be a New Zealand citizen, permanent resident, refugee or protected person (under the Immigration Act 2009).
sign a contract with the government
be enrolled on a Tertiary Education Commission approved course. The course must be full-time (or limited full-time with our approval) or part-time and 32 weeks or longer.
From 1 January 2011, permanent residents and Australian citizens will be subject to a two-year stand-down before they can receive a Student Loan. This means that they will need to have lived in New Zealand for at least two years and be ordinarily resident in New Zealand. Permanent residents will also need to have held permanent residence for at least two years to qualify.
Some people will not need to meet the two-year requirement. This includes:
refugees
anyone who was sponsored into New Zealand by a family member who holds refugee status
people with protected person status (under the Immigration Act 2009).
Students who studied in 2010 with a Student Loan and don't yet meet the two year requirement may be able to continue to get a Student Loan until they complete their qualification or for a maximum of two years - whichever occurs first.
To continue receiving a Student Loan the student must be studying towards the same qualification that they have received a Student Loan for in 2010.
Note: The Immigration Act 2009 does not come into effect until 29 November 2010