Indian students seeking to study in New Zealand are facing longer waits for visa decisions, with applications taking nearly twice as long to process as those from China, according to the latest figures from Immigration New Zealand (INZ), as reported by RNZ. Indian visa applications processed between January 1 and April 21 took an average of 30 working days.
Processing times for Indian applicants have also increased from an average of 19 working days in the corresponding period of 2025.
Immigration New Zealand attributed the increase to higher application volumes and the complexity of applications. The agency said applications received in 2026 were up 11% compared with the previous year.
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“Processing times vary by country due to application volumes and complexity,” said Celia Coombes, director visa at Immigration New Zealand to RNZ.
“Applications received in 2026 have increased by 11 percent compared with 2025, which can lengthen average processing times,” Coombes added.
Visa approvals improve despite longer waits
The rise in processing times comes even as approval rates for Indian student visa applicants have improved after a period of elevated rejection levels.
In 2024, nearly half of all student visa applications from India were declined during the first three months of the year. The situation improved in 2025, when Immigration New Zealand approved 75.4% of Indian student visa applications and declined 23.7%.
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Between January 1 and April 21 this year, the decline rate for Indian applications dropped further to 21.5%, although processing times increased significantly.
According to the RNZ report, Immigration New Zealand said India remains an important market and noted that it has a dedicated engagement adviser in India to provide support to education agents. The agency also said financial verification remains a key part of the assessment process.
“The evidence of these funds must be credible and from a source that we can confirm during the application processing,” Coombes said.
According to Immigration New Zealand, 25,300 international student applications were received between January 1 and April 21 this year, compared with 22,800 during the same period in 2025.
