Social Security Agreement with Canada - living in Canada

Who can get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension

You may be able to get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension while you're living in Canada if you:

• meet the NZ criteria for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension. However you will be ordinarily resident in Canada instead of NZ when you apply, and
• intend to remain ordinarily resident in Canada for at least 26 weeks from when you apply, and
• are in NZ or Canada when you apply.

You need to have lived in New Zealand for a certain amount of time to get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension. If you haven't, you may be able to use your Canadian creditable periods to meet this criteria.

Who can get Supported Living Payment

You may be able to get Supported Living Payment for a health condition, injury or disability while you're living in Canada if you:

• meet the NZ criteria for Supported Living Payment. However you will be ordinarily resident in Canada instead of NZ when you apply
• are 21 or older, and
• are in NZ or Canada when you apply.

You need to have lived in New Zealand for at least 2 years to get Supported Living Payment. If you haven't, you may be able to use your Canadian creditable periods to meet this criteria. To use your Canadian creditable periods, you must have lived in NZ continuously for at least 1 year from age 20.

Who can get Sole Parent Support for widows or widowers

You may be able to get Sole Parent Support as a widow or widower while you're living in Canada if you:

• meet the New Zealand criteria for Sole Parent Support
• are 21 or older,
• are the parent of one or more dependent children whose other parent is deceased, and
• are in New Zealand or Canada when you apply.

You need to have lived in New Zealand for at least 2 years to get Sole Parent Support. If you haven't, you may be able to use your Canadian creditable periods to meet this criteria. You can also use your late partner's Canadian creditable periods that they contributed to the Canada Pension Plan. Any overlapping periods can only be counted once.

To use your Canadian creditable periods, you must have lived in NZ continuously for at least 1 year from age 20.

Who can get Canadian payments

You may be able to get Canadian payments while you're living in Canada. These are the:

• Old Age Security Pension
• Canada Pension Plan.

You may need to have lived in Canada for a certain amount of time to get a Canadian payment. If so, you may be able to use periods of residence in New Zealand to meet this criteria.

Service Canada decides who can get these Canadian payments.

How to apply for NZ payments

How you apply depends on if you're applying from NZ or Canada.

Applying from NZ

You need to contact International Services at least 4 weeks before you leave NZ.

They will book an appointment for you to come in and see us. At the interview, you and your partner (if you have one) will complete an application form. This includes questions about your residence in NZ.

We'll ask you to bring these documents to the appointment:

• your passport
• another form of ID, e.g:
  • birth certificate
  • driver's licence
  • marriage certificate
• proof of NZ residency
• your travel itinerary or tickets
• bank account details for the account you want your payments to go into
• any documentation that shows your intent to live in Canada, e.g. an accommodation agreement.

You may need to bring other documents, we'll let you know when you call us.

Applying from Canada

You need to contact Service Canada.

You and your partner (if you have one) will need to complete an application form and provide proof of the time you lived in NZ.

This proof can include:

• testimonials
• work references, and
• letters from neighbours and friends.

You'll also need to provide the following documents:

• proof of your identity, e.g:
  • birth certificate
  • passport
  • driver's licence, or
  • marriage certificate
• proof of NZ residency
• bank account details for the account you want your payments to go into, e.g:
  • bank statement
  • deposit slip.

How to apply for Canadian payments

You need to apply for Canadian payments when you're in Canada. Contact Service Canada to apply for these payments.

New Zealand payments

If your NZ payments are made to a Canadian bank account, the amount you get will change each time you're paid. This is because it depends on the exchange rate used to convert your payment from NZ dollars to Canadian dollars.

New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran's Pension

How much you get is based on the number of months you lived in NZ between the ages of 20 and 65. This is a total of 540 months (or 45 years).

If you're born:

• before 31 March 1936, contact us to find out how much you could get.
• after 31 March 1936, we work out how much you could get using the steps below.

Step 1: Confirm the number of months you've lived in New Zealand from age 20.

Step 2: Divide this number by 540.

Step 3: Take that answer and:

• if you're single, multiply it by $1,116.62 (the single fortnightly gross rate we use), or
• if you have a partner, multiply it by either:
  • $1,845.64 if both you and your partner qualify for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension (the couple fortnightly gross rate for this situation), or
  • $922.82 if you only you qualify for NZ Super or Veteran's Pension (the couple fortnightly gross rate for this situation).

For example, you're single and you've lived in NZ for 240 months (20 years) from age 20. Divide 240 by 540 which is 0.44. Then multiply this by the single gross rate of $1,116.62. That gives a fortnightly payment of $491.31 gross.

Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support

Supported Living Payment and Sole Parent Support are paid at the net rate.

How much you get depends on how many months you've lived in NZ from age 20.

If you lived in New Zealand for:

• 300 months (25 years) or more from age 20, you will get the maximum Supported Living Payment rate or Sole Parent Support rate
• less than 300 months (25 years) from age 20, you will get an amount that's based on the number of months. Contact us if want information about how much you could get in this situation.

If you have any other income, this will also affect your payments.

Canadian payments

Service Canada decides how much you will be paid. For more information, contact Service Canada.

You can choose to have your payment made:

• to an overseas bank account every 4 weeks, or
• to a NZ bank account every 2 weeks.

If they go to an overseas bank account, we'll pay the initial cost of transferring the funds. You must pay for any other costs that your bank charges.

If they go to a NZ bank account, you must pay the cost of any transfers overseas.

Taxes

For information about your tax obligations, contact the tax authorities in the relevant countries.

New Zealand Superannuation or Veteran's Pension

Payment will usually start from the date of your application or the entitlement date. It will be whichever is later.

Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support

There may be a stand-down period before we can pay you.

What type of form we'll send you and how often we send it depends on what NZ payment you get.

You get NZ Super or Veteran's Pension

If you get NZ Superannuation or Veteran's Pension, we'll send you life certificates every 12 months.

In some cases, we'll send you a life certificate every 6 months, e.g. if:

• you use an agent,
• your New Zealand Super or Veteran's Pension payments are made to a New Zealand bank account, or
• you're over 80.

You need to return the life certificate within 8 weeks otherwise your payments will stop.

You get Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support

If you get Supported Living Payment or Sole Parent Support, we'll send you a renewal form every 12 months.

You need to return the renewal form within 8 weeks otherwise your payments will stop.

Before you leave Canada you need to contact:

• our International Services team, and
• Service Canada, if you get a Canadian payment.

Below are details of what will happen to your NZ payments. Our International Services team will talk you through this when you call and tell you what you need to do.

Talk to Service Canada for information about what will happen to your Canadian payment.

Temporarily visiting another country

If you're going to visit another country for 26 weeks or less, your payments will continue while you're away.

If you're going to visit another country for more than 26 weeks, your payments will be affected from the date you leave Canada. You may have a debt which you'll need to repay.

Moving to another country

NZ has a Social Security Agreement (SSA) with 12 countries. If you move to one of these countries, you'll need to re-apply for your NZ payment under the relevant agreement.

One of the countries NZ has a SSA with is the United Kingdom (UK). If you're moving to the UK, you can't get a NZ payment. You may be able to get a UK payment instead under the UK Social Security Agreement.

If you move to a country that doesn't have a SSA with NZ, your New Zealand payment will stop.

Returning to NZ temporarily

If you return to New Zealand for 26 weeks or less, you'll get the same rate of payment you were getting in Canada.

Returning to NZ permanently

If you return to New Zealand permanently, you may be paid the full NZ rate less any payment you get from Canada or another country.

You need to contact us when you return to NZ so we can assess your payments.

You still need to tell us about any changes to your circumstances while you're living in Canada. These changes may affect your payments. You also need to tell Service Canada about these changes.

These changes could include:

• entering a relationship, or
• moving address.