New scheme to help Chinese students study in NZ

A new scheme aims to make it easier for Chinese students to come to New Zealand to study.

Ravi Bellihal, Immigration New Zealand Branch Manager in Beijing, said the pilot scheme was arranged with CITIC bank in Beijing, and ANZ bank in New Zealand.

Prospective students can deposit money into a remittance account in Beijing, and this deposit will be accepted by Immigration New Zealand as evidence of the applicant’s ability to support their intended study plan in New Zealand.

When the student arrives in New Zealand to study, he or she can access a portion of the money each month to help cover their living costs, while another transfer will go to the New Zealand education institution to cover tuition fees.

Benefits of the scheme include the ability for parents to control the amount of money their children can access while studying in New Zealand and the scheme’s relative simplicity in comparison to previous Student Bank Loan arrangements. In addition, the scheme helps Visa Officers more easily determine the ability of parents to fund their child’s tuition and living costs in New Zealand. Usually this is done by the parents needing to provide a range of documentation to show their financial ability, which the Visa Officer then has to scrutinise and verify.

“This scheme removes a lot of the hassle for students going to New Zealand,” said Mr Bellihal, “and it means their parents are better able to monitor and control their children’s access to funds while studying in New Zealand.

“It also it means the students can concentrate on their education, and not worry about managing their finances,” he said.

“We know that New Zealand is highly popular with Chinese students who appreciate that New Zealand can offer them a world-class education. Now this new funds transfer scheme means the whole process of applying for a student visa can potentially go much more smoothly,” said Mr Bellihal.

The pilot scheme will be evaluated after six months and is currently only available to Beijing residents but may be extended to other areas following the end of the pilot period. Following the piloting of the scheme Immigration New Zealand will consider opening up the scheme to other banks in China and New Zealand.