NZ Post-Study Work Visa: Eligibility, Duration & Extension

Finishing your degree in New Zealand is the first step. What happens next determines whether you can stay, build experience, and eventually call New Zealand home. The Post-Study Work Visa (PSW) is the bridge between those two phases. It gives recent graduates the right to live and work in New Zealand for up to three years, without being tied to a single employer, so you can launch your career on your own terms. Before that stage, your study itself runs on a student visa; if you are completing a planned sequence of linked courses, see the Pathway Student Visa.

For degree holders, those open work rights are one of the most practical immigration benefits New Zealand offers. You can take any legal job, switch employers, freelance, or operate as a sole trader, all on the same visa. That freedom to explore the job market while you build up qualifying work experience is what makes the PSW the foundation of the study-to-residence pipeline.

Who qualifies for the Post-Study Work Visa

The PSW splits into two tracks based on your qualification level.

Route A (degree Level 7 or higher): If you completed a Bachelor’s degree, Postgraduate Diploma (Level 8), Master’s (Level 9), or Doctorate (Level 10) full-time for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand, you qualify for open work rights. You can work in any role, for any employer, anywhere in the country.

Route B (non-degree Level 7 or lower): If your qualification sits on INZ’s list of PSW-eligible qualifications, you may still be eligible, provided you studied full-time for the full duration required to gain the qualification. The trade-off: your work rights are restricted to jobs related to your field of study. That condition appears on your visa.

One rule applies to everyone: the PSW is a once-in-a-lifetime visa. No renewals, no second chance if you go on to complete another qualification. Because there is no formal visa extension or renewal in New Zealand, the way to keep working after your PSW is to move to an AEWV before it expires, not to extend the PSW itself. Choosing which qualification to anchor your PSW to is a decision worth making carefully, ideally with advice before you enrol.

How long does the Post-Study Work Visa last

Duration depends on what and where you studied.

If you completed a Master’s or Doctoral degree and studied for at least 30 weeks in New Zealand, INZ grants a PSW of up to three years. That is the maximum and the most useful window for building the skilled work experience you need for residence.

If your qualification sits below Master’s level, your PSW runs for the same length as your study. A 32-week programme produces a 32-week visa. That shorter window can make the downstream transition to an Accredited Employer Work Visa more pressured, so timing your AEWV application well before PSW expiry matters.

From 16 November 2026, an important eligibility extension takes effect: applicants who hold a New Zealand NZQCF Level 7 Graduate Diploma (studied full-time in NZ) combined with a Bachelor’s degree (completed in New Zealand or overseas) will become eligible for a PSW. This materially widens the pool for offshore Bachelor’s holders who complete a New Zealand Graduate Diploma. If your situation fits that combination, speak with a licensed adviser about timing before November 2026.

The lodgement window: do not miss it

The most common way this pathway breaks is missing the application deadline after your student visa expires.

For most qualifications, you must apply for the PSW within three months of your student visa expiry date. Doctoral graduates get a more generous six-month window and can apply immediately after submitting their thesis, without waiting for the formal degree award. A specific exception applies to nested qualifications: if you completed a PSW-eligible qualification and then immediately enrolled in a shorter higher-level qualification (under 30 weeks, which itself would not qualify for a PSW), you can apply based on your first qualification within 12 months of that first student visa expiry.

INZ checks its own records to verify timing, and the rules for consecutive qualifications shifted with the November 2024 PSW rule changes. Late applications are almost never saved by discretion alone. If you have missed or are approaching your window, contact a licensed adviser as a matter of urgency before assuming the path is closed.

Planning for residence: why your PSW choices matter now

The PSW is valuable in itself, but its real purpose is to set up the next two stages: an Accredited Employer Work Visa with a skilled employer, and then residence via the Skilled Migrant Category or a work-to-residence pathway.

What you do during your PSW has downstream consequences. The ANZSCO skill level of the role you take, the wage you earn, and the continuity of your employment all feed into whether that experience qualifies toward residence points. A lower-skill role during PSW may not count at all. Work experience during PSW in a Green List occupation can accelerate the residence timeline significantly, because Green List roles carry their own residence pathways with shorter qualifying periods.

The end-to-end study-to-residence journey typically takes four to seven years, depending on your study programme length, which sector you enter, and how well each stage is prepared for the next. Each visa is a building block. Getting the architecture right from the start avoids costly backtracking later.

Your partner and family during your PSW

Holding a PSW also opens options for people travelling with you. Your partner can apply for an open work visa, and dependent children can study in New Zealand as domestic students, which removes the overseas student fee premium. These supporting visas are separate applications and have their own timing requirements, so factor them into your planning.

For current government fees, processing times, and the complete eligibility criteria, the authoritative source is immigration.govt.nz.

Next step

The PSW is a single transition with long-term consequences. Getting the most from it means understanding your route (open vs. restricted work rights), your duration, and how your planned employment aligns with your residence pathway before you apply.

Check your eligibility to see whether the PSW is the right first step for your situation, or book a consultation to talk through your specific qualification, timeline, and long-term goals with a licensed immigration adviser.