If you are an international student you are required by law to hold a valid visa for the duration of your study at AUT. This page describes the applying process and the documents you will need to supply with your visa application.
You need to apply for your student visa online through Immigration New Zealand – the process is the same whether you are in New Zealand or overseas.
Go to Immigration Online. You need to create a RealMe account to be able to apply for your student visa online. Follow the instructions given. If you are not eligible to apply online, Immigration NZ will direct you to apply using a paper form.
Immigration Online website
First time student visa checklist
Passport photos (Immigration New Zealand website)
Police and medical certificates (Immigration New Zealand website)
Application fees and office finder (Immigration New Zealand website)
You need to scan and save the following documents as PDFs, so you can upload them when you complete your application.
All students must upload the following documents with their application. If you are a PhD student or a returning AUT student, you need to provide some extra documents – these are described in the next sections.
Study forms and guides on Immigration New Zealand website
If you are a returning student you need to include some extra documents with your application:
Student Hub locations and contact details
If you are a PhD student you must include some extra documents with your application. You can upload these under the 'Other' section in your application:
When you submit your online application the status will change to “submitted”. You can log in at any time to check the status of your application.
You should regularly check your email inbox as Immigration New Zealand may ask you to provide other documents.
Immigration New Zealand will issue you with an outcome on your application. If you are issued with an eVisa they will send it to your email. You should print out your eVisa and keep it with your passport at all times. You will not be issued a visa label.
If you already have your updated visa or have had an interim visa sent to you by email, please provide a copy to us as soon as possible. The quickest way to do this is to upload your visa directly to Arion.
You need to log into arion.aut.ac.nz and choose: Academic Details > Student Documents > Add Document > Select Document Type > Valid Visa.
The New Zealand Government requires all international students to have a valid student visa for the duration of their academic study at AUT.
You need a valid student visa to complete your enrolment. It should show the correct programme and institute of study details (eg Bachelor of Business at AUT). It is your responsibility to ensure that your visa or permit is valid throughout the duration of your study at AUT.
There are consequences of not having a valid visa to study at AUT.
If you do not provide a valid visa you will not have access to education services at AUT and risk being removed from your programme of study.
Immigration New Zealand can help you with:
Your student visa will show if you're allowed to work while studying. To find out about the types of work you can do and how many hours you can work, read our page about working while you study.