ Bank New Zealand: you deposit the funds requirement and it is released to you monthly after arrival, which gives INZ clean evidence and you a built-in budget. Education loans from nationalised and multinational banks are also accepted evidence, with secondary documents sometimes requested for large or recent deposits.
After an eligible qualification, the Post Study Work Visa provides up to 3 years of open work rights, and from 16 November 2026 the options widen: a new Short-term Graduate Work Visa gives 6 months of open work rights to Level 5 to 7 graduates who miss Post Study Work Visa eligibility. Our student visa FAQs cover funds scrutiny, processing times and the common decline reasons.
If your partner is a New Zealand citizen, resident or an eligible work-visa holder, a partnership-based visa may let you live and work in New Zealand. The load-bearing element is evidence of a genuine and stable relationship rather than paperwork volume, and INZ assesses arranged marriages within the same framework, with a dedicated culturally arranged marriage visitor visa where the wedding is recent or upcoming. Our partnership visa guide sets out the evidence INZ looks for.
Temporary visas are usually stepping stones. The main skilled-residence route is the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), where eligibility comes from skilled work, qualifications and occupational registration, and Green List roles can offer a more direct pathway. For Indian applicants the qualification question deserves early attention, because it changed in 2025.
Usually yes, with a new and narrow exception. From 23 June 2025, NZQA’s List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment includes some Indian qualifications for the first time: bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the IITs, IISc, IISER and NITs (immigration.govt.nz). Degrees from State, Central and Deemed universities are not on the list, so most Indian graduates still need an International Qualifications Assessment (IQA) from NZQA before their qualification counts for SMC.
Budget for it properly: the standard IQA costs NZD $445 (NZD $610 for Green List occupation assessments) and averages around 10 weeks (nzqa.govt.nz). How a three-year Indian bachelor’s degree maps to the New Zealand framework is assessed case by case, not by a published rule, so get the IQA before building an application on an assumed outcome. INZ can also still request an IQA even where a qualification is exempt. Our IQA guide covers the process.
The documents below take weeks or months, and starting them late is the most common avoidable delay in Indian cases.
INZ’s own India guidance calls its online service the best way to apply, and most categories lodge through Immigration Online. New Zealand Visa Application Centres operated by VFS Global in Chandigarh, New Delhi and Mumbai handle paper lodgement where it still applies. One basic to plan around: India is not a visa waiver country, so Indian passport holders need a visitor visa approved before travelling (there is no NZeTA-only entry), and generally a transit visa for connections through Auckland (immigration.govt.nz). Current processing times across categories are on our processing times tracker.
A large share of New Zealand visa problems we see from India start with an unlicensed agent. The law is the same whether the person sits in Delhi, Dubai or Auckland: giving New Zealand immigration advice requires a licence from the Immigration Advisers Authority unless the person is exempt, and the only meaningful offshore exemption covers advice on student visas alone (iaa.govt.nz). An education consultancy lawfully helping with your student visa cannot lawfully advise on your post-study work or residence plans, and INZ will not accept an application lodged by an unlicensed, non-exempt person.
Two checks take minutes: search the person’s name on the IAA public register, and ask to see their digital licence certificate. Our guide to advisers and lawyers explains who may advise you and what each profession can do.
ProVisas is an IAA-licensed New Zealand immigration advisory firm. We assess your situation against current INZ policy, identify the realistic pathway, and prepare your application to meet INZ’s requirements. We will not promise an outcome. We will tell you what is possible, what is not, and where the risks sit, before you spend money on an application.
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For most applicants the Accredited Employer Work Visa is the main route: a full-time job offer from an INZ-accredited employer, at the market rate, meeting the role’s skill requirements. Since 2 March 2026 roles at ANZSCO skill levels 3 to 5 also need an English test result such as IELTS 4.0 overall. Green List occupations may have a more direct residence pathway.
No. India is not on New Zealand’s visa waiver list, so Indian passport holders must have a visitor visa approved before travelling rather than using an NZeTA, and generally need a transit visa even for connections through Auckland. Applications are made online, with visa application centres in Chandigarh, New Delhi and Mumbai for categories that still use paper.
From 1 December 2025, INZ accepts PCCs for Indian nationals living in India only from a Regional Passport Office, applied for online through Passport Seva; certificates from the DCP, SP or local police stations are no longer accepted. The certificate must be under 6 months old when you lodge, and receipts for pending certificates are not accepted, so apply well before your visa application.
Most do. Since 23 June 2025, bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the IITs, IISc, IISER and NITs are exempt from assessment, but degrees from State, Central and Deemed universities still need an International Qualifications Assessment from NZQA (NZD $445, around 10 weeks) before they count for the Skilled Migrant Category. INZ can request an IQA even for exempt qualifications.
An INZ scheme, run through ANZ Bank New Zealand, that lets students from India and five other countries evidence their living funds by depositing them (NZD $20,000 for a year of tertiary study) for monthly release after arrival. It gives INZ clean funds evidence and the student a budgeting structure, though using it does not by itself decide the visa outcome.
Yes, through other routes. The common ones are studying first on a student visa, then a Post Study Work Visa, or from 16 November 2026 the new Short-term Graduate Work Visa for Level 5 to 7 graduates, or a partnership-based visa if your partner is a New Zealand citizen, resident or eligible work-visa holder. The skilled AEWV route does require a job offer.
An agent can find you a job, but New Zealand immigration advice requires an IAA licence wherever in the world the adviser sits, and the only offshore exemption covers student visa advice. INZ will not accept an application lodged by an unlicensed, non-exempt person, so check whoever handles your visa on the IAA public register before paying.
It depends on the visa and how complete the application is at lodgement. The controllable part is preparation: the Regional Passport Office police certificate, an in-person English test, the roughly 10-week qualification assessment and the panel physician medical all take lead time, and starting them early is what shortens the overall timeline.
This guide is part of a series: see also moving to New Zealand from Nepal.
Current as at 31 August 2026, based on Immigration New Zealand, NZQA and Stats NZ published information. 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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