Going overseas temporarily while on a benefit

There are different rules if you:

• are going to live overseas while on a benefit
• get New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran's Pension

What we mean by 'main benefit'

When we say 'main benefit', we mean:

• Jobseeker Support
• Supported Living Payment
• Sole Parent Support
• Youth Payment
• Young Parent Payment
• Emergency Benefit
• Emergency Maintenance Allowance.

You may also be getting other payments from us, e.g.

• Accommodation Supplement
• Disability Allowance
• Winter Energy Payment.

There are different rules around these other payments and if you can get them while you're temporarily overseas. See the 'Getting other payments' section on this page.

When your main benefit may continue

If you've told us you're leaving New Zealand and the reason you're leaving is approved by us, you can continue to get your main benefit.

If we approve the reason, your main benefit will keep being paid for up to 28 days, or up to:

• 6 weeks if you're approved because you're competing in a Special Olympic or Paralympic Games competition
• 2 years if you're approved because you're getting:
  • vocational training
  • disability assistance dog training
  • medical treatment not available in New Zealand.

If we don't approve the reason, your main benefit will most likely stop from the day after you leave New Zealand. You may still be able to get some main benefit payments, it depends on your situation.

Approved reasons for going overseas

These could be reasons such as:

• you have a job interview
• there's a strong possibility you might be offered a job
• you have an important event to attend for a family member, eg:
  • to visit a family member who's seriously ill
  • a funeral
  • a wedding
  • to provide support to a party or witness in a court case
• you're getting Supported Living Payment and you're:
  • competing in a multinational or international Special Olympic or Paralympic Games competition
  • going to do vocational training that's been agreed with your case manager, and the training's not available in New Zealand
  • going to do disability assistance dog training that's been agreed with your case manager, and the training's not available in New Zealand
• you, your partner, child or sibling have to get medical treatment overseas and meet the Ministry of Health and District Health Board's criteria

Don't have an approved reason

If you don't have an approved reason for leaving, you may still be able to get these main benefit payments:

• Sole Parent Support when you don't have any:
• work obligations, or
• work preparation activities
• Supported Living Payment when you don't have any work preparation activities, or
• Youth Payment or Young Parent Payment when you don't need to attend education, training or work-based learning, e.g. you're going during a semester break

Your partner may be able to leave New Zealand if:

• you're getting Jobseeker Support or Supported Living Payment, and
• they don't have any work obligations or work preparation activities.

You must tell us before you leave New Zealand.

How long your main benefit will be paid for

Your main benefit will be paid for up to 28 days while you're overseas.

Getting other payments

If you're getting other payments from us (that are not a main benefit), you may be able to continue to get these payments for up to 28 days while you're overseas.

Examples of other payments are:

• Unsupported Child's Benefit
• Orphan's Benefit
• Accommodation Supplement
• Disability Allowance
• Temporary Additional Support
• Winter Energy Payment

You must continue to meet the criteria for the payment while you're overseas. This means your costs, e.g. accommodation or disability costs, must continue while you're overseas.

If you don't continue to meet the criteria, your payment will stop when you leave New Zealand.

You need to tell us you're going overseas before you leave New Zealand. You can find out how to do this in the 'How to tell us' section of this page.

How to tell us

You can tell us online using MyMSD. You need to log in and select the 'Something has changed' option.

If you have a partner and they're travelling with you, they'll need to tell us using their own MyMSD.

You need to tell us the:

• date you're leaving New Zealand
• date you're expecting to arrive back in New Zealand
• reason for the travel - you'll have to provide proof of this.

If you can't use MyMSD, you can call us.