The Post Study Work Visa lets some graduates work in New Zealand after they finish studying. What it's worth depends almost entirely on what you studied.
The Post Study Work Visa is an open work visa. It does not require a job offer and it's not tied to one employer. It lets a graduate work for almost anyone while they build the New Zealand experience that a residence application usually needs. That flexibility is the point of it.
But not every qualification leads to one, and the ones that do don't all lead to the same length of visa. This is where people get caught - they assume finishing a course here earns the visa automatically. It doesn't.
Who qualifies
Eligibility turns on the level of your qualification and how long you studied toward it in New Zealand. Broadly, a degree-level qualification studied full-time here for long enough qualifies, and some non-degree qualifications on a specified list qualify if studied for their full duration. The level and length of what you studied also affect how long the visa lasts and, for some qualifications, what work it lets you do. The detailed rules sit in our Post Study Work Visa guide.
The visa you can get after a course is decided by the course you pick, before you enrol. That's why the choice of programme matters so much, and why it's worth getting advice when you are planning your New Zealand future. Do that before the enrolment stage rather than at the graduation stage after you have completed your course.
You must apply for your Post Study Work Visa within a specific timeframe after completing your course, and that timeframe depends on your situation.
What it's actually for
For most graduates, the Post Study Work Visa isn't the point of coming to study in New Zealand. It buys the time to find skilled work, move onto an AEWV after the Post Study Work Visa, or get onto a residence pathway, and turn a qualification into a future here.
A Post Study Work Visa spent in a job that doesn't count toward residence is time that doesn't move you forward. The graduates who do best with it treat it as a window to get into skilled, relevant work quickly - not just any work.
Supporting your family
The Post Study Work Visa is also the point where family can often join you. A holder can support a partner and dependent children, so if your family weren't able to come while you were studying, this is usually when they can apply. Dependent children can come as visitors or to attend primary or secondary school.
One thing to plan for: if you and your partner have been living apart because of visa issues during your study, a partner application can be harder than you'd expect, because Immigration New Zealand wants evidence of a genuine and stable relationship and time apart works against that. It's worth getting the evidence right rather than assuming a real relationship speaks for itself.
For employers
A graduate on a Post Study Work Visa is often an easy hire. There's no Job Check, no Accreditation requirement for that visa itself, and they can start work without the lead time an AEWV needs. For a role you'd struggle to fill locally, a recent graduate with an open work visa is worth looking at.
The thing to plan for is what happens when that visa ends. If you want to keep them, the move to an AEWV or a residence pathway needs to start well before the open visa runs out - not in its final weeks.
If you're choosing a course with residence in mind, or you've hired a graduate you want to keep, we can map the path from here so the timing works.
