Social Security Agreement with Ireland - living in Ireland
If you've lived in New Zealand and now live in Ireland, you may be able to get some payments. This is because New Zealand (NZ) has an agreement with Ireland to share responsibility for social security coverage.
This agreement can help you if you either:
- are an NZ citizen
- are an NZ permanent resident, or
- have an NZ resident visa.
How this Social Security Agreement helps you
This agreement generally allows you to apply for certain NZ payments (paid by us) or Irish payments (paid by the Department of Social Protection).
NZ payments covered by this agreement are:
- New Zealand Superannuation (NZ Super)
- Veteran's Pension
- Supported Living Payment, where you have a health condition, injury or disability.
- Sole Parent Support for widows and widowers
- Orphans' Benefit.
Irish payments covered by this agreement are:
- State Pension (Contributory)
- State Pension (Transition)
- Invalidity Pension
- Widow's or Widower's (Contributory) Pension
- Orphan's Contributory Allowance
- Bereavement Grant
- Guardian's Payment (Contributory).
This agreement also allows you to add together your periods of residence in either country so you can meet certain criteria for these payments.
NZ and Irish payments
If you're already getting an NZ payment and going to live in Ireland, go to one of these pages to find out what you need to do:
Living overseas if you get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension
Living overseas while on a benefit
If you're not already getting a NZ or Irish payment, read the information below.
Who can get these payments
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 Ireland if you:
- meet the criteria for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension. However you will be ordinarily resident in Ireland instead of NZ when you apply
- have been resident in NZ for at least 1 year continuously from age 20
- are in New Zealand or Ireland when you apply, and
- intend to be ordinarily resident in Ireland for at least 26 weeks from when you apply.
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 contributing to the Irish insurance scheme to meet this criteria. To use this time, you must have lived in NZ continuously for at least 1 year from age 20.
Using SSA countries to meet residence criteria for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension
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 Ireland if you:
- meet the criteria for Supported Living Payment. However you will be ordinarily resident in Ireland instead of NZ when you apply
- are 21 or older
- are in New Zealand or Ireland when you apply, and
- intend to live in Ireland for at least 26 weeks from when you apply.
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 contributing to the Irish insurance scheme to meet this criteria. To use this time, you must have lived in NZ continuously for at least 1 year from age 20.
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 Ireland if you:
- meet the criteria for Sole Parent Support. However you will be ordinarily resident in Ireland instead of NZ when you apply
- are 21 or older
- are the parent of one or more dependent children whose other parent is deceased
- are in New Zealand or Ireland when you apply, and
- intend to live in Ireland for at least 26 weeks from when you apply.
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 your time contributing to the Irish insurance scheme to meet this criteria. If you're applying for this benefit as a widow, you may also be able to use your late partner's time contributing to the Irish insurance scheme.
To use your or your late partner's time contributing to the Irish insurance scheme, you must have lived in NZ continuously for at least 1 year from age 20.
Any overlapping periods can only be counted once.
Who can get Orphan's Benefit
You may be able to get the Orphan's Benefit while you're living in Ireland if:
- you meet the criteria for Orphan's Benefit. However you will be ordinarily resident in Ireland instead of NZ when you apply
- the child was orphaned while living in NZ
- the child you look after lived in NZ for 12 months continuously, or was born in NZ or Ireland
- you are likely to look after the child for at least 12 months continuously
- you are in Ireland or New Zealand when you apply, and
- you intend to live in Ireland for more than 26 weeks.
Who can get Irish payments
You may be able to get Irish payments while you're living in Ireland. These are the:
- State Pension (Contributory)
- State Pension (Transition)
- Invalidity Pension
- Widow's or Widower's (Contributory) Pension
- Orphan's Contributory Allowance
- Bereavement Grant
- Guardian's Payment (Contributory).
You may need to have lived in Ireland for a certain amount of time to get an Irish payment. If so, you may be able to use periods of residence in New Zealand to meet this criteria.
The Department of Social Protection decides who can get these Irish payments.
How to apply for these payments
How to apply for NZ payments
How you apply depends on if you're applying from NZ or Ireland.
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 Ireland, e.g. an accommodation agreement.
You may need to bring other documents, we'll let you know when you call us.
Applying from Ireland
You need to contact the local branch of the Irish Department of Social Protection.
Contact the Department of Social Protection
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 Irish payments
You need to apply for Irish payments when you're in Ireland. Contact the Department of Social Protection to apply for these payments.
How much you'll get
New Zealand payments
If your NZ payments are made to a Irish 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 Euro.
New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran's Pension
How much you get is based on the number of months you lived in NZ from age 20.
If you're born:
- before 31 March 1936, contact us to find out how much you could get.
- after 31 March 1936, we work out how much you could get using the steps below.
Step 1: Confirm the number of months you've lived in New Zealand from age 20.
Step 2: Divide this number by 540.
Step 3: Take that answer and:
- if you're single, multiply it by $1,191.14 (the single fortnightly gross rate we use), or
- if you have a partner, multiply it by either:
- $1,968.56 if both you and your partner qualify for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension (the couple fortnightly gross rate for this situation), or
- $984.28 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 240 months (20 years) from age 20. Divide 240 by 540 which is 0.44. Then multiply this by the single gross rate of $1,191.14. That gives a fortnightly payment of $524.10 gross.
Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support
How much you get depends on how many months you've lived in NZ from age 20.
If you lived in New Zealand for:
- 300 months (25 years) or more from age 20, you will get the maximum net Supported Living Payment rate or Sole Parent Support rate for your situation
- less than 300 months (25 years) from age 20, you need to:
- confirm the number of months you've lived in NZ from age 20
- divide this number by 300, and
- multiply this answer by the maximum net Supported Living Payment rate or Sole Parent Support rate for your situation
Supported Living Payment rate (Manuals and Procedures)external
Sole Parent Support rate (Manuals and Procedures)external
If you have any other income, this will also affect your payments.
Orphan's Benefit
Orphan's Benefit is paid at the same amount as what you would get if you lived in New Zealand.
Orphans Benefit and Unsupported Childs Benefit external
Irish payments
The Department of Social Protection decides how much you will be paid. For more information, contact the Department of Social Protection.
How you'll be paid
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
Your NZ payments don’t have any tax taken off them.
For information about your tax obligations, contact the tax authorities in the relevant countries.
When your payments start from
We'll let you know what date your payment will start in the letter we send you, once your application's approved.
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, Sole Parent Support or Orphan's Benefit
There may be a stand-down period before we can pay you.
Send life certificates and renewal forms back to us
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, Sole Parent Support or Orphan's Benefit
If you get Supported Living Payment, Sole Parent Support or Orphan's Benefit, 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.
Travelling from Ireland to another country (not NZ)
Before you leave Ireland you need to contact:
- our International Services team, and
- Department of Social Protection, if you get an Irish payment.
Department of Social Protection
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 the Department of Social Protection for information about what will happen to your Irish 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 stop from the date you leave Ireland. You may have a debt which you'll need to repay.
Moving to another country
NZ has Social Security Agreements (SSAs) 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 an NZ payment. You may be able to get a UK payment instead under the UK Social Security Agreement.
Social Security Agreement with the United Kingdom (UK) - living in UK
Social Security Agreements and special arrangements with Pacific countries
If you move to a country that doesn't have a SSA with NZ, your New Zealand payment will stop.
Returning to NZ from Ireland
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 Ireland.
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 Ireland or another country.
You need to contact us when you return to NZ so we can assess your payments.
Tell us about changes
You still need to tell us about any changes to your circumstances while you're living in Ireland. These changes may affect your payments. You also need to tell the Department of Social Protection about these changes.
These changes could include:
- entering a relationship, or
- moving address.