These Terms and Conditions apply to applications made by individuals and authorised representatives for the evaluation of overseas qualifications by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) for:
- International Qualification Assessments
- Overseas Study Assessments
- appeals.
Our process
1. NZQA will process your online application for the required service selected, and where reasonable, in line with requirements you have identified:
- Once all the required documentation has been received electronically, in an appropriate format, and
- the full application fee has been paid which has not been reversed or stopped and has not been subjected to a credit card payment dispute.
2. NZQA will send you a confirmation when your application has been received and advise if further documents are required or the fee has not been paid.
3. NZQA reserves the right to require you to obtain third party verification of your qualification and any related documents included in your application or obtain additional information in order for your application to proceed. You will be responsible for any costs associated with requests for third party verification or additional information. Verified documents must be sent directly from the third party to NZQA, unless NZQA is given access to the verified information electronically from the third party directly.
4. You will be able to monitor the status of your application through the online application portal by logging in with your details.
5. Once your application has been evaluated, you will receive confirmation that your electronic recognition outcome statement is available for download through the online application portal. The recognition outcome statement will either state the comparable New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) qualification type or level or that it cannot be recognised and the reason why.
6. It is your responsibility to inform NZQA of any changes to your contact details during the application process to ensure that you receive all correspondence from us other than via the online portal.
Incomplete applications
7. Following your response to any advice from NZQA under clause 2 above, NZQA will advise you further if your application still remains incomplete.
8. Your application cannot proceed until it is complete (all required information sent in an acceptable format to NZQA, and full payment of the application fee, has been received).
9. If the requested information is not provided, or the full fee not received, within 30 working days of our initial email notification, NZQA will cancel your application. You will not be entitled to a refund of the amount of any application fee that may have been paid. This clause also applies where the full fee was paid but was reversed or stopped, or where the payment becomes subject to a credit card payment dispute.
10. You may reapply at any time after your application is cancelled. You will need to pay a new application fee for a new application.
On this page
Cancellation
11. You may cancel your application at any time by providing a request in writing to NZQA.
12. NZQA will not refund the application fee paid, if you decide to cancel your application.
13. Your application may be declined or cancelled by NZQA if:
- clause 9 applies, or
- Your application contains false statements, provides false or misleading information, omits any relevant information, or is altered in any unauthorised manner; or
- Any previous application made by you or your authorised representative was found to contain false statements, false or misleading information, omitted any relevant information, or was altered in any unauthorised manner.
In these cases, the amount of application fee that you have paid will be retained by NZQA.
14. If your application is found to contain evidence of false statements, false or misleading information, omits relevant information or if you alter your recognition statement without authority, you fully understand that NZQA may notify relevant authorities and you authorise NZQA to do so. These relevant authorities include, but are not limited to, Immigration New Zealand, New Zealand Police and Inland Revenue Department. You understand that this may occur during the application process or after that process is complete.
15. An applicant must be able to access their NZQA account. Applications submitted into the online application portal using an unauthorised or agent email address will not be accepted. NZQA reserves the right to cancel such applications.
Payment
16. By submitting your application, you accept responsibility to pay the relevant NZQA fees.
17. All NZQA fees are in New Zealand dollars, are GST inclusive where applicable, and subject to change.
Understanding how we use your information
18. NZQA will keep and maintain your information in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 2020. This includes your right of access to your personal information held by NZQA and your right to request for it to be corrected. Where these terms and conditions say that you understand and /or authorise NZQA to share and receive information about you, this allows NZQA to do so under the Privacy Act 2020.
19. By submitting your application, you authorise NZQA to collect, hold, use and disclose information related to your qualification (including your identifying information), where relevant, for the purposes of completing the evaluation of your qualification.
20. You also understand that (and authorise) NZQA, for the purposes of completing the evaluation of your qualification and issuing a recognition outcome statement (including, without limitation, the verification of any documents you may provide), may collect, hold, use, disclose or receive your personal information to or from any third parties regardless of whether the third party is inside or outside of New Zealand. These third parties include:
- Immigration New Zealand
- the New Zealand Ministry of Education
- Education Payroll Limited
- the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
- other professional groups or government organisations
- educational providers
- any other person or organisation relevant to the evaluation and recognition of your qualification.
You understand that this may occur during the application process or after that process is complete.
21. Please inform NZQA in writing if NZQA should not disclose information in relation to the evaluation of your qualification for personal safety reasons, and set out the information that should not be disclosed and the reasons why it should not be disclosed. NZQA will assess the information and reasons provided and let you know if NZQA has accepted them. Where
NZQA accepts those reasons apply to particular information, it will not disclose that information unless required by law to do so.
Storage and retention
22. NZQA uses third party providers to store and process its data.
23. NZQA stores some of the personal information it collects and generates electronically on cloud servers overseas. NZQA also uses email and other office productivity applications. This means that the personal information NZQA holds may be transferred to, stored in, or accessed from, countries other than New Zealand by NZQA system users.
24. As a Crown entity, NZQA is subject to the Public Records Act 2005 and the mandatory Archives New Zealand Information and Records Management Standard July 2016. NZQA will appropriately manage access to, retain and dispose of your information in line with its legislative responsibilities.
Appeals
25. If you disagree with the recognition outcome of your application, you can apply to have your application reconsidered within three months from the date your recognition statement was issued. You must provide reasons for your disagreement.
26. You are advised to contact NZQA on qrs@nzqa.govt.nz to discuss your request before submitting an appeal and paying the associated fee.
Refunds
27. A full refund will be provided if you submit an award that NZQA considers immediately and obviously cannot be evaluated by NZQA.
28. A refund of any add on fee will be provided if NZQA is unable to provide the add on service.
29. A refund will be provided if you did not need to pay the application fee, or if you selected the wrong service.
30. You cannot get a refund if you submitted an International Qualification Assessment or Overseas Study Assessment, and your qualification has not been recognised by NZQA.
31. NZQA will refund an appeal fee, less an administration fee of NZ$55, if the qualification recognition outcome changes, and only if no documents with new information was submitted after the original evaluation.
32. You can request a refund by contacting qrs@nzqa.govt.nz.
Email the QRS team
33. Please refer to Clause 12, if you decide to cancel your application.
Complaints
34. If you have a complaint about our service, please refer to our Complaints Procedure.
Authorised agents
35. If you are a Licensed Immigration Adviser or agent acting on behalf of an applicant, you must ensure that the applicant understands and has accepted these terms and conditions.
36. By submitting an application and accepting these terms and conditions on behalf of an applicant, you (the Licensed Immigration Adviser or agent acting on behalf of an applicant) are confirming that you and/or your company are authorised to:
- Act on behalf of the applicant you represent,
- Receive any documents on behalf of the applicant you represent, whether or not they are confidential, and
- Accept these terms and conditions on behalf of the applicant you represent.
37. A Licensed Immigration Adviser or agent acting on behalf of an applicant must be able to provide a copy of the arrangement that demonstrates the requirements of paragraphs 36 and 37 when requested.
38. A Licensed Immigration Adviser or agent acting on behalf of an applicant must provide NZQA with contact details, company information and Licence number, if applicable. When contacting NZQA, you must identify yourself as the authorised agent acting on behalf of your client.
NZQA reserves the right to refuse applications from a Licensed Immigration Adviser or agent acting on behalf of an applicant who has previously provided false statements, false or misleading information, omitted relevant information, altered documents, or used an email address not authorised by the client.