Bypassing pension rules for Ausie expat

[OzMan]

I plan to move to bkk permanently later this year partly living off my Australian pension. The difficulty is that since I have only worked in Australia for part of my life, the rest in Canada, my pension will be reduced from approx. $23k to $15k. Ouch. One way out of this is to ''move'' back to Canada where Australia will pay me the full pension since Canada and Australia have reciprocal pension agreements. I assume that I can leave and enter Canada on (11.5 month long) holidays without the Australian Government finding out and thus still qualify for the full Australian pension. Has anybody any experience of this? Or is there a Canadian member who can knows if me leaving Canada for a trip to the US is recorded? I could also do this in the US as I have a Green Card but Canada is my preferred option.

[ELVIS123456]

Part of the reciprocal arrangement that DHS/Centrelink has with other countries, like Canada, is access to a person's international travel records and other personal information (like banks etc). It may not be instantaneous, but DHS/Clink will most likely find out about your 'transgression' if you do that.  And they will require you to repay - and they may fine you as well - which they will take out of whatever pension you may be entitled to. And they may cancel your pension for such a serious and deliberate breach of the rules. And if they cancel it, you will then have to reapply and that means you have to live in Aust at the time you reapply - and the 2 years waiting period again applies. And several other things some to mind. Definitely not recommended.

 

Can you get a part pension from Canada? Did you work there long enough?  Perhaps you can get both?  I know of some people who have a part Aust pension and also receive a small UK pension. Not aware of how that all works, but perhaps there is something there you could check out further.  Maybe you can live in Canada for a while (on full Aust pension) and then move to Thailand and get the partial-pension from both countries?  I am only surmising - but maybe worth a look into.

 

[4MyEgo]

It won't work, I had a friend who did exactly what you want to do.

 

It took 8 weeks, they cancelled his pension as he didn't respond to their requests to contact them.

 

He was advised that he had to return to Australia and reapply and also had the right to appeal the decision, which he did, which was quashed, and was told he had to return to Australia to reapply and wait for the 2 year period before he could have the pension made portable again.

 

Just saying, each to their own, personally would weigh up the risks, and a part pension vs no pension and having to return to sit it out for 2 years is a no brainer.

[OzMan]

The Australian full pension is around $23k, while (I may be mistaken), the Canadian full pension is around $10k. Again, I need to check with Centrelink but if I move to Canada I still get the Australian pension because I first received a pension in Australia. I already get a part pension from Canada which Centrelink knows about. I was thinking of moving (flying) back to Canada ''permanently'' on my Australian passport and using my Canadian passport to drive across the border into the US and fly from there to Thailand.

 

Out of interest, at LAX I am regularly photographed and fingerprinted and they still have not worked out I travel on two passports. Even though both passports have the same name, date of birth, place of birth, and country of residence.

 

 

[ozzydom]

The deal with reciprical agreements is that Oz tops up the pension you are entitled to receive from in this case Canada to the maximum you are entitled to receive from Oz,so you will not receive the max Oz  pension,

[kevvy]

so you are trying to rip off the Australian government. It is people like you that make it harder for genuine people to get their pension . I hope they do catch you ,