Completing, assessing and coding the Residence in Australia and other countries Mod O 106-07100090

Questions 1 to 3 deal with the customer's personal details and contact telephone number. The Service Officer should update the details if not already on the system.

The customer is asked for:

• full name
• date of birth, and
• contact telephone number

If a customer indicates at Question 4 that they are claiming a Survivor Pension, they are required to complete:

• Question 5 and provide deceased partner's details, including the deceased partner's name.
• Questions 6 to 19 with their deceased partner's details

If the customer is claiming a Survivor pension from a country other than Australia, they should answer the question using details for the deceased partner.

If the customer was not born in Australia:

• answers are required to help determine residence status on arrival and the length of residence in Australia
• a document must be provided to verify their legal residence status, if not already provided. If the customer does not have a document, Services Australia may be able to help with verifying their arrival. See Assessing if a customer is an Australian resident

What country are you currently living in?

This question helps the Service Officer determine where the customer is residing. The customer's intention is important when making this decision.

Have you EVER lived or travelled outside Australia including short trips and holidays?

If the customer last entered or left Australia during or after 1994, Services Australia may be able to access electronic records held by the Department of Home Affairs to help verify their Australian citizenship, movement information and visa details instead of relying on the customer to provide proof. The passport number and country of issue help to successfully match a record via the Immigration Datalink. If the person has never travelled to Australia, they should choose the option Not applicable.

What is your country of birth?

This question helps verify a customer's legal residence status in Australia and successfully match them through the datalink. A person who was born in Australia is not necessarily an Australian citizen. For more information, see Proof of Australian citizenship.

What is your country of citizenship?

A customer's country of citizenship must be recorded so the system can correctly assess if they are residentially qualified for payment or have an exemption from the Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period. A person does not need to be an Australian citizen to meet the definition of an Australian resident. The date of grant of citizenship is required to determine from what date the customer held this status.

If the customer is claiming a Survivor pension from a country other than Australia, they should answer the question using details for the deceased partner.

Did you start living in Australia before 1965?

This question is to help CIS staff search for a person's arrival in Australia before 1965. All Department of Home Affairs arrivals before this date are located according to the ship name, arrival date and port. After 1965, Department of Home Affairs records are indexed by year and alphabetically by month and year.

What was your name when you first arrived in Australia?

As Department of Home Affairs registers the customer's name on arrival in Australia, the search must also use this name.

Your visa details on arrival in Australia and your most recent visa details if changed?

This information is important for determining when a person may have first become an Australian resident. Depending on when the person arrived, this information may not be available through the datalink.

Are you a refugee or former refugee or did your partner or either of your parents arrive on a refugee or humanitarian visa?

These questions are asked to determine if a person may have a qualifying residence exemption or Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) exemption, for affected payments.

Did someone provide you with an assurance of support for your migration to Australia?

For information, see The Assurance of Support (AoS) scheme.

If the customer is claiming a Survivor pension from a country other than Australia, they should answer the question using details for the deceased partner.

This question is to help the Service Officer determine if the customer is residing in Australia. The customer's intention is important when making this decision.

Lived means where the customer and their family made their home, or spent a long period. Lived does not refer to countries the customer went for holidays or short trips.

• Generally, periods of more than 3 years will be regarded as residence. Periods of less than 3 years are generally regarded as temporary absences and should not be shown here. This is a guide only. Other factors must be taken into account when deciding whether a period should be considered as residence
• The customer needs to provide details of each country they lived in, the date they started living there and the date they stopped living there

The customer has to include all periods from when they were born until today, including Australia.

These questions are asked so the agency can contact any person who helped the customer to complete the form if required. The customer should indicate whether they give the agency permission to contact them.

The customer or their nominee must sign and date this section.

A Mod O may have been issued to the customer in response to:

• a requirement for working life residence to be checked for portability reasons (often requested by the Portability Script - Departures and Returns
• receipt of a foreign pension claim by CIS, or
• checking that a customer has sufficient historical Australian residence to qualify for a payment like Age Pension

The form should be actioned by the relevant team, depending on the reason the form was issued.

Has the Mod O been received by the team that requested the form from the customer?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No,
• Forward the Mod O and any other documentation to the team who issued the form
• Record details on a DOC
• Procedure ends here

CIS staff only.

Questions 4 and 5 are to check if the customer needs to complete the form with their deceased partner's working life residence, and to identify the deceased partner. If the response is yes to question 4, the answers in the rest of the form should be related to the deceased partner. Where possible, the residence information should be recorded on the deceased partner's record and the system can be used to calculate residence.

Is the customer lodging a foreign pension claim for a Widow or Survivor pension but there is no record for the deceased partner?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 3

Use the answers to question 7 to request the Immigration Datalink on the Immigration Enquiry (RSIMME) screen.

Question 8 on the Mod O establishes whether the customer is an Australian citizen, and born in Australia.

If the response to Question 8 is No, Question 10 provides the customer’s current country of citizenship and the date granted. See Proof of Australian citizenship to determine if proof is required before coding Australian citizenship and the correct date of effect.

Questions 12 to 14 provide visa details on arrival and the customer’s most recent visa information.

If not already recorded through the datalink, code the country of citizenship and the visa details (where applicable) on the Legal Residence Information (RSLEG) screen.

Has the customer ever lived outside Australia? See question 20 for details of countries in which the customer has lived.

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

Go to the Country of Residence (CRES) screen. Check the information recorded is complete and correct. Make updates to CRES where needed.

The customer has to include all periods, from when they were born until today.

Assess working life residence for portability purposes or for a foreign pension.

Ensure CRES information is coded. This will issue applicable foreign pension claim and/or letter if required. It will also calculate the customer's working life residence on the Australian Working Life Residence (AWLR) screen. This can be used by the Portability Script - Departures and Returns to advise the customer of payment during long term absences or to code on departure from Australia to pay the correct overseas rate. See Portability of payments for more information.

If a claim for a pension from an agreement country is to be sent overseas, use the WLR from the AWLR screen to send to the agreement country with the claim. Note: if the claim is for a Widow or Survivor pension, the deceased partner's WLR is required. Go to Step 7.

Record information on a DOC.

Procedure ends here.

The WLR of the deceased partner is required for this claim. Confirm residence details for the deceased partner using documentation provided, Department of Home Affairs immigration records or the Residence Verification script.

If Centrelink has a record of the deceased partner, the CRES should be recorded on that record and the WLR then attached to the customer's foreign pension claim.

If Centrelink does not have a record for the deceased partner, WLR will need to be manually calculated. See Working Life Residence (WLR) for assistance.

Record all details of the WLR and how it was calculated, including all periods covered, on a DOC.