Living overseas

Who can apply

You can apply to keep your NZ Super or Veteran's Pension payments going while you’re living overseas if you:

• intend to live overseas, and
• are not moving to the United Kingdom (UK).

You can't get any other payments from us while you're overseas, eg:

• Winter Energy Payment
• Accommodation Supplement
• Disability Allowance
• Temporary Additional Support.

Humanitarian work

If you're going to live overseas to do humanitarian work, it needs to be unpaid, voluntary work that's full-time.

It also needs to be through a recognised aid agency as determined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), eg:

• Red Cross
• United National Volunteers
• Volunteer Services Abroad
• World Vision.

You also need to be ordinarily resident in New Zealand while you're doing humanitarian work overseas.

Your partner is included in your payments

If you have a partner who’s included in your NZ Super or Veteran's Pension payments, their payments will stop when you leave New Zealand. This is because they won't qualify for their payments.

If you’re going to a country we have a Social Security Agreement with, your partner can apply for a payment in that country.

How much you can get

How much you get depends on:

• what country you're going to live in
• what arrangement or agreement New Zealand (NZ) has with that country.

If you get an overseas pension, this could be affected, it depends which country you're going to live in.

When you apply, we'll let you know how much you can get.

Living in a country NZ has a Social Security Agreement (SSA) with

Some countries have their own SSA with New Zealand. The SSA sets out the rules around how much you can get. It also sets out the rules for any overseas pension you receive.

Living in a Pacific country NZ has an arrangement with

New Zealand has a special portability arrangement with 22 Pacific countries. The arrangement sets out the rules around how much you can get. If you get an overseas pension, your payments will be affected.

Living in another country

If you're going to live in a country that doesn't have a SSA or arrangement with NZ, you can get your full NZ Super or Veteran's Pension payment. If you get an overseas pension, your payments will not be affected.

How to apply

Call our International Services team to let us know about your plans.

Complete the application form and gather your documents:

• your plane ticket showing the departure date, and
• proof of your overseas bank account number (if you want payments to go into this).

Email the application form and documents to us at international.services@msd.govt.nz

If your application is approved, we'll let you know how much you'll get while you're living overseas.

Humanitarian work for 156 weeks or less

If you're going to do humanitarian work for 156 weeks (3 years) or less, you don't need to complete the application form.

You'll just need to provide proof of:

• the recognised aid agency you're working for
• how long you'll be working for them
• what the work is for, and
• that the work is unpaid, voluntary and full-time.

You can email this to us at international.services@msd.govt.nz

How you're paid

You can choose to have payments made directly to either your:

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

If you choose to be paid to your overseas bank account:

• it can take around 4-6 weeks to change your payments to this account.
• don’t close your New Zealand account until you receive your first payment into your overseas account.

Taxes

You will not have to pay New Zealand tax on the payments you get from us. You may have to pay tax in the country you're going to live in. You'll need to contact their tax department for information about this.

We'll send you a tax certificate every April. This will be sent to your overseas address and you'll also be able to see it in MyMSD. It will show what you have been paid during the previous financial year while you have been overseas.

Temporarily returning to New Zealand

If you're visiting New Zealand temporarily or on holiday, you can continue to get the same payments as you get when overseas.