Travelling overseas for more than 26 weeks

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

• qualify for the NZ Super or Veteran's Pension in your own right (i.e. not be a partner included in the payment)
• are ordinarily resident in New Zealand when you apply
• intend to travel overseas for more than 26 weeks,
• tell us all the countries you intend to travel to.

If you used an SSA country to meet residence criteria

When you applied for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, you may have had to use a Social Security Agreement (SSA) country to help you meet the residence criteria.

This means you may have included time you spent:

• living in a country that NZ has a SSA with, and/or
• contributing to a SSA country's pension scheme.

If you used an SSA country to meet the residence criteria, you may not be able to keep getting your payments. You need to contact International Services to talk about your situation. 

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 while you're overseas. This is because they won't qualify for their payments.

When you return to New Zealand, you will not be able to be include them in your NZ Super or Veteran’s Pension payments again. They will need to apply for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension themselves, once they qualify.

The amount you get while you’re overseas depends on the number of months you lived in New Zealand between the ages of 20 and 65. This is a total of 45 years, or 540 months.

If you were overseas between the ages of 20 and 65, we may still be able count this time as if you were living in New Zealand.

For example, if you or your partner were:

• doing missionary work on behalf of a religious body
• working overseas and paying New Zealand income tax on earnings.

You must have remained ordinarily resident in New Zealand during this time.

If you’re not sure whether we would count your time overseas, call us to discuss your situation.

Lived in NZ for the whole 45 years

If you lived in New Zealand for the whole 45 years (540 months) between age 20 and 65, you can get either:

• $576.80 gross a week, if you're single, or
• $476.47 gross a week, if you have a partner.

Lived in NZ for less than 45 years

If you lived in New Zealand for less than 45 years (540 months) between age 20 and 65, how much you get depends on how many months you lived in New Zealand.

For example, if you lived in New Zealand for 18 years between age 20 and 65, this is 216 months. So we would calculate it this way:

• if you're single - 216 / 540 x $576.80 (the single rate of NZ Super we use) = $230.72 gross a week
• if you have a partner - 216 / 540 x $476.47 (the couple rate of NZ Super we use) = $190.58 gross a week.

Get an overseas pension

If you get an overseas pension, this won't affect your NZ Super payments. You may still be able to get your overseas pension while you're overseas, you need to talk to the organisation you get the pension from.

Call us to book an appointment.

You'll need to bring:

• your passport
• another form of identification
• your travel itinerary or tickets.

You also need to complete the application form and bring it to your appointment.

We'll send you a 'client declaration' form every 6 or 12 months (depending on your circumstances). This will be sent to your overseas address and you'll also be able to see it in MyMSD.

You must complete and return this to us within 4 weeks or your payments may stop. You can post it, or scan and email it to us.

Tell us about any change of circumstances

You also need to let us know every time any of your circumstances change. This is so we can make sure we are paying you the correct amount.

You can call or email us.

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

Payments are made at a gross rate when you're travelling for more than 26 weeks. You need to contact Inland Revenue before you leave New Zealand so they can organise your tax.

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.