What are the HELP eligibility requirements for New Zealand citizens?

If you are an eligible New Zealand Special Category Visa (SCV) holder and meet the requisite criteria, you will be able to access a HELP loan to pay your tuition fees.

To be eligible, you must:

• Be a New Zealand citizen who holds a Special Category Visa (SCV)
• Have first entered Australia as a dependent minor aged under 18 years
• Have been residing in Australia for the previous 10 years (and you have been present in Australia for at least eight out of those 10 years) at the time of application for the loan
• Have been residing in Australia for the past 18 months out of the last 2 years at the time of application for the loan
• Meet the other eligibility criteria for a HELP loan under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA).

If you are applying for a HELP loan, you must provide proof of your eligibility when submitting an electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF).

The documents you must submit with your eCAF are:

• A copy of your SCV, which you can obtain from the Department of Home Affairs website
• A copy of your current passport
• Your international movement records from the Department of Home Affairs, which you can obtain by lodging a Request for International Movement Records form.

Australian Permanent Residency for New Zealand citizens

If you are a New Zealand citizen and gain permanent residency (PR) in Australia, you will lose your SCV status. If you lose your SCV status for any reason, you become ineligible for HELP for all units of study with census dates after the date your SCV status is lost.

You can find further information about HELP loan eligibility on the StudyAssist website.