Thinking of becoming a teacher	Overseas trained teachers	Returning teachers
Opportunities in teaching Early childhood Primary Secondary Māori Pasifika	Teaching opportunities Four steps to complete Employment Living in NZ Teaching in NZ Personal stories	Teaching opportunities Help returning to NZ Help returning to classroom Employment NZ education update Personal stories

Financial assistance

Primary and secondary teachers

If you are a New Zealand qualified, registered teacher returning here and you have been away from New Zealand for at least 20 school weeks (two school terms) prior to your arrival here, you may be eligible for an International Relocation Grant (IRG).

The level of grant paid depends on your term of employment:

$2,500 where your term of employment is for at least six weeks but less than two school terms;
$5,000 where your term of employment is for two school terms or more*.

* Primary teachers, to be eligible, must be placed in a full-time position.

If you do not complete the minimum period of employment under this scheme you may be required to reimburse the grant. To receive the grant, you must be appointed to a position within three months of arriving in New Zealand (you will need to show your passport as evidence of arrival date) and then you must apply through your principal within eight weeks of commencing employment.

To see if you meet all of the eligibility requirements of this grant, please download the IRG application form from the Ministry of Educations website.

New Zealand qualified early childhood teachers

If you are a New Zealand-qualified early childhood teacher living overseas and are considering returning to a teaching position in a hard-to-staff area, then you may be eligible for an International Relocation Grant (IRG).

To be eligible for this grant, teachers must hold an early childhood teaching diploma or degree qualification that is approved by the NZ Teachers Council and a current practising certificate (i.e. have teacher registration). Teachers must also:

return to New Zealand and be permanently appointed in a hard-to-staff area in at least a 0.5 FTTE position within three months of returning and
apply for the grant within 8 weeks of commencing employment.

The level of the grant will depend on the teacher’s term of employment:

$2500 where the term of employment is for at least 6 but less than 20 teaching weeks; or
$5000 where the term of employment is for 20 teaching weeks or more.

The ECE International Relocation Grant application form on the Ministry of Education’s website will give you more details of the eligibility requirements. It is currently being updated by the Resourcing Division to include the latest policy changes.