Qualification Evidence & NZQA - New Zealand

Qualification Evidence

What documents are required?

The award certificate for each qualification held and the corresponding results which show the subjects included and the marks received.

• For Degree and/or Diploma level qualifications, we require the Academic Record or Transcript. This must specify that the qualification was obtained, conferred or completed and the date must be shown.

• For National Certificates, we require the Statement of Results.

• For those who are Trade Tested, we require your Trade Test Report and your Apprenticeship contract**.

If you do not have these documents available, as ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, you must immediately.
apply to the relevant institution to provide these. If the institute cannot provide the documents, they must provide a letter which confirms you were granted the qualification and any further details which would normally be reflected, such as dates, subject content, marks, etc.

For those who hold South African trade qualifications, if your awarding authority is closed but was previously accredited, please contact the South Africa Department of Higher Education for assistance.

NZQA Assessment
Formal qualifications, not already exempt from assessment, are required to be assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) to determine the level of equivalency when compared to New Zealand qualifications.

For NZQA to assess and attempt to recognise your qualification/s, the qualification must:

• be a complete programme of study, and

• be awarded by a provider that is nationally recognised or accredited by the responsible government or government-mandated authority in the country of award, at the time of award, and

• have a minimum of 400 notional learning hours, and

• include achievement of a set of learning outcomes through a formal programme of instruction or learning.

To clarify further, the above includes:

• Degree qualification or higher, i.e. Honours, Masters, PhD, Post- Graduate, etc)

• Diploma, i.e. National Diploma or Higher Diploma

• National Certificate, i.e. N3 or higher

• Trade Test

**Trade tested applicants who hold a section 28 qualification or who were eligible for the trade test due to on the job training, your qualification may be assessed by NZQA however there is no guarantee of
the outcome

NZQA Assessment

All qualifications used to make a claim in an application, whether for residence points purposes or to be seen as skilled in your occupation, must be considered a “Recognised Qualification”.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is the designated authority that is responsible for confirming whether or not overseas qualifications can be recognised in New Zealand and then provides a comparison between those overseas qualifications and the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF).

Based on if your qualification/s is not exempt from assessment, you are required to apply to NZQA for an International Qualifications Assessment (IQA). This is an online application where all eligible qualifications are provided to NZQA for their opinion.

For NZQA to be able to assess and attempt to recognise your qualification, it must:

• be a complete programme of study, and

• be awarded by a provider that is nationally recognised or accredited by the responsible

• government or government-mandated authority in the country of award, at the time of award, and

• have a minimum of 400 notional learning hours, and

• include achievement of a set of learning outcomes through a formal programme of instruction or learning.

The NZQA application usually takes approximately 35 working days from the day your file is allocated to a case officer. The overall standard processing time can take anywhere from 2 to 3 months or longer depending on backlogs from NZQA.

To confirm, the fee for this application is currently NZ $445.00 PER QUALIFICATION. This fee includes the assessment of one qualification against the New Zealand Qualification Framework.

The following add-ons can be added to your application:

• Teaching Assessment Add-On – NZ$301 (in addition to the IQA fee above)
This covers Early Childhood Education, Primary and Secondary schooling. This allows you to submit an additional 2 IQAs free of charge.

• Skill Shortage List Assessment Add-On – NZ$165 (in addition to the IQA fee above)
This option is to have your IQA assessed against an Immigration New Zealand Skill Shortage List.

• Pre-1998 Qualification fee – NZ$275 (in addition to the IQA fee above)
If you completed your qualification before 1998, this additional fee will apply. This is because the assessment of older qualifications requires more time and resources.

We will require your Credit Card Details in order to process the secure online payment. You will be contacted to process the payment when the application is ready for submission.

Looking for more Information?

We’d love to take your call if you have any questions regarding your migration journey, or about our offerings.

migration agency
Scroll to Top