From Thailand to Australia

[Gazza0308]

Hi everyone......Gazza from Buriram here.

I had posted before that i was going back to Australia to apply for my pension. But i had read here before going there were many problems at Don Muaeng and Air Asia.

So now i am back in australia i can report my experience. Firstly i had heard that there would be many people at the airport and air asia would take long waiting for check ins.

I checked online 8 days before leaving through my home computor. I had no problems and i printed out the tempory boarding pass they give you. I got to the airport 3 hours before my flight and even i just had carry on luggage i checked in to get my boarding pass.....no problems again. There were 2 sides to air asia check in counters....and i dont know why....1 side had many people....so i went to the other side....i had my boarding pass in about 4 minutes aftrr waiting for some other passengers. At the plane on time, the plane left 20 minutes late but arrived in kuala lumpar 5 minutes early. There i had 10 hour wait so macdonalds took much of my money. The plane from kuala lumpar to the Gold coast in australia was on time. The gGold Coast customs was a mess.....only 4 people working for my plane which was full......so it took about 40 minutes to get out of there.

So now in australia.... after living in thailand for 8 years....my brother took me to centerlink on our way......the lady there updated all my records and told me i could apply for my pension online. So the nect day i opened my gov account linked centerlink and filled out my pension online. Once i subbmitted the application online i received an email from centerlink saying my application was being processed and available 1st of March. Long time to wait....so i will go back to the centerlink office next week to see if i can get pension sooner.

Si i just wanted to inform you that for me i had a worry free trip back home....,hope others can have the same

[simple1]

For Age Pension I was quoted a 13 week processing time which proved accurate. To get an update probably best to phone the Age Pension number at 132 300.

Edited January 17, 2019 by simple1

[giddyup]

If you have lived in Thailand for 8 years will the pension be portable or do you have to do the 2 year stint in Oz?

[lujanit]

4 hours ago, giddyup said:

If you have lived in Thailand for 8 years will the pension be portable or do you have to do the 2 year stint in Oz?

You have to do a 2 year continuous time in Oz (they may let you out for short periods).  This time can be either just before you are granted or after you apply.  In my case it was after I arrived back in Australia.

 

The amount of pension is dependent on how many months you spent in Oz after age 16.  Memory says it is 420 months or greater to qualify for the full pension.  Be very careful if they say you don't qualify for the full pension due to having spent too much time out of the country,

 

Centrelink stuffed this up on me saying I was away for too long.  Yet there is a rule that you have to be out of the country continuously for a large amount of time (I don't recall the exact time but it is years, maybe 8 or 10).  If you have come back within that time the clock resets to zero.

 

In my case Centrelink said I wasn't eligible for the full pension.  I appealed and it went to a specialised officer who determined I was eligible for the full pension.

 

As a side note the amount of pension you receive in Oz is not the same as you receive overseas.  They deduct certain in country allowances.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

[giddyup]

33 minutes ago, lujanit said:

You have to do a 2 year continuous time in Oz (they may let you out for short periods).  This time can be either just before you are granted or after you apply.  In my case it was after I arrived back in Australia.

 

The amount of pension is dependent on how many months you spent in Oz after age 16.  Memory says it is 420 months or greater to qualify for the full pension.  Be very careful if they say you don't qualify for the full pension due to having spent too much time out of the country,

 

Centrelink stuffed this up on me saying I was away for too long.  Yet there is a rule that you have to be out of the country continuously for a large amount of time (I don't recall the exact time but it is years, maybe 8 or 10).  If you have come back within that time the clock resets to zero.

 

In my case Centrelink said I wasn't eligible for the full pension.  I appealed and it went to a specialised officer who determined I was eligible for the full pension.

 

As a side note the amount of pension you receive in Oz is not the same as you receive overseas.  They deduct certain in country allowances.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Thanks, but I got my pension granted before I left to live in Thailand 9 years ago, but I was wondering if they were still hard and fast about doing the 2 year stint to qualify. I lose about 50% of the pension because of private super, term deposits etc, but around $800 a month is better than nothing.

[Gazza0308]

6 hours ago, giddyup said:

If you have lived in Thailand for 8 years will the pension be portable or do you have to do the 2 year stint in Oz?

As far as i unnderstand what they told me at centerlink i have to do the 2 years, but i can go out of the country for a short vacation. Yes i will be calling them or going to centerlink office next week.....i will give them 2 weeks to eee if anything has been done

[Gazza0308]

2 hours ago, lujanit said:

You have to do a 2 year continuous time in Oz (they may let you out for short periods).  This time can be either just before you are granted or after you apply.  In my case it was after I arrived back in Australia.

 

The amount of pension is dependent on how many months you spent in Oz after age 16.  Memory says it is 420 months or greater to qualify for the full pension.  Be very careful if they say you don't qualify for the full pension due to having spent too much time out of the country,

 

Centrelink stuffed this up on me saying I was away for too long.  Yet there is a rule that you have to be out of the country continuously for a large amount of time (I don't recall the exact time but it is years, maybe 8 or 10).  If you have come back within that time the clock resets to zero.

 

In my case Centrelink said I wasn't eligible for the full pension.  I appealed and it went to a specialised officer who determined I was eligible for the full pension.

 

As a side note the amount of pension you receive in Oz is not the same as you receive overseas.  They deduct certain in country allowances.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Thank you Lujanit.....