Contact details
Centrelink International Services (CIS) - contact details for staff
NARWP length
Table 1: This table shows the waiting period for each payment/concession. This is based on the grant date of the first visa that qualifies the customer for the payment. Note: some visas and payments have specific rules. Check Table 2.
Payment or concession | Visa granted before 1 January 2019 | Visa granted on or after 1 January 2019 |
Austudy | 2 years | 4 years |
Carer Allowance (CA) | Nil | 1 year |
Carer Payment (CP) | 2 years | 2 years |
Child Care Subsidy (CCS) | Nil | Nil |
Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) | 2 years | 4 years |
Double Orphan Pension (DOP) | Nil | Nil |
Ex-Carer Allowance (child) Health Care Card | 2 years | 4 years |
Family Tax Benefit Part A (FTB Part A) | Nil | 1 years |
Family Tax Benefit Part B (FTB Part B) | Nil | Nil |
Farm Household Allowance (FHA) | 2 years | 4 years |
JobSeeker Payment (JSP) | 2 years | 4 years |
Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) | 2 years | 4 years |
Mobility Allowance (MOB) | 2 years | 4 years |
Parental Leave Pay (PPL) | Nil | 2 years |
Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) | 2 years | 4 years |
Parenting Payment Single (PPS) | 2 years | 4 years |
Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) | 2 years | 4years |
Special Benefit (SpB) | 2 years | 4 years |
Stillborn Baby Payment (SBP) | Nil | Nil |
Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) | 2 years | 4 years |
Youth Allowance (YA) | 2 years | 4 years |
Visa and payment specific rules
Table 2.
Visa | Payment rules |
Visa subclass 115, 835, 117 or 837 | Not impacted by the 1 January 2019 NARWP changes. Regardless of the visa grant date, customers will have a NARWP based on 'visas granted before 1 January 2019' column in Table 1. |
Visa subclass 444 | Customers claiming FTB, PPL, LIC or CSHC were not impacted by the 1 January 2019 changes. Regardless of the visa grant date they will have a NARWP based on 'visas granted before 1 January 2019' column in Table 1. Note: if a LIC or CSHC holder, who also holds an SCV, is subsequently granted their first permanent visa after 1 January 2019, a 4 year NARWP will be applied. |
Visa subclass 309 or 820 - LIC | Not impacted by the 1 January 2019 NARWP changes. Regardless of the visa grant date, customers will have a 2 year NARWP. Note: if a LIC holder is subsequently granted their first permanent visa after 1 January 2019, a 4 year NARWP will be applied. |
Visa subclass 309 or 820 - SpB | The determination rules are based on the application date of the visa, not the visa grant date. E.g. if the person claiming SpB applied for a 309 or 820 visa before 1 January 2019, they would have a NARWP based on 'visas granted before 1 January 2019'. |
1 year, 2 year or 4 year NARWP - scenarios
Table 3: This table contains scenarios showing whether the one year (52 week), 2 year (104 week) or 4 year (208 week) NARWP applies depending on the payment the customer is claiming and the customer's circumstances.
Item | Description |
1 | Youth Allowance (YAL) claim, qualifying visa granted before 1 January 2019 A customer lodged a claim for YAL on 15 February 2019. They were granted their first permanent 176 skilled visa on 25 June 2018. As the first permanent visa was granted before 1 January 2019, they are required to serve a 2 year (104 week) NARWP for YAL. |
2 | Austudy claim, qualifying visa granted after 1 January 2019 A customer lodged a claim for Austudy on 20 March 2019. They were granted their first permanent 189 skilled independent visa on 1 March 2019. As the first permanent visa was granted after 1 January 2019, the customer is required to serve a 4 year (208 week) NARWP for Austudy. |
3 | Families claim, qualifying visa granted before 1 January 2019 A customer lodged a claim for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) on 1 April 2019 for a child born that day. The customer was granted their first permanent visa on 1 December 2018. FTB and PPL were not subject to the NARWP before 1 January 2019. Therefore, as the customer had a qualifying visa before that date, they do not need to serve either a one year (52 week) or 2 year (104 week) NARWP to qualify for these payments. |
4 | Families claim, qualifying visa granted after 1 January 2019 A customer lodged a claim for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Parental Leave Pay (PPL) on 1 March 2019 for a child born that day. The customer's qualifying visa was granted after 1 January 2019. The customer is required to serve a one year (52) week NARWP before being eligible for FTB Part A. There is no NARWP for FTB Part B. A 2 year NARWP also applies to PPL from 1 January 2019. However, as the child was born before 1 July 2019, the customer would be exempt from serving the NARWP for PPL for that child. If the customer claims PPL for another child born after 1 July 2019, the customer would be required to serve a 2 year (104 week) NARWP for PPL for the second child. |
5 | JSP and LIC claim, qualifying visas granted after 1 January 2019 A customer lodged a claim for a Low Income Health Care Card (LIC) and JobSeeker Payment (JSP) on 25 March 2020. They applied for a 309 visa on 5 July 2018 and it was granted 10 December 2018. The customer is also granted a 100 spouse/partner permanent residence visa on 10 February 2019. A 309 visa allows qualification for a LIC. The customer is required to serve the 4 year (208 week) NARWP to qualify for LIC. A 4 year (208 week) NARWP applies because the customer was granted a permanent residence visa after 1 January 2019. The NARWP can still start from the application date of the 309 visa if the customer is present in Australia on that date. The 309 visa does not allow qualification for JSP. However, the customer was subsequently granted a permanent residence visa on 10 February 2019 that does allow qualification for JSP. As the first qualifying visa for JSP was granted after 1 January 2019, the customer is required to serve a 4 year (208 week) NARWP for JSP. The NARWP for JSP can start from the grant date of the 100 visa if the customer is present and residing in Australia on that date. |
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