[vixxann]

Just been reading "another" new zealand book and came upon something that made me begin to think ...

In the section about Student Visas in "Going to live in New Zealand" published 2004 - it says that a parent or guardian of students enrolling in school years 1 to 13, or aged 17 or younger, may be issued a guardian visa for the purpose of living with and caring for the student. If a stay of longer than 12 months is required the permit can be renewed for further 12 month periods as long as the student continues his or her studies, until that student reaches the age of 18 years.

so...
what would be to stop you getting into NZ purely on this basis? I appreciate you wouldn't be able to work on a guardian visa but surely once there you can find work and apply for work visa?

International student fees would apply I suppose but no idea how costly they are ? Is this a potential way of people getting into NZ? or have I got it all wrong ;)

[Trigirl]

so...
what would be to stop you getting into NZ purely on this basis? I appreciate you wouldn't be able to work on a guardian visa but surely once there you can find work and apply for work visa?

there is nothing to stop you getting in that way. you can apply to do part time work on your guardian visa (9.30-2.30 only). you cannot apply for a work visa or a study visa if you hold a guardian visa - this was a change to the visa in 2006 which stopped it being abused by people trying to get into the country to work. you can still apply for residence though.

[ellenmelon]

bear in mind international student fees can be really expensive.i know at my school (intergrated private/state school ie we got govt funding and had 5% noncatholic girls in each new intake) they were 12,000 a year. citizens/residents it was only about 600-700 a year..(for me and my sister combined).
id hate to think what private school fees would be!!!

[gil]

Good point Ellenmelon! Below is the International Student Fee structure for Macleans College. If you rented a place rather than homestay, it would certainly cost an arm and a leg on top of the fees!

International Student Fee Structure http://www.macleans.school.nz/images/spacer.gif 2006/2007
School Fees (per annum) $13,000
Insurance - compulsory $450.00
Application Fee $500.00
Homestay Fee - Weekly (budget for 47 weeks) $220
School Uniform and Shoes $600
Stationery $300 http://www.macleans.school.nz/images/spacer.gif

[vixxann]

so I suppose basically its for people with enough dosh to live off, and pay kids international fees, whilst they get settled in NZ and possibly get residence whilst there.

I presume that does apply to some lucky peeps - but don't think it will be the route for us ;)