Entitlement to Veteran's Pension

Only clients who qualify for Veteran's Pension in their own right can get this payment overseas under General Portability rules. Grandparented non-qualified partners have no entitlement and their Veteran's Pension stops once they leave New Zealand.

If a client is not already getting Veteran's Pension they should make an application for Veteran's Pension and payment overseas before they leave New Zealand. This means a client must be entitled to Veterans Pension before leaving New Zealand.

MSD must assess the Veteran's Pension application and decide whether a client is entitled to Veteran's Pension. This will involve deciding whether the client is ordinarily resident in New Zealand on the date of application.

To get General Portability of Veterans Pension, a client must:

• be entitled or will be entitled to get Veterans Pension before leaving New Zealand
• be ordinarily resident and present in New Zealand on the date they apply for payment overseas and
• make an application stating the country or countries in which they intend to live and the period they intend to live in each country or countries or
• make an application stating the country or countries in which they intend to travel

Note clients must complete an application form for payment overseas before they leave New Zealand. All applications for payment overseas and ongoing payments are processed by International Services.