Living outside New Zealand and Australia
Living outside New Zealand and Australia
You can still get support from us even if you live outside New Zealand and Australia.
Support you can get outside of NZ
You can get support, services and entitlements from us even if you live outside of NZ.
This includes:
- treatment and rehabilitation
- services — including those under the Veterans’ Independence Programme
- financial entitlements — both one-off and regular payments.
You’ll still need to meet the normal eligibility criteria for each support, service, or entitlement.
Services may be provided by a different organisation
We’ll work with you to make sure the support you get is to the same standard as in NZ. However, services will most likely be provided by a different organisation than in NZ.
Some payments cannot be made to people living outside of NZ
The Veterans' Support Act does not allow us to make some payments to veterans and their family living outside of NZ.
This means if you don’t live in NZ, you cannot get:
- Travel Concession
- Veteran’s Pension
- Veteran’s Pension Lump Sum on Death.
A local equivalent of the Veteran’s Pension may be able to be paid depending on where you live. More information is available from Work and Income.
Differences to payments and tax
We can pay entitlements into either a NZ or local bank account.
| Type of account | Frequency of payments | Currency |
|---|---|---|
| NZ bank account | Every two weeks | New Zealand dollars |
| Foreign bank account | Every four weeks | Local currency — exchange rate calculated on the day the payment is made. |
Your payments may be taxed depending on your location. This will depend on the country you live in.
Payment you receive from us may also be treated as income. This could affect you if you’re receiving support from another country that is income tested.
We recommend you discuss your situation with the local authorities.
What you need to do
Let us know you’re going to move outside NZ as early as possible.
We’ll:
- let you know if you need to do anything before you leave
- make sure you keep receiving support from us.
If you also get support from ACC or the Ministry of Social Development you will also need to tell them you’re moving. This may affect the support they can give you.
Once you move, make sure you stay in touch with us. Let us know if:
- you move again
- the support or services we’re providing are meeting your needs
- your situation changes.
If you’re already living outside of NZ or Australia, you’re still able to receive support from us.
You’ll need to apply to receive the support. When you do, we’ll complete a needs assessment to see what we can do.
Visit our get support section of our website to find out how we might be able to help.
