The ANZ Bank of New Zealand Limited (ANZ) offers a Funds Transfer Scheme (FTS) that allows students to transfer money from banks and financial institutions overseas to an ANZ bank account in New Zealand. These funds are released periodically to support students while they are in New Zealand.
Students from India and Sri Lanka, who’ll be studying in New Zealand for a year or more, can use the FTS to show us they meet the minimum funds requirement for a student visa.
Minimum funds requirement
Most New Zealand student visas require you to have NZ$15,000 in addition to your course fees for each year you’ll be studying in New Zealand. This money is to cover your living costs while you are in New Zealand.
You can use the FTS to transfer these funds to New Zealand and then access them while you are studying.
If you’ll be studying for more than a year, you can use FTS to transfer funds each year.
When we assess student visa applications, we often ask you to explain how you earned or acquired your funds and provide evidence.. We do this to make sure the funds will be genuinely available to you while you are studying
Accessing your funds to cover living costs
You can use the money in your FTS ANZ bank account to cover your living costs while studying in New Zealand. You’re allowed to withdraw NZ$1,250 each month. You can do this from ANZ Bank branches, ATMs, and use EFTPOS.
Your money will be locked in for the period of your study, and you won’t be able to use it for any other reason. This can be useful because:
- it limits the amount of money you’ll have access to at one time, so you can’t overspend and run out of money later
- it can make it quicker and easier for us to make a decision about your visa application
If you’d like to have another bank account you can use more freely, you can open one with any bank in New Zealand, including ANZ.
Withdrawing funds
You can withdraw funds from your FTS bank account, other than to cover living costs, if:
- your student visa application is declined
- you decide not to continue your study
- you’ve completed your studies.
If your visa application is declined, New Zealand immigration department contact ANZ to arrange a refund.
If you decide not to continue your study, you should contact the Immigration New Zealand office that issued your visa for a refund. So they can arrange the refund, you’ll need to provide them with both:
- a letter from your education provider confirming your enrolment has been terminated or that you have withdrawn from the course
- evidence you have a travel ticket out of New Zealand to a country you have a right to enter.
Applying for an account
To apply for an account, simply contact ANZ Bank.
All deposit accounts earn interest. Rates are set by the bank and change often. Interest rates are available on ANZ’s website.
Applying for a student visa
- If you want to use FTS to show New Zealand immigration department that you meet the funds requirements for a student visa, you should mark the front of your student visa application ‘FTS’. You should also explain that you’ll be using FTS in the covering letter you send with your application. You’ll still need to complete the funds part of the application, explaining how you’ll meet the minimum funds requirement and where the funds will be coming from.
- If you meet all of the criteria for the student visa, apart from the funds requirement, New Zealand immigration department approve your application in principle and send you a letter confirming your approval in principle (AIP).
- You can provide your AIP letter to ANZ together with your completed ANZ Enquiry form. ANZ will then open a New Zealand bank account for you. You can then approach your bank or financial institution in India or Sri Lanka to transfer funds to your ANZ bank account. The funds you transfer must be the same funds that you provided as evidence in your visa application.
- Once your funds have been transferred to New Zealand, ANZ will send you a letter confirming the transfer and your account balance. You’ll need to provide a copy of this letter to us within 10 days of receiving your AIP letter.
- When you arrive in New Zealand, you’ll need to visit an ANZ bank branch to activate your bank account. You can then start using the account to cover your living costs while you study.