Photo: Supplied
Immigration experts are divided on whether the government’s plan to double the country’s economic contribution from international students is feasible.
Education Minister Erica Stanford unveiled a proposal to boost tertiary education’s annual economic contribution to $7.2 billion by 2034 on Monday.
From November, eligible student visa holders will be permitted to work up to 25 hours per week, an increase from the current 20-hour limit.
What’s more, the right to work will be extended to all tertiary students participating in approved exchange programs.
The government will also consider introducing a work visa of up to six months to allow international graduates who do not qualify for post-study work time to secure a job under the Accredited Employer Work Visa pathway.
Under the new proposal, international students who change their education provider or lower their level of study will need to apply for a new student visa, not just a variation of conditions.
Some immigration advisers welcomed the changes, saying the new policy could drive significant growth in international student enrolments.
Others, however, expressed doubt about the policy’s feasibility, raising concern that it could increase the risk of student exploitation.
Photo: RNZ / Ziming Li
Sonny Lam, an immigration lawyer at Queen City Law, said international education was one of New Zealand’s major exports and should be strategically leveraged.
He expressed optimism the new policy would attract more international students and generate job opportunities across the New Zealand economy.
“I would refer to history,” Lam said. “In the late ’90s, we had an education boom. In the early 2000s, we had another education boom.
“Both of these times have resulted in the creation of more jobs, both for locals and for students,” he said.
“When you have more students coming in, there will naturally need to be more businesses to provide for,” he said.
“International students tend to bring money with them, which is going to have a net positive effect on the job market.”
Malkiat Singh, a senior immigration adviser and founder of Carmento, described the additional five work hours for eligible student visa holders as a positive shift that could expand part-time employment opportunities for students.
“If you did an eight-hour shift as a part-time job previously, the challenge was people were getting lesser opportunities because if they do three shifts, they exceed 20 hours,” Singh said.
“With 25 hours, the government may allow more people to accept more variety of jobs in which they can do three full shifts or three full days of work.”
Photo: Supplied
Singh said New Zealand had traditionally relied on international students as a supplementary workforce, often because they filled minimum wage roles that local workers were reluctant to undertake.
“It appears that the government is trying to see how they can help business owners by creating an additional influx of International student workforce,” he said.
Singh said currently only international students who had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher – or those with qualifications on a designated list – were eligible to apply for a post-study work visa upon graduation.
He said education institutions – particularly polytechnics offering courses below a bachelor’s degree level – stand to benefit the most if the government introduced a six-month work visa for international graduates who did not currently qualify for post-study work rights.
The proposed visa would provide these graduates additional time to seek employment through the Accredited Employer Work Visa pathway.
“Polytechnics could see a big surge in application numbers for lower-level courses,” he said.
“This is likely to increase New Zealand appeal as a destination country for international students, because six months is still a lot better than no work week at all.”
Peter Luo, an immigration adviser at Express Immigration, holds a contrasting view.
He said that while the policy may lead to increased enrolments, it is likely to appeal more to international students seeking financial independence than those prioritizing high-quality education.
“For example, some students work overnight shifts at petrol stations, send money home and then struggle to stay awake in class, compromising their academic success,” Luo said.
Photo: RNZ / Ziming Li
Luo said about 90 percent of his international student clients were Chinese, and their ultimate goal was to secure a job after graduation and apply for permanent residency.
However, a persistent mismatch between graduates’ qualifications and industry needs – combined with current Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) settings – made it difficult for many to achieve that goal.
“Skilled Migrant Category policies act as a compass for international students,” he said. “However, the current threshold is set too high.”
“Under this policy, only around 3,000 individuals qualify annually, despite New Zealand’s historical need for approximately 30,000 SMC migrants per year.”
“This disparity creates a significant gap in workforce planning and poses long-term challenges for economic sustainability,” he added.
Adon Kumar, an employment advocate who has been working with the ethnic community for more than a decade, agreed.
He welcomed the government’s decision to increase the permitted working hours for international students.
However, he was not optimistic that policy alone would lead to a significant increase in enrolment.
“Most international students come here, get the qualification and still can’t find jobs, or they end up being exploited,” he said.
Kumar said that gaining residency in New Zealand represented a kind of utopia for many international students, particularly those hoping to bring their families for a better lifestyle and access to education.
“It’s a huge challenge, despite being given extra hours that they can work,” he said.
“The problem is they can’t find a job,” he said. “Even if they can find the job, it’s not relevant [to what they studied in tertiary education].”
He said the disconnect between classroom learning and industry needs, combined with a highly competitive job market and ongoing exploitation, might lead some international students to reconsider New Zealand as a destination for study.
Photo: RNZ / Ziming Li
According to Education New Zealand, international student enrolments have continued to rise steadily since 2023.
“We are seeing international student enrolments steadily rising to pre-pandemic levels,” said Amanda Malu, chief executive of Education New Zealand.
Malu said there were 83,425 international students enrolled in 2024, approximately 72 percent of the 115,705 enrolments recorded in 2019.
China and India remained the top two source markets, accounting for 34 percent and 14 percent of enrolments respectively, she said.
She said research commissioned by Education New Zealand in 2023 found at least 62 percent of international students who completed their education between 2009 and 2019 left the country within a year of completing their studies.
For those who remained, most transitioned into employment. The research showed that 87 percent of international students were employed two years after completing their studies, with 79 percent working in full-time roles.
A spokesperson for Education Minister Erica Stanford said it was ultimately up to international students to decide what they studied and which pathways they pursued toward residency, noting that residency outcomes were not the primary driver behind policy changes.
The spokesperson said the government had taken a considered approach to strike the right balance between increasing student numbers, maintaining the quality of education and managing broader impacts on New Zealanders.