[Cardy]

Hello some info please. We are leaving for NZ in the next 2 to 3 weeks so i have notified the authorities that they need to stop paying our family allowance ,but the lady i spoke to seemed to think it has an equivalent in NZ . Does anybody know if this is so , i find it hard to believe but she seemed pretty sure.
thanks Paul,Bev and Kids

[Moorf]

Yes, they do have an equivalent, but am not sure if, as an immigrant, you can claim any NZ benefits for the first few years.....

[Cardy]

Thanks Moorf i didnt think i,d be able to claim it but was curious as to whether or not the lady at the uk end was correct. :nice1

[ENZ]

Provided your child has permanent residence in New Zealand you will entitled to family assistance from the moment you land. :)

http://www.ird.govt.nz/familyassistance/

[Cardy]

Thankyou forthe information much appreciated :)

[debnjohn]

Provided your child has permanent residence in New Zealand you will entitled to family assistance from the moment you land. :)

http://www.ird.govt.nz/familyassistance/

Is this right? I hope you are correct. Perhaps I am reading it wrong, but I followed you link and found the qualifiers to include

"You are a New Zealand resident and have been in New Zealand continuously for at least 12 months at any time"

Cheers,
John

[ENZ]

Hi John,

If you check the Family Allowance Claim Form, you should see that there is an "or" in addition to the statement you've quoted above.

The "or" is that your child / children are permanent residents of New Zealand.

Hence, if your children have PR you will be entitled to family allowance from the moment you land in NZ. :)

[foolsgold99]

They do have, but it's means tested unlike in the UK. They limits aren't very high either for one child it's $35k and for 2 it's $43k

Full details on this chart,

http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/file/eba9054b95dfc0f/fam-tables-2006.pdf

We get nothing, we are by no means rich, normal 3 bed house in the suburbs, a couple of old cars, live on one salary, but even with 6 kids we wouldn't get a penny. Sure we'd like it, but we realise that the state has more important prioirties, and we don't really need it.

It's a targeted benefit to the very poor, with the aim of dealing with child poverty, unlike the UK where it's not targeted at all.

[debnjohn]

Thanks for that - form downloaded and I'll give it a go!

Looks like we could be entitled to some benefits - I was wondering how the kiwis managed to survive on local wages - this will be a help.

John

[ENZ]

Full details on this chart,

http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/file/eba9054b95dfc0f/fam-tables-2006.pdf


The situation changes quite markedly in three months time.

At this point, parents earning $50,000 pa who have one child will get an additional $3,500 from the govt.

Even parents earning $80,000 with two kids will get $2,700.

The full table is on this page http://www.workingforfamilies.govt.nz/income-gains/

The amount of money paid to working families with children will increase significantly again in 2007. :)

[tigerlily]

I thought that one thing they look at when you apply for citizenship (5 years down the road) was whether or not you got govt assistance. Would this child benefit hurt our chances of citizenship later?

[ENZ]

No. :)