There is no free lunch for foreign children whose parents have study visas, or work visas with a validity duration of fewer than two years! I hope I knew the information before coming here. When I attempted to figure out what I should do, it appeared tough to obtain such information online. So I hope this post is useful to anyone who is in a similar situation.

Foreign children in New Zealand face higher charges for state-funded medical treatment if they need to visit a GP than residents. Foreign children may only have the same opportunities as citizen children in the following circumstances:

1. One Parent has a valid residency visa.

2. One parent is an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident.

 3. A parent has a work visa for at least two years.

 4. A parent has an interim visa. I must inform you that although a student visa is eligible for a three-year post-study work visa after graduation, this does not apply to an interim visa.

 5. A parent is a refugee or is linked to refugees.

 6. Children are under the age of 18, and their parents fall into one of the five categories listed above.

 7. You are NZ Aid Programme participants.

 8. You are a member of the Education Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship programme.

 9. You possess a Commonwealth Scholarship.

If you are not included in the above situations, you do not have access to funded medical care but are regarded as visitors when seeing a GP.

Though your children have student visas for the same duration, you must get insurance for yourself and your children. And although your children’s visa said that they “may be considered as domestic students,” this is not the case because they are not treated the same while seeing a doctor in New Zealand.

How much will they be charged? Basically, they must pay the GP $80 in addition to the medicine and treatment fees.

If you are uncertain, you may contact Health New Zealand directly to find out if you and your children are eligible for government-funded health treatment. The following is the contact information:

Furthermore, while purchasing insurance in New Zealand, you and your family may only purchase travel insurance or international student insurance. Why? When I called the insurance firms, they informed me that only citizens, residents, or work visa holders who have been eligible in the country for more than two years might get health insurance. That’s quite perplexing. How many residents want to acquire health insurance when they can get state-funded health care for free?

Who actually can buy health insurance in New Zealand? I list them below:

1.You are a New Zealand citizen.

2. You possess a New Zealand Resident Visa.

3. You have a 24-month work permit or longer and be eligible for publicly financed health treatments in New Zealand. 

4. You are an Australian citizen staying in New Zealand for at least 24 months.

How much is insurance? Travel insurance costs between $500 and $600 a year, while international student insurance costs between $600 and $700 annually. Prices vary amongst providers and may not cover the same things. Some businesses provide relatively less expensive family insurance than separated independent programmes.