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Emergency Maintenance Allowance : Contents

Sole parents who are 16 to 19 years old

There is specific assistance available to clients aged 16-19 years in some situations. These clients may be eligible for:

Note young people aged 16 or 17 without children may also be entitled to Youth Payment.

Where a sole parent aged 16-19 years does not meet all the requirements for any other benefit, they may be eligible for an Emergency Maintenance Allowance. However, MSD must:

  • consider why they are unable to earn a sufficient livelihood to support themselves (and any dependent family)
  • confirm the client is in hardship and
  • determine they are not eligible for any other main benefit

When considering hardship for 16 or 17 year olds, MSD must consider other means of support available, which includes the client's parent's ability to support them.

Does not meet residency requirements to get Young Parent Payment

If a sole parent client aged 16 to 19 years old does not have New Zealand citizenship or a residence class visa they cannot get Young Parent Payment (even if they have lived in New Zealand continuously for 2 years). They may be able to get Emergency Maintenance Allowance if they are:

Additional criteria for sole parents aged 16 or 17 years

Before granting Emergency Maintenance Allowance to a sole parent who is aged 16 or 17 years, there are additional criteria to consider.

For more information see:

Legislation

  • Emergency benefit: discretionary grant on ground of hardship section 63(1) Social Security Act 2018
  • Emergency benefits for people aged 16 or 17 clause 7 Direction in relation to Emergency Benefit and Benefits on Ground of Hardship
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A protected person under the Immigration Act 2009 means a person recognised as a protected person in New Zealand under the:

Legislation

It is not possible to detail the circumstances under which this may occur. However, there must be very strong and compelling reasons why the client is unable to return to their country of origin.

Lack of funds should not be regarded as a reason for not being able to return. When the client originally arrived in New Zealand, a condition of entry would have required a return air ticket to their ...

Temporary entry class visas are issued to people who have arrived in New Zealand legally, but are only allowed to stay for a temporary period for the duration and purposes indicated on the visa.

A temporary entry class visa means:

Legislation

A main benefit means one of the following:

Legislation

A residence class visa means a:

A residence class visa allows people to live in New Zealand indefinitely. The visa also lets people work and study in New Zealand. There are different travel conditions based on the type of residence class visa.

Residence class visas are granted by Immigration New Zealand.

For the purpose of deciding if a person meets the residence criteria for financial assistance from MSD, people who ...

A person can be a New Zealand citizen by either:

For New Zealand citizenship, New Zealand includes the self-governing states of:

Citizenship is granted by the Department of Internal Affairs.

Note people born in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau may not automatically be New Zealand citizens. To be considered a New Zealand citizen from birth, a person born on or after 1 January 2006 must have:

A refugee means a person recognised under the Immigration Act 2009 as:

or

Legislation