5 June 2026
Brooke H
[FYI request #33930 email]
DOIA-REQ-0028606
Tēnā koe Brooke
Thank you for your email of 3 March 2026 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
I am writing to kindly request copies of the most recent policy guides, assessment templates,
SOPs, Global Processing Manual, and training materials for Immigration Officers to fol ow
when assessing the current Onshore and Offshore Student Visa applications.
On 5 March 2026, we wrote to you seeking clarification on your request as follows.
Given the volume of guidance materials, confirming the period of time to be covered (including
the start date) wil assist us to accurately identify documents in scope. For example, for the past
three-six months.
On 5 March 2026, we further wrote:
Can we please confirm if you are seeking information regarding full fee-paying international
student visa category.
On 9 March 2026, you confirmed that the timeframe of the request should cover the newest guidance
in the past year.
On 24 March 2026, you further confirmed that the scope of the request should cover ful fee-paying
international student visa category. As any clarification or amendment of a request is considered to be
a new request for the purpose of calculating the maximum statutory timeframe for response (see
section [15(1AA) of the Act), the due date for making a decision on the request had changed to 23 April
2026.
On 23 April 2026, we advised that MBIE had decided to extend the period of time available to make a
decision on your request under section 15A of the Act, as the request necessitates a search through a
large quantity of information and further consultation is required to make a decision on your request.
We advised that we would provide a decision on your request no later than 8 June 2026.
Our Response
Please refer to appendices A to H for the student visa standard operating procedures, training materials,
Visa Paks, and Internal Amendment Circulars in scope of your request as outlined in the table below:
Appendix Document
A
Student visa workshop
B
Invoke Jump to Assessment (JTA) feature in ADEPT and processing JTA applications
C
Assess and decide an application for a Student Visa
D
Decide Application Student Visa SOP
E
Student visa - Assess application
F
Student visa Facilitator Guide v3.1 (1)
G
Visa Pak 625 – Work right conditions for students undertaking a Masters by Research
H
Visa Pak 636 - New student visa grounds-codes to support the transition of visa products
to ADEPT
Please also refer to the publicly available information on the links below:
Amendment Circular 2025-30
21 June 2019 - Assessing ‘bona fide applicant’ criteria - IAC 1309
Work right conditions for students undertaking a Masters by Research
Please be advised that some information has been withheld under the fol owing sections of the Act:
• 6(c) as making this information available would be likely to prejudice the maintenance of the
law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences, and the right to a fair
trial.
• 9(2)(a) to protect the privacy of natural persons. This includes personal case study materials
which are not included in the above appendices. I do not consider that the withholding of this
information is outweighed by public interest considerations in making the information available.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, please contac
t [email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Steven Sue
Acting General Manager Immigration Design and Assurance
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
