johnmcc6 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 A friend of mine is considering marrying a Thai national.They do not intend to ever return to Australia so the prospective spouse would not ever be trying to get Australian residency .He is here on a retirement visa at the moment. He has been advised that should he marry and inform centerlink that he has married here his pension would be dramatically reduced. The question is how can he have a marriage that is recognized in Thailand but not in Australia? Anyone out there had a similar situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrry Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Actually his pension will be reduced about 25% if they become aware he is living with a person in a relationship. Incidently this applies whether the partner is male or female. Equality means just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante99 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Do what many Thai and others do which is to have a traditional marriage ceremony but do not register the marriage with the government office. Then do not tell the Aussie government. Isn't it discrimination against Thais or people with a Thai spouse if they would really reduce the pension for being married to a Thai? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizard2010 Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Look to this site it may help. http://dspoverseas.proboards.com/index.cgi? Ask questions as there are people who have some information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorecard Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Actually his pension will be reduced about 25% if they become aware he is living with a person in a relationship. Incidently this applies whether the partner is male or female. Equality means just that. From my understanding, iving abroad brings all sorts of changes (reductions) of entitlement, and he should be very careful what he tells the Centrelink people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamborobert Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 (edited) I am initially more worried abut how old your friend is and whether he is on an old age pension or some form of disability pension. This in turn effects the length of stay he can be away from Australia, and if he is under 65 he really should check about how long you have to be resident in Australia before receiving a pension. Old age Pensions do not commence automatically at 65 just because you are an Australian citizen. Likewise DSP can stop or reduce under a lot of circumstances relating to periods overseas and relationship status. Centrelink will always know if you have been overseas as they data match against Immigration records at least 4 times a year, as well as against the Tax Office, Medicare, and Births Deaths and Marriages. People will always tell you they got away with something, or they know someone who did. Not a lot of people will admit that they have been caught out so take everything with a grain of salt, your friend needs to be absolutely certain that he will not get caught. It only takes one person to dob him in and he is screwed as he may well be periodically declaring that there has been no change in your circumstances. You can certainly get married and not advise Centrelink but if (or when) they catch up with him it is hard to explain how having a wife skipped your mind a few times when for example completing declarations or tax returns. They may not backdate changes or ask for recovery of money, but they will cut future payments. Payments are generally reduced because a partner earns money, so again, her age and occupation, if any is relevant. Sometimes depending on what benefit he is on if he declares or they find out, that he is married or defacto he ends up getting half the married rate, which is less than what he would get on a single rate. Under the Australian Marriage Act 1961 a registered Thai marriage is usually automatically recognised under Australian law. The Smarttraveller website advises Marriages entered into overseas are generally recognised as valid in Australia if the marriage was recognised as valid under the law of the country in which it was entered into, at the time when it was entered into, and providing the marriage would have been recognised as being legal under Australian law if the marriage had taken place in Australia. There is no requirement to register a marriage in Australia which takes place overseas. The foreign marriage certificate is prima facie evidence in Australia of the occurrence and validity of the marriage. The Bangkok embassy web site also has some relevant info at http://www.thailand....onsular_P4.html Undeclared defacto often looks a more certain way to stay, especially for disability stuff. Good luck Edited October 4, 2011 by mamborobert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnmcc6 Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks everyone for your input. Plenty of things for him to consider here. One would think if you leave Australia because its to expensive they would be happy to see the back of you. No more medicare outlays...free train trips... medicine rebates etc....plus how can they assume a spouse has any income or assets ? quote name='mamborobert' timestamp='1317728654' post='4742900'] I am initially more worried abut how old your friend is and whether he is on an old age pension or some form of disability pension. This in turn effects the length of stay he can be away from Australia, and if he is under 65 he really should check about how long you have to be resident in Australia before receiving a pension. Old age Pensions do not commence automatically at 65 just because you are an Australian citizen. Likewise DSP can stop or reduce under a lot of circumstances relating to periods overseas and relationship status. Centrelink will always know if you have been overseas as they data match against Immigration records at least 4 times a year, as well as against the Tax Office, Medicare, and Births Deaths and Marriages. People will always tell you they got away with something, or they know someone who did. Not a lot of people will admit that they have been caught out so take everything with a grain of salt, your friend needs to be absolutely certain that he will not get caught. It only takes one person to dob him in and he is screwed as he may well be periodically declaring that there has been no change in your circumstances. You can certainly get married and not advise Centrelink but if (or when) they catch up with him it is hard to explain how having a wife skipped your mind a few times when for example completing declarations or tax returns. They may not backdate changes or ask for recovery of money, but they will cut future payments. Payments are generally reduced because a partner earns money, so again, her age and occupation, if any is relevant. Sometimes depending on what benefit he is on if he declares or they find out, that he is married or defacto he ends up getting half the married rate, which is less than what he would get on a single rate. Under the Australian Marriage Act 1961 a registered Thai marriage is usually automatically recognised under Australian law. The Smarttraveller website advises Marriages entered into overseas are generally recognised as valid in Australia if the marriage was recognised as valid under the law of the country in which it was entered into, at the time when it was entered into, and providing the marriage would have been recognised as being legal under Australian law if the marriage had taken place in Australia. There is no requirement to register a marriage in Australia which takes place overseas. The foreign marriage certificate is prima facie evidence in Australia of the occurrence and validity of the marriage. The Bangkok embassy web site also has some relevant info at http://www.thailand....onsular_P4.html Undeclared defacto often looks a more certain way to stay, especially for disability stuff. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 The question is how can he have a marriage that is recognized in Thailand but not in Australia? Why must he get married, can't he just keep her as a gf ? Or does he have other issues regarding getting a long time visa ? Not old enough for retirement, not enough money for the retirement visa etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Checker Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 To receive the age pension upon reaching the age of 65 you must have lived in Australia at least 2 of the years between 60 and 65 . . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masuk Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 To receive the age pension upon reaching the age of 65 you must have lived in Australia at least 2 of the years between 60 and 65 . . . . . . To get the full age pension and live overseas, you must have lived in Australia a total of 25 years. Look up Centrelink on the internet, and then download the information. http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/publications/int019.htm There are some reductions, such as phone and power supplements. Also the Medicare card is cancelled once you leave permanently. I was advised to keep my pension going to my Aussie bank until I really wanted to make the break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mapguy Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 Plenty of good advice above! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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