Can international students stay in New Zealand after graduation?

This is possible to stay in New Zealand after you graduate immigration. New Zealand has specific visa for international students called the Post Study Work Visa. And depending on the length of your program and what level it's at, you can stay between one to three years after you finish studying and you can work in the country. And after that, there's other options as well.

So international students can stay in New Zealand after they've finished their studies or graduated. We currently have a three year post study work visa. It's an open category visa. So once you've finished your qualification, you don't need to get a job or have a job offer. But you can stay and look for work for up to three years if you have a level seven qualification or above.

Yes, many international students graduating from AUT are entitled to apply for a three year post study work visa to stay in New Zealand. Lots of AUT international students choose to stay here once they finish their studies to gain work experience and continue to grow their networks with local and international employers. AUT's Employability and Careers Team are a dedicated support service to help you take that next step into your career.