Application for Korean Benefits under the Agreement

If you have Korean National Pension period of coverage and Australian working life residence period but don't have enough periods of coverage under the Korean pension system to qualify for Korean old-age pension benefits (age of 60, however, age of 50 for the early old-age pension), you may be able to qualify for Korean benefits by totalizing Australian working life residence period and Korean National Pension period of coverage.

⇒ In this case, a period of Australian working life residence means a period during which a person is employed or self-employed during periods of Australian working life residence under the Australian legislation which is between 16 and pensionable age for an old-age pension.

If you qualify for Korean old-age pension benefits, you may be able to qualify for Korean benefits by submitting an application and required documents according to the following procedure. In addition, if you don't have enough periods of coverage to qualify for old-age pension benefits or emigrate to another country, or the beneficiary passes away, you can receive the Korean lump-sum refund according to the following procedure.

• Please refer to the following details about requirements for entitlement classified by the types, eligible persons, the method of filling out the forms and required documents.
• A claimant must submit "Application for Korean Benefits under Social Security Agreement" to the NPS and to Centrelink International Services of Australia.
• At the time of applying for benefits by mail, we recommend that you are fully aware of the requirements for the Benefit Application by asking NPS by phone. In this way, you will ensurethe proper preparation of the documents and avoid any unnecessary delays in payments. Otherwise, you might waste time in correcting errors or omissions on the Application.
• You can download the form of "Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-Australia Social Security Agreement"from our website or get it at the NPS's regional office, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea Abroad, or an Australia agency.

Old-age Pension

• 1. Eligible Persons
  If you meet the following conditions for the benefits by totalizing Korean National Pension period of coverage and Australian working life residence period, you may be able to apply for the Korean old-age pension under the Social Security Agreement. However, to be eligible to have your Korean periods counted, you must have completed at least 12 months in Korea.

Eligible Persons

Type	Totalized period of Coverage	Age of the first benefit payment	Other Cases
Full Old-age Pension	20 years or more	age of 60 (55)	less than 65, not engaged in income-earning activities
Reduced Old-age Pension	from 10 years to less than 20 years	age of 60 (56)	less than 65, not engaged in income-earning activities
Active Old-age Pension	10 years or more	age from 60 to 65 (55-60)	engaged in income-earning activities
Early Old-age Pension	10 years	age of 55	less than 65, not engaged in income-earning activities
Special Old-age Pension	from 5 years to less than 10 years	age of 60 (55)	more than certain years of age

• 2. Filling out the Application Form and Required Documents
  If you want to apply for an old-age pension, you must fill out Part A (General information), Part B (Application for an Old-age Pension), Part G (To be signed by the applicant) on the "Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-Australia Social Security Agreement" and submit it with the following required documents.

• [ Required documents ]
• Your ID such as Alien Registration Card, together with your passport or just your Resident Registration Card
• A copy of your Korean bank account information
  • ※ If you want overseas remittance, you must fill out the Overseas Remittance section Part E (Method of Payment of Benefit) and submit a copy of your foreign bank account information.
• In the case of Early Old-age Pension
  • - If you are an employee: an Employment Contract (Verification of Employer), and Receipt for Earned Income Tax Withholding (Record of your salary or bank account where your salary is deposited into, etc.) are also required.
  • - If you are an employer: a Certificate of Suspension or a Cessation of Business, or documents to confirm suspension or cessation are also required.
• If you have any dependents supported by you
  • - Documents to confirm your family relations: a copy of your family register, a copy of the Registration of Korean National Residing Abroad, verification of residence, verification of common law status, etc.
  • - Documents to confirm your dependence status: a Certificate of Studentship, a Certificate of Holding Office, a Certificate of Medical Care, a copy of the Certificate of Business Registration, a copy of the Building Registration Certificate, documents to confirm special reasons for living separately, a remittance statement of the financial institution (communications and portal services), etc.
  • - Documents to confirm your disability: a medical report for disability under the Agreement (an Australian medical report is acceptable)

※ If you have a certificate of disability registration falling under the 1st or 2nd degree based on the Korean Welfare of Disabled Persons Act prior to the date on which reasons of payment occur (e.g., the date when an old-age pensioner reaches pensionable age, when a disability pensioner has finished his/her medical treatment or 2 years have passed since the first medical examination, or in the case of survivor pension, when the person who is/was a contributor dies) it is considered a document of verification for disability.

Divided Pension

• 1. Eligible Persons
  If you lived with your ex-spouse for 5 years or more while your spouse was paying contributions, and your spouse is a beneficiary of old-age pension under the social security agreement, you may apply for a divided pension if you meet the following conditions for the benefits. However, to be eligible for the benefits, you must have completed at least 12 months of coverage in Korea.

• [ You are entitled to the payment of benefits ]
• (1) When you become 60 years of age after having divorced an Old-age pensioner.
• (2) When you divorce an Old-age pensioner after turning 60 years of age.
• (3) When your ex-spouse acquires Old-age pension entitlement after you become 60 years of age.
• (4) When you become 60 years of age after your ex-spouse has acquired Old-age Pension entitlement.

• 2. Filling out the Application Form and Required Documents
  If you want to apply for a divided pension, you must fill out Part A (General information), and Part C (Application for a Divided Pension), Part G (To be signed by the applicant) on the "Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-Australia Social Security Agreement"and submit it with the following required documents.

• [ Required documents ]
• Your ID such as Alien Registration Card, together with your passport or just your Resident Registration Card
• A copy of the your Korean bank account information
  ※ If you want overseas remittance, you must fill out the Overseas Remittance section Part E (Method of Payment of Benefit) and submit a copy of your foreign bank account information.
• If you are a Korean national: documents to confirm your divorce such as a copy of your family register, etc
• If you are a foreign national or a Korean national living overseas: documents to confirm the period of marriage and occurrence of divorce such as a certificate of marriage, a certificate of residence report of overseas Korean national, or a confirmation of residence.

Lump-sum refund

• 1. Eligible Persons
  If you, as an Australian national meet the following conditions, you may apply for a lump-sum refund. However, once you have received the lump-sum refund, your concerned insured periods cannot be totalized for the Korean National Pension or Australian old-age pension. Therefore, it may be advantageous for you to apply for an old-age pension instead of the lump-sum refund.

• [ Following persons are entitled to the payment of benefits ]
• (1) An Australian national with less than 10 years of totalized periods of Korean National Pension period and Australian working life residence period who reached 60 years of age, provided that he/she is not eligible for the old-age pension.
• (2) An Australian national who loses his/her insured status under the Korean National Pension and left or plans to leave Korea.
• (3) A surviving dependent of the Australian national who passed away with less than 10 years of insured periods under the Korean National Pension Scheme, provided that the surviving dependent is not entitled to the survivor pension.
• (4) A surviving dependent of an Australian national who passed away with more than 10 years of insured periods under the Korean National Pension Scheme, provided that the surviving dependent is not eligible for the survivor pension due to the contributor's non-payment of contributions

• 2. Filling out the Application Form and Required Documents
  If you want to apply for a lump-sum refund, you must fill out Part A (General information), Part F (Application for a Lump-sum refund), Part G (To be signed by the applicant) on the Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-Australia Social Security Agreement and submit it with the following required documents.

• [ Required Documents ]
• Your ID such as Alien Registration Card, together with your passport or just your Resident Registration Card
• A copy of your Korean bank account information
  • ※ If you want to receive overseas remittance, you must fill out Overseas Remittance section Part E(Method of Payment of Benefit) and submit a certificate of your foreign bank account information.
• For an application made because of leaving Korea
  • - before leaving Korea: a copy of an air ticket
  • - after leaving Korea: a copy of your passport (including proof of the immigration exit stamp dated after you discontinued your Korean insured status) or Certificate of the Facts Concerning the entry and exit
• For an application made because of death
  • - Documents to verify your family relations: a copy of your family register, a copy of the Registration of Korean National Residing Abroad, Verification of Residence, Verification of common law marriage, etc.
  • - Documents to confirm your dependence status: a Certificate of Studentship, a Certificate of Holding Office, a Certificate of Medical Care, a copy of Certificate of Business Registration, a copy of Building Registration Certificate, documents to confirm special reasons for living separately, a remittance statement of the financial institution (communications and portal services), etc.
  • - Documents to confirm disability: a medical report of disability under the Agreement (an Australian medical report is acceptable)
• ※ Other information regarding the lump-sum refund is available on our website -> National Pension -> National Pension Scheme -> Foreigners and Lump-sum Refund

Disability Pension

※ Provisions regarding the disability pension are not provided under the Social Security Agreement between Korea and Australia. Therefore, qualification for disability pension benefits is determined by the Korean National Pension Act, or the Australian Social Security Act independently.

Survivor Pension

※ Provisions regarding the survivor pension are not provided under the Social Security Agreement between Korea and Australia. Therefore, qualification for the survivor pension benefits is determined on the Korean National Pension Act, or the Australian Social Security Act independently.

※ Information here on our website is a general guide. You can get more information from the International Relations Team of the NPS or any regional office of NPS

Application for Australia Benefits under the Agreement

• 1. Eligible Persons
  • - If you have been an Australian resident for less than 10 years but had one continuous period of more than 5 years, you may be able to qualify for Australian old-age pension benefits by totalizing periods of Australian residence and periods of coverage under the Korean National Pension Scheme. However, those periods creditable under the Korean pension system must not coincide with the periods of Australian residence; or
  • - If you have been an Australian resident for less than 10 years and have not had any continuous period of more than 5 years, you may be able to qualify for Australian old-age pension benefits by totalizing periods of Australian residence and periods of coverage of more than 5 years under the Korean National Pension Scheme. However, those periods creditable under the Korean pension system must not coincide with the periods of Australian residence; and
  • - Your old-age pension benefit is calculated by taking into account of periods of Australian residence, country of residence, income and property and other pension benefit amounts, etc.
  • * If you apply for the benefits in another country rather than Australia, you must have more than 12 months of periods of Australian working life residence (at least 6 months of continuous period).
  • * In this case, a period of Australian residence means that a period during which you who have citizenship or the right of permanent residence actually reside in Australia, a period of Australian working life residence means a period of residence between 16 and pensionable age for an old-age pension under the Australian legislation regardless of being engaged in income-earning activities.
  • ※ You can get more detailed information regarding requirement for Australian old-age pension benefits from the Centrelink of Australia.
• 2. Filling out and Submitting the Application Form
  • A claimant can apply for Australian pension benefits by asking the Korean National Pension Scheme or through the following social security agent of Australia.
  • - Centrelink International Services
    ⇒ Homepage: www.centrelink.gov.au → International → Centrelink International Services

※ Information here on our website is a general guide. You can get more information from the Centrelink International Services.