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Residence requirements for Age Pension

To lodge an Age Pension claim you must be an Australian resident and in Australia on the day that you lodge your claim.

To qualify as an Australian resident you must be living in Australia as:

• an Australian citizen, or
• the holder of a permanent resident visa, or
• a New Zealand citizen who was in Australia on 26 February 2001, or for 12 months in the 2 years immediately before that date, or was assessed as "protected" before 26 February 2004.

To be paid Age Pension, you also need to meet the 10 year qualifying Australian residence requirements, unless:

• you are claiming under an International Social Security Agreement, or
• you are a refugee or former refugee, or
• you were getting PA, WA or Widow B pension immediately before turning Age Pension age, or
• you are a woman whose partner died while you were both Australian residents and you had 2 years residency immediately before claiming Age Pension.

Please Note: The 10 year Australian resident requirement means you have been an Australian resident for a continuous period of at least 10 years, or for a number of periods which total more than 10 years, with one of the periods being at least 5 years.

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