1

Up to 20 hours a week term time, no limit long term holidays.

Also working here in Aust on a students visa, your tax rate will be lower than a WHV tax rate.

2

If you can't work in NZ on the NZ Students Visa, does that mean you will be in breach of your NZ Students Visa?

3

Heres the official stance on working in NZ while on a student visa.

Working while studying

You can work part time while studying full time, under certain circumstances:

to meet course requirements for practical work experience, or
during the Christmas and New Year holiday period if you are in a full-time course of study lasting 12 months or longer, and/or
for up to 20 hours in any given week during the academic year if you are in full-time study:
at a private training establishment or tertiary institution and taking at least two academic years to complete, or
culminating in a New Zealand qualification that would qualify for points under the Skilled Migrant Category, or
at a secondary school full year course of study in years 12 or 13, provided you have written permission from your school and written consent from your parent, or
in a full-time study course lasting at least six months, at a private training establishment or tertiary institution. Your immigration officer has to be satisfied that the main purpose of your course is to develop English language skills and you have an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) overall band score of 5.0 or above (General or Academic Module), or
at a tertiary level of at least one academic year duration as part of an approved tertiary student exchange scheme.

4

@westwood I have read all of that and I fall under the conditions of being a full time student in NZ. But when I emailed the embassy after they declared that I could not work they said:

"Most International students that study in New Zealand are not eligible to work during their studies. Unless you are studying towards a Masters or PHD programme, the reason you were not granted conditions allowing you to work is because you are not able to work under our rules.

If you are enrolled in a Masters or PHD programme etc then you can contact us again to sort out your working conditions.

Study abroad programmes are not a course of study that we give work rights for. The student visa application form that you completed is generic and is used by all students wishing to study in New Zealand.

There is no way around this as it is prescribed in our immigration policy."

Kind Regards,
New Zealand Embassy

--It just seems a bit odd to me, I don't see any difference in coming to NZ for a year to study or studying abroad from somewhere else. Rules are rules! I've just never heard of that and it seemed in the guidelines that I could work 20hrs or less so I don't know! haha

5

Odd or not, thats how it works.

or studying abroad from somewhere else What do you mean?

6

Should have applied to come to Aust to study!

Not only are uni students here studying here allowed to work up to 20 hours, but also, they get cheaper public transport fares.

Full time uni students here in Adelaide, (South Aust) even can get concession fares for our buses & trams, unlike some Aust states that state only Aust PR & Aust Citizens can get public transport concession.

7

Of course!! Cheaper bus fares are the make or break of which country to study in. But lets face it, you dont know much about what happens in NZ, do you!!

8

If you have a students visa valid for six months of longer, you can work 20 hours a week so long as it does not prevent you from studying.
But this is not automatic. On arrival in the city, you need to go to the nearest NZ Immigration office and ask them for a 'variation of conditions' to allow you to work part time.
For some passports they also want the institution's permission and an assessment of your English level (usually IELTS 5).

Email your host institute (Univ. of Canterbury?) and ask them if they have an office that can help you with this.

I work with international students, and this is the way they do it all the time...variation of conditions once in the country.

9

I'm only saying it's odd because I feel like I do fulfill the requirements to work under the conditions listed by @westwood .

I'm a 4th year student exchange/study abroad student, I'll be full time in school; I feel like the best thing to do is do as @Nice_But__ said and go to the local embassy but my international adviser suggested I work it out ahead of time b/c she said it sometimes takes a while for everything to get processed and taken care of :/

What I wrote in the earlier entry I posted was what one of the nz immigration people emailed me in response to me questioning it. I feel like they have my info wrong or I'm just not 100% understanding why I'm not eligible to work! haha frustrating! I was depending on working in NZ so that I could travel more as well as save up for studying abroad in Australia!

10

What does the international/exchange office at your host institute (Univ. Canterbury/) say? Did they say try the embassy at home, or the Immigration office in Christchurch?