Veteran's Pension

You may qualify for Veteran's Pension if you:

• have served in the New Zealand Armed Forces on Qualifying Operational Service
• are 65 or over
• either:
  • are a New Zealand citizen
  • are a permanent resident, or
  • hold a residence class visa
• are ordinarily resident in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau when you apply, and
• have lived in New Zealand for at least 10 years since you turned 20. These 10 years must include 5 years since you turned 50. If you haven't lived in NZ the whole time, you may be able to use other countries to meet this criteria.

Lived in NZ for at least 10 years since 20

When we say 'have lived in NZ', we mean you were:

• resident in NZ, i.e. you permanently made your home in NZ, and
• physically present in NZ.

To determine this, we'll look at things like:

• your involvement in NZ society
• the number of times you left NZ, why you left and how long you left for.

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

• they are a country that has a Social Security Agreement with NZ, or
• they are a NZ realm country (the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau).

Social Security Agreement countries

The 10 years may include time you've spent:

• living in a country that NZ has a Social Security Agreement (SSA) with, and/or
• contributing to a SSA country's pensions scheme.

You might have to live in the country and contribute to their pensions scheme, or you might only have to do one of these. It depends on the agreement.

Some agreements also have other criteria you have to meet if you include time from their country.

You can only include time from one of the SSA countries. You cannot combine time across multiple SSA countries.

For a list of countries NZ has a SSA with, see: Countries NZ has a Social Security Agreement with

NZ realm countries

If those 10 years in NZ don't include 5 years since you turned 50, you can count time you've lived in one or more realm countries since you turned 50.

NZ realm countries include:

• the Cook Islands
• Niue, and
• Tokelau.

When we say 'have lived in a NZ realm country', we mean you were:

• resident in a realm country, i.e. you permanently made your home in a realm country, and
• physically present in a realm country.

To determine this, we'll look at things like:

• your involvement in the realm country's society
• the number of times you left the realm country, why you left and how long you left for.

Example - move to Tokelau at 45

You were born in NZ and moved to Tokelau at age 45. You apply for Veteran's Pension when you turn 65 (from Tokelau).

You've lived in NZ for at least 10 years since you turned 20, but this doesn't include 5 years since you turned 50. You can use the time you've lived in Tokelau since you turned 50 to make up the 5 years.

Example - born in the Cook Islands

You were born in the Cook Islands and moved to NZ at age 30. You move back to the Cook Islands at age 52 and don't return to NZ. You apply for Veteran's Pension when you turn 65 (from the Cook Islands).

You've lived in NZ for at least 10 years since you turned 20, but this only includes 2 years since you turned 50. You can use the time you've lived in the Cook Islands since you turned 50 to make up the rest of the 5 years.

Example - move to Cook Islands at 20

You were born in NZ and moved to the Cook Islands at age 20. You move back to NZ when you turn 60. You apply for Veteran's Pension when you turn 65 (from NZ).

You've only lived in NZ for at least 5 years since you turned 20. Therefore you wouldn't meet this residence criteria for Veteran's Pension until you had lived in NZ for at least 10 years. This means you would need to wait until you were 70 before you would meet this residence criteria for Veteran's Pension.

This depends on your circumstances. These include:

• whether you are single, married or in a relationship
• your living situation if you are single
• whether your partner is included in your Veteran's Pension payments or not
• any overseas benefit or pension you may get.

Any payments you get from accident insurance or Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) may affect your pension.

Contact the Veteran's Pension Centre on 0800 650 656 to talk about your circumstances and they'll explain how to apply.

If it’s hard to use the phone, you can contact us through our services for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech impairment.

You have 20 working days from when you first contacted us. You'll need to provide us with any supporting documentation required for your application within this time. If you don't do this, you may have to reapply.

If you can't complete your application within 20 working days for any reason, contact the Veteran's Pension Centre

If you are getting an overseas benefit or pension, it might affect your Veteran's Pension.

Find out how your Veteran's Pension will be affected if you travel or move overseas.

When you get Veteran's Pension you will automatically be issued with a Veteran SuperGold card.