Moving to New Zealand

Payments from us

All our payments have different criteria you need to meet, including residence.

The residence criteria for most of our payments is that either:

• you're a New Zealand citizen
• you're a permanent resident, or
• you have a resident class visa under the Immigration Act 2009.

For some payments, you also need to have lived in NZ for 2 years. You don't need to have lived in NZ for 2 years if you're a refugee or migrant, and have permanent residence.

If you don't meet the residence criteria, you may still be able to get an Emergency Benefit. You need to call us so we can talk with you about your situation and how we can help.

You can use our 'Check What You Might Get' tool to find out what payments you may be able to get and how to apply for them.

Using other countries to meet residence criteria

For some of our payments, you need to meet the residence criteria that states you must have lived in New Zealand for a certain amount of time. The amount of time depends on the payment, but usually you need to have lived in NZ for at least 2 years.

You may be able to use other countries to meet this residence criteria if:

• they are a country that has a Social Security Agreement (SSA) with NZ, or
• they are a pacific country that has a special arrangement with NZ.

There are only certain payments you can do this for. It depends on the agreement or arrangement NZ has with that country. For example, if you're using a pacific country that NZ has an arrangement with, you can only do this for:

• NZ Superannuation payment and
• Veteran's Pension payment.

Countries NZ has a SSA with

Pacific countries NZ has an arrangement with

Settling in New Zealand

You may be able to get a Re-establishment grant to help settle you into a New Zealand community.

You may be able to get this if you are either:

• a refugee who can't get other forms of government assistance for refugees
• an Afghan interpreter, or
• an Afghan evacuee who holds or has applied for permanent residency.

You need to apply for this within the first year of your arrival in New Zealand. If you're applying for help with English language classes, you can apply within the first 2 years of your arrival in NZ.

Re-establishment grant

Getting an overseas benefit or pension

You may be able to get a payment from an overseas country you have lived in. You'll need to talk to the agency of the country you lived in. They'll decide who can get one and how much you can get.

If you do get an overseas payment, it may affect how much you can get for a New Zealand payment.

Find work

We have job search tools and information to help if you're looking for work.

Job search

Talk to us in your language

You can speak with us in another language. You can also read, listen to, or watch in NZ Sign Language about how we can help you.

We speak other languages

International custody or access dispute

If you're involved in an international custody or access dispute and are struggling financially, we may also be able to help.