Paying for more than 28 days - receive support from family member residing overseas

Generally, a benefit cannot be paid for more than 28 days in any 52 week period. However there are limited circumstances where a benefit can be paid for more than 28 days in a 52 week period where the client is travelling to receive support from a family member (including other person who is treated by the client as a member of the client's family) who is residing overseas.

For more information see:

• Definition of 'support' from a family member residing overseas

This applies (and is limited to a further 28 days in any 52 week period) when:

• the young person has already been paid a benefit while absent from New Zealand for one or more approved reasons for all or most of 28 days in a 52 week period and
• the young person will be absent from New Zealand for the purpose of obtaining support from a family member residing overseas (while still meeting the eligibility criteria for Young Parent Payment if receiving it due to a family breakdown) and
• the support that the client needs cannot reasonably be provided to the client by one of their family members in New Zealand and
• the absence will not prevent the young person from continuing to meet their youth activity obligations because the absence is at a time when:
  • they are not required to attend education, training or work-based learning (for example, they are exempt from meeting their obligations) or
  • they are meeting their obligation to be in, or available for, education, training or work-based learning but it is the school holidays or the semester/term break or they are between academic years or the course/school has not started yet and
  • they are not required to be in New Zealand to meet any of their other obligations during the time of the absence (eg they do not need to attend a parenting or budgeting course during the time they will be overseas)

The maximum amount of time that a client receiving Young Parent Payment can continue to receive their payment while overseas due to the absence not preventing them meeting their obligations is 28 days in any 52 week period.

Therefore, if a client subject to youth activity obligations has already received their payment for 28 days in a 52 week period while they were overseas on a holiday on the grounds that the travel did not prevent them meeting their obligations, they will not be able to continue to receive their payment for a further period of overseas absence in the same 52 week period under the 'obtaining support from a family member' circumstance.

For more information see:

• Examples of paying for more than 28 days for obtaining family support