New Zealand — Superannuation Portability (26-Week Absence)

Summary

Limit

26 weeks (182 days) overseas

Window

Any 12 months from a departure

Fires on

Day 183 away

Applies to

NZ Super & Veteran's Pension

Authority

Work and Income (MSD)

Your NZ Super or Veteran's Pension keeps being paid while you are overseas for 26 weeks (182 days) or less in a 12-month period. Stay away longer than that without arranging portability first and your payments can stop. Each departure from New Zealand opens its own rolling 12-month window, and your days abroad are counted within it — so the rule tracks the worst-case window, not the calendar year.

Who it applies to

This matters most if you:

• Receive NZ Superannuation or the Veteran's Pension and want to travel.
• Are planning an extended trip — a long holiday, family visit, or several months abroad.
• Split your time between New Zealand and another country and make repeated overseas trips.
• Are considering moving overseas but hoping to keep some pension entitlement.

It applies whatever your nationality — the test is about your time away and whether you remain ordinarily resident in New Zealand, not your citizenship.

The rule — and why it exists

NZ Super and the Veteran's Pension are designed for people who ordinarily live in New Zealand. To let recipients still travel, the law allows short absences without interrupting payments:

• Short absences (26 weeks or less). Payments continue as normal while you are overseas for up to 182 days in a 12-month window. No special arrangement is usually required.
• Longer absences. Beyond 26 weeks the short-absence allowance no longer covers you. Continued payment then depends on separate long-term portability rules, which may reduce the amount and often require you to apply before you leave.

Why it exists: the pension is a residence-based benefit. The 26-week limit is a practical line that lets superannuitants take real trips while still tying ongoing payment to genuinely living in New Zealand, rather than paying a full domestic pension to someone who has effectively moved away.

Counting the days

The test is a rolling one: it looks at the days you spend overseas within any 12 months, measured from the first day of each trip out of New Zealand.

1. 1Each departure from New Zealand opens a new 12-month window starting on your first day away.
2. 2Count the days you are overseas inside each window — the worst-case window is the one that matters.
3. 3Stay at or under 182 days away in every window and your payments continue as normal.
4. 4Reach 183 days away in a window and you have crossed the 26-week portability limit.

Because windows overlap, several short trips close together can add up. It is the total time overseas inside a rolling 12 months that counts, not whether any single trip stayed under the limit.

Examples

Example 1 — one long holiday, safely under the limit

You leave New Zealand for a five-month trip (about 150 days) and come home. You stayed well under 182 days in that 12-month window, so your NZ Super was paid throughout and nothing else needs arranging.

Example 2 — several trips that add up

Over ten months you take three trips of roughly 70 days each — about 210 days overseas inside a single rolling 12-month window. Even though no individual trip was long, the combined time passes 182 days, so payments can stop once you cross the limit.

Example 3 — a planned long stay abroad

You intend to spend a year with family overseas. Because that clearly exceeds 26 weeks, you contact Work and Income before leaving to arrange long-term portability. What you receive may depend on the country and any social security agreement, but you avoid an unexpected stop in payments.

Exceptions & edge cases

• Social security agreements. New Zealand has agreements with a number of countries. If you move to or spend long periods in one of them, special rules may govern whether and how much pension you receive — often differently from the general portability rules.
• Ordinarily resident test. Staying under 182 days is not enough on its own. You must remain ordinarily resident in New Zealand — your permanent home and main ties must stay here. Someone who has really relocated may lose entitlement even within the day limit.
• Apply before you go for long trips. For absences over 26 weeks, arranging portability in advance is what protects your payments — leaving first and asking later can create a gap.
• Amounts can change abroad. Under long-term portability the rate you are paid overseas is not always the same as your full domestic rate; it can depend on your years of residence in New Zealand and the destination.

Common misconceptions

• "The 26 weeks resets every 1 April / every calendar year." No — it is a rolling 12-month window measured from each departure, not a fixed annual allowance.
• "Only long single trips count." Several short trips within a rolling year are added together; the total time overseas is what is tested.
• "If I stay under 182 days I'm completely safe." The day limit is only one condition — you must also remain ordinarily resident in New Zealand.
• "I can just sort it out when I get back." For long absences, portability is best arranged before you leave; sorting it out afterwards can mean an interruption in payments.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Work and Income — NZ Super and Veteran's Pension: overseas travel
• New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001