First, Which Situation Are You In?
There are four different answers depending on what you are actually doing, and mixing them up is the most common source of bad advice online:
| Situation | What happens to KiwiSaver |
|---|---|
| A holiday or a short stint of work or study overseas | Nothing. The account stays invested and untouched. |
| Working overseas for a few years, intending to return | Contributions from NZ employment stop; the account stays invested. You can contribute voluntarily. |
| Moving to Australia permanently | Transfer to an Australian complying superannuation scheme. No cash withdrawal. |
| Moving anywhere else, permanently | After living overseas for a year, you can apply to withdraw most of the savings. |
Temporary Absence
If you are overseas temporarily — for work, study or travel — your KiwiSaver simply remains invested. Contributions stop when your New Zealand salary or wages stop, because they are deducted from pay. Nothing needs to be done, and no application is required. Your provider will keep sending fund updates, and you can update your contact and address details so you keep receiving them.
Contributing from Overseas
- You can keep contributing. Voluntary contributions can be made from anywhere, directly to your scheme provider.
- The government contribution generally stops. Eligibility for the member tax credit requires that you are a New Zealand resident who normally lives in New Zealand. Once you are a non-resident, that test is normally not met, however much you contribute.
- Your employer's contributions stop too, because they are tied to New Zealand employment.
- Money already in the account keeps working — employer contributions, your own contributions and past government contributions all stay invested and earn returns at your PIR.
Moving to Australia
If you move permanently to Australia, the only route is a transfer of your KiwiSaver savings to an Australian superannuation scheme. You do not have to transfer; you can leave the account in New Zealand. But you cannot take KiwiSaver as cash on the basis of moving to Australia. Contact your KiwiSaver provider if you decide to transfer — they run the process.
Moving Anywhere Else
After you have been living overseas — anywhere other than Australia — for 1 year, you can take most of the savings out of your KiwiSaver account. You apply to your scheme provider.
You can withdraw:
- your own contributions
- your employer's contributions
- the $1,000 kickstart, if you received one
- fee subsidies, if you received them
- the interest and investment returns you have earned
You cannot take out the government contributions. Those stay in the New Zealand scheme. The same exclusion applies on an Australian transfer and on permanent emigration withdrawal for other countries — the member tax credit the government paid in is not yours to cash out.
Transferring to an Approved Foreign Scheme
As an alternative to a cash withdrawal, you can ask your scheme provider to transfer your KiwiSaver savings to an approved foreign superannuation scheme. The scheme has to comply with the regulations made under section 228(e) of the KiwiSaver Act 2006. Not every overseas scheme qualifies, and the provider will tell you whether yours does.
What You Give Up by Withdrawing
- The government contributions stay behind — that portion is simply not paid out.
- The account is closed. Returning to New Zealand means joining again and rebuilding.
- Tax. New Zealand does not deduct tax again on withdrawal — the fund's investment income has already been taxed at your prescribed investor rate while you were a member. Your new country of residence may tax the money or the income, so get local advice before transferring.
- NZ Super is a separate question. NZ Super is not KiwiSaver and does not come out of your KiwiSaver account. Its residence test is its own — 10 years of residence in New Zealand, 5 of them after age 50 — and withdrawing KiwiSaver does not change it either way.
Practical Checklist Before You Go
- Tell your provider you are leaving and update your address and email.
- Decide whether to leave the account invested, transfer it (Australia), or withdraw it (elsewhere after a year).
- Check your prescribed investor rate is correct before you go — a wrong PIR gets washed up at year end.
- Consider whether to make a final personal contribution before 30 June if you are leaving part-way through a contribution year and want the government contribution for the days you were eligible.
- Get tax advice in your destination country before moving money, not after.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming you can withdraw immediately. The one-year residence test applies, and the withdrawal is not available at all for Australia.
- Expecting the government contributions. They are excluded from both permanent emigration withdrawal and Australian transfers.
- Thinking a few years overseas means you can cash out. You have to have been living overseas for a year and not intend to return — a temporary absence does not qualify.
- Forgetting the government contribution stops. Non-residents generally cannot claim the $260.72, so topping up from overseas does not attract the match.
- Closing the account without checking the employer-return consequences. Once withdrawn, rejoining on return starts from zero.