Social Security Agreement with Greece - living in Greece

Who can get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension

You may be able to get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension while you're living in Greece if you:

• meet the criteria for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension
• have lived in NZ for at least 1 year from age 20
• are in NZ when you apply, and
• intend to live in Greece for more than 26 weeks.

You need to have lived in New Zealand for a certain amount of time to get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension. If you haven't, you may be able to use time you've spent living in Greece from age 20 or contributing to the national insurance scheme to meet this criteria. To use this time, you must have been ordinarily resident in NZ for at least 1 year at any time before you apply.

Who can get Supported Living Payment

You may be able to get Supported Living Payment for a health condition, injury or disability while you're living in Greece if you:

• meet the criteria for Supported Living Payment
• have lived in NZ for at least 1 year from age 20,
• are in NZ when you apply, and
• intend to live in Greece.

You need to have lived in New Zealand for a certain amount of time to get Supported Living Payment. If you haven't, you may be able to use time you've spent living in Greece from age 20 or contributing to the national insurance scheme to meet this criteria. To use this time, you must have been ordinarily resident in NZ for at least 1 year at any time before you apply.

Who can get Sole Parent Support for widows or widowers

You may be able to get Sole Parent Support as a widow or widower while you're living in Greece if you:

• meet the criteria for Sole Parent Support
• are the parent of one or more dependent children whose other parent is deceased,
• have lived in NZ for at least 1 year from age 20,
• are in NZ when you apply, and
• intend to live in Greece.

You need to have lived in New Zealand for a certain amount of time to get Sole Parent Support. If you haven't, you may be able to use time you've spent living in Greece from age 20 or contributing to the national insurance scheme to meet this criteria. To use this time, you must have been ordinarily resident in NZ for at least 1 year at any time before you apply.

Who can get Orphan's Benefit

You may be able to get Orphan's Benefit while you're living in Greece if:

• you meet the criteria for Orphan's Benefit. However you will be ordinarily resident in Greece instead of NZ when you apply
• the child you look after lived in NZ for 12 months continuously, or was born in NZ
• you are likely to look after the child for at least 12 months continuously
• you are in Greece or NZ when you apply, and
• you intend to live in Greece.

Who can get a Funeral Grant

You may be able to get a Funeral Grant while you're living in Greece if:

• you get another NZ payment (not Funeral Grant) that's covered by the Social Security Agreement with Greece
• your partner or dependent child has passed away
• your deceased partner or child were ordinarily resident in NZ continuously for at least 12 months, and
• you live in Greece.

Who can get Greek payments

You may be able to get Greek payments while you're living in Greece. These are the:

• Old Age Benefit
• Invalidity Benefit
• Survivors Benefit
• Funeral Grants.

You may need to have lived in Greece for a certain amount of time to get a Greek payment. If so, you may be able to use periods of residence in New Zealand to meet this criteria.

The Greek Social Security Institute (EFKA) decides who can get these Greek payments.

How to apply for NZ payments

How you apply depends on if you're applying from NZ or Greece.

If you're applying for Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support, you must apply from NZ.

Applying from NZ

You need to contact International Services at least 4 weeks before you leave NZ.

They will book an appointment for you to come in and see us. At the appointment, you and your partner (if you have one) will complete an application form. This includes questions about your residence in NZ.

We'll ask you to bring these documents to the appointment:

• your passport
• another form of ID, e.g:
  • birth certificate
  • driver's licence
  • marriage certificate
• proof of NZ residency
• your travel itinerary or tickets
• bank account details for the account you want your payments to go into
• any documentation that shows your intent to live in Greece, e.g. an accommodation agreement.

You may need to bring other documents, we'll let you know when you call us.

Applying from Greece

You need to contact e-EFKA.

You and your partner (if you have one) will need to complete an application form and provide proof of the time you lived in NZ.

This proof can include:

• testimonials
• work references, and
• letters from neighbours and friends.

You'll also need to provide the following documents:

• proof of your identity, e.g:
  • birth certificate
  • passport
  • driver's licence, or
  • marriage certificate
• proof of NZ residency
• bank account details for the account you want your payments to go into, e.g:
  • bank statement
  • deposit slip.

How to apply for Greek payments

You need to apply for Greek payments when you're in Greece. Contact e-EFKA to apply for these payments.

New Zealand payments

If your NZ payments are made to a Greek bank account, the amount you get will change each month. This is because it depends on the exchange rate used to convert your payment from NZ dollars to Euros.

New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran's Pension

How much you get is based on the number of years you lived in NZ from age 20. If you get an overseas pension, this will also affect your payment.

If you lived in NZ for:

• 40 years or more from age 20, you'll get the maximum NZ Super or Veteran's Pension rate for your situation
• less than 40 years from age 20, we use the steps below to work out how much you could get.

Step 1: Confirm the number of years you've lived in New Zealand from age 20.

Step 2: Divide this number by 40.

Step 3: Take that answer and:

• if you're single, multiply it by $1,153.60 (the single fortnightly gross rate we use), or
• if you have a partner, multiply it by either:
  • $1,905.88 if both you and your partner qualify for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension (the couple fortnightly gross rate for this situation), or
  • $952.94 if you only you qualify for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension (the couple fortnightly gross rate for this situation).

For example, you're single and you've lived in NZ for 10 years from age 20. Divide 10 by 40 which is 0.25. Then multiply this by the single gross rate of $1,153.60. That gives a fortnightly payment of $288.40 gross.

Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support

Supported Living Payment and Sole Parent Support are paid at the net rate.

How much you get depends on how many years you've lived in NZ from age 20.

If you lived in New Zealand for:

• 25 years or more from age 20, you will get the maximum Supported Living Payment rate or Sole Parent Support rate for your situation
• less than 25 years from age 20, you need to:
  • confirm the number of years you lived in NZ from age 20
  • divide this number by 25, and
  • multiply this answer by the maximum Supported Living Payment rate or Sole Parent Support rate for your situation

If you have any other income, this will also affect your payments.

Orphan's Benefit

You will get the same amount as what you would get in New Zealand.

Funeral Grant

You will get the same amount as what you would get in New Zealand. If you get another payment that's similar to this and paid under Greek legislation, your amount will be affected.

Greek payments

e-EFKA decides how much you will be paid. For more information, contact e-EFKA.

You can choose to have your payment made:

• to an overseas bank account every 4 weeks, or
• to a NZ bank account every 2 weeks.

If they go to an overseas bank account, we'll pay the initial cost of transferring the funds. You must pay for any other costs that your bank charges.

If they go to a NZ bank account, you must pay the cost of any transfers overseas.

Taxes

For information about your tax obligations, contact the tax authorities in the relevant countries.

New Zealand Superannuation or Veterans Pension

Payment will usually start from the date of your application or the entitlement date. It will be whichever is later.

Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support

There may be a stand-down period before we can pay you.

What type of form we'll send you and how often we send it depends on what NZ payment you get.

You get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension

If you get NZ Superannuation or Veteran's Pension, we'll send you life certificates every 12 months.

In some cases, we'll send you a life certificate every 6 months, e.g. if:

• you use an agent,
• your New Zealand Super or Veteran's Pension payments are made to a New Zealand bank account, or
• you're over 80.

You need to return the life certificate within 8 weeks otherwise your payments will stop.

You get Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support

If you get Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support, we'll send you a renewal form every 12 months.

You need to return the renewal form within 8 weeks otherwise your payments will stop.

Before you leave Greece you need to contact:

• our International Services team, and
• e-EFKA, if you get a Greek payment.

Below are details of what will happen to your NZ payments. Our International Services team will talk you through this when you call and tell you what you need to do.

Talk to e-EFKA for information about what will happen to your Greek payment.

Temporarily visiting another country

If you're going to visit another country for 26 weeks or less, your payments will continue while you're away.

If you're going to visit another country for more than 26 weeks, your payments will be affected from the date you leave Greece. You may have a debt which you'll need to repay.

Moving to another country

NZ has a Social Security Agreement (SSA) with 11 countries. If you move to one of these countries, you'll need to re-apply for your NZ payment under the relevant agreement.

One of the countries NZ has a SSA with is the United Kingdom (UK). If you're moving to the UK, you can't get a NZ payment. You may be able to get a UK payment instead under the UK Social Security Agreement.

If you move to a country that doesn't have a SSA with NZ, your New Zealand payment will stop.

Returning to NZ temporarily

If you return to New Zealand for 26 weeks or less, you'll get the same rate of payment you were getting in Greece.

Returning to NZ permanently

If you return to New Zealand permanently, you may be paid the full NZ rate less any payment you get from Greece or another country.

You need to contact us when you return to NZ so we can assess your payments.

You still need to tell us about any changes to your circumstances while you're living in Greece. These changes may affect your payments. You also need to tell e-EFKA about these changes.

These changes could include:

• entering a relationship, or
• moving address.