Residency referrals for Child Support customers - Domestic Service Officer 277-08310010

A residency decision must be made if Child Support is advised a customer:

• has left or intends to leave Australia for a significant period of time, at least 6 months
• is entering Australia, or
• is moving from one overseas jurisdiction to another

The Specialist Residency Team must make the residency decision. If advice is received that a customer has left or is intending to leave Australia, determine if a referral should be made to the Specialist Residency Team.

A contact record cannot be created in Cuba where travel is:

• more than 3 months in the future:
• Do not continue with referral process
• Record travel information and create a Residency Follow-up intray to check travel details closer to travel date
• under 3 months:
• Start the referral in Cuba
• Hold the customer until the travel date and check for travel movement
• Once the customer has commenced travel, continue with the referral

There are limited circumstances where a referral may be appropriate when the period is less than 6 months, such as the customer indicating the move is permanent.

Refer the following to International New Customers where either customer is overseas and one of the followings is received:

• new application
• restart
• initiating agreement, or
• court order

Advice of a customer's departure, arrival or change of jurisdiction can be received:

• verbally or in writing
• before or after the customer has departed Australia
• from a customer advising Child Support of their own travel
• from another person (including the other parent) about the customer
• from a Service Officer during business as usual processing of a Department of Home Affairs search confirming a customer is no longer in Australia

A residency referral may need to be sent to the Specialist Residency Team for a residency decision if the customer has an existing child support case and:

• resides overseas or has an overseas address, and
• the intended stay is more than 6 months or if visiting friends or relatives the intended stay is more than 12 months, or
• entering Australia where previous residency was overseas, or
• is moving from one jurisdiction to another

For help, refer to the team's aligned Service Support Officer (SSO). They will liaise with an International SSO and escalate if needed.

If the advice is received:

• over the phone, go to Step 2
• in writing, go to Step 4

If the travelling customer or another party contacts Child Support by phone, get details regarding their travel or the other parent’s or child’s travel (or intended travel) using the Residency Referral Contact dialogue box. Record the relevant information while the travelling customer or other party is on the phone.

Use the following questions to help record the residency referral contact information in Cuba, see Residency Cuba process help:

• Where do you/the other parent believe you/they are resident? When from? Why?
• What is your/the other parent’s intended travel duration including intended return date?
• What is the reason for travel, is it employment, holiday, education, visiting friends or family?
• What is your/their usual country of residence? Where have you/they previously/currently been living, for example Australia and gone/going to destination country?
• What is the destination country or countries? What country or countries have you/they travelled to?
• How can the Child Support Program reach you/them? What are your/their contact details, full address including residential and postal and any phone numbers (record contact details in the Individual Customer Details window)
• What is the number and nationality on your/their passport?
• Are you/they an Australian government employee? Is your/their spouse?
• Is your/their family travelling with you/them?
• Do you/they maintain a home in your/their usual country of residence?
• What actions have you/they taken to dispose of your/their home? If you/they own your/their house what actions have you/they taken to maintain or sell your/their home?
• Do you/they maintain financial ties in your/their usual country of residence? Do you/they have a bank account where you/they were previously/currently living? Do you/they maintain a business/employment/education ties in the usual country of residence?
• Have you/they applied for permanent residency? If so, has it been granted?
• Have you/they established a home in the destination country? If not are you/they taking any actions to establish a home?
• Have you/they established financial ties in the destination country? Do you/they have a bank account in the country you/they are/have travelled to?
• Have you/they established a business/employment/education in the destination country?
• Do you/they have any other relevant information?

Note: it is important to get overseas contact details.

Go to Step 3.

While the customer is on the phone:

• For a payee, confirm disbursement details if Australian bank account. If the customer wishes to change disbursement details to an overseas address, seek help from an International SSO, see Technical support in Child Support
• For a payer:
• without a debt, ask the customer about the arrangements they have made to pay their child support whilst overseas
  Note: if the customer wants further information about implications on their case regarding possible residency decision, speak to an International SSO. For help, refer the customer to the factsheets available on the Services Australia website
• with a debt, discuss payment of the debt with the customer. If the payer refuses to enter into a satisfactory arrangement, consider a DPO referral. See Customer referral Guideline > DPO > Potential DPO

Tell the customer if they are referred, Child Support's International Teams may manage their case while they are overseas.

Where the customer advises of a change of address:

• update the address in the Individual Customer Details window, and
• complete the Residency Referral window

When the specialised residency team accepts the residency referral, customer management will be as per the Customer Management Approach.

Go to Step 5.

Has the customer provided sufficient information to establish they intend to be overseas for more than 6 months, or if visiting friends or relatives they intend to be overseas for more than 12 months?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, contact the customer to get the information. See Contact with Child Support customers

Unable to contact the customer by phone

• Send the RES 1-4 Payer Residency Questionnaire letter by mail to the customer. Allow the customer time to respond, see Standard response times
• Create a Residency Questionnaire Sent intray, adjust the due date accordingly

Go to Step 6

If information is received from the other parent, an employer, or other third party, request as much information as possible, using the travelling customer's Residency Referral Contact dialogue box in Cuba, see Steps 1 - 3.

Record relevant information while the person is on the phone.

Note: a contact record cannot be created in Cuba where travel is more than 3 months in the future. Do not continue with referral process. Record travel information and create a Residency Follow-up intray to check travel details closer to travel date.

Contact the travelling customer to confirm the details recorded in the Residency Referral Contact dialogue box in Cuba.

If the travelling customer has new or different information, capture this information as a new contact record for the existing residency referral record, see Steps 1 - 3.

Was contact successful?

• Yes, go to Step 8
• No, if possible, leave a message. Provide the relevant Child Support international number. Go to Step 7

If unable to contact the travelling customer by phone, send a Residency Questionnaire and covering letter by mail. Create a letter by selecting Res 1-4. The questionnaire will print with the letter. See Letter Details window help. If required, print the questionnaire from Online Forms. Allow the customer time to respond, see Standard response times.

Note: to print the letter locally to address and post it to the customer's current location, use the Letter Preview icon. See Letters List window help.

If a change of address has been:

• confirmed by the travelling customer:
• make sure the new address is recorded in the Residency Referral window, and
• updated in the Individual Customer Details window, see Customer records Cuba Process Help, update individual customer details
• not been confirmed:
• record the information in the Residency Referral window
• do not change the address in the Individual Customer Details window. The Specialist Residency Team will follow up and change the address once confirmed

Create a Residency Questionnaire Sent intray (adjust the due date accordingly).

If the contact is unsuccessful, and the customer is likely to have left Australia, go to Step 8.

Otherwise, see Table 2, Step 1.

To confirm a customer’s movement, either departure or arrival in Australia:

• Request a Department of Home Affairs search. See the External searches guide > Department of Home Affairs (incoming and outgoing passenger card) Specialised search
• Create a DIMIA Search Requested intray with a 21 day due date. The intray remains with the owning officer to monitor for response
• Record a Level 2 search request in the Capacity to Pay window as Level 2 DIAC Search requested including the reason for the request

If unable to contact the travelling customer, also request the customer’s PAX card from the Department of Home Affairs. This document is completed by the travelling customer when entering Australia. It includes detailed information that may assist with making a residency decision.

Note: DIMIA and DIAC are the same, however in this section the terms can’t be changed as the intray name and process in Cuba use these terms, but they mean the same thing.

A request for PAX card details can only be made 10 or more days after the travelling customer’s arrival date.

PAX Cards for departing customers are only available where the movement was prior to 1 July 2017.

On receipt of the search results:

• record the results on the travelling customer's Residency Referral Contact dialogue box in Cuba, see Residency Cuba Process Help, record Department of Home Affairs information for a residency referral
• delete the DIMIA Search Requested intray
• see Table 2, Step 1

Once all the relevant information has been recorded on the travelling customer's Residency Referral Contact dialogue box, submit the customer referral for a residency decision.

If the referral would not normally result in a residency referral, an option in Cuba may be taken to override, forcing the customer to be referred for a residency decision.

For example, the travelling customer is travelling from one overseas country to another and Department of Home Affairs check did not identify any travel. If unsure of when to override and proceed with the residency referral, seek help from an International SSO see Technical support in Child Support.

See Table 3, Step 1.

Once the residency referral has been submitted, Cuba will assess the contact data recorded for the referral to determine if the available information infers that:

• The customer is to be referred for a residency decision. A Residency Decision Required intray (with a 28 day due date) is created, see Table 3, Step 1
• The customer does not need to be referred for a residency decision, go to Step 2
• The decision to refer is to be deferred until it has been confirmed if the travelling customer has returned in accordance with the initial travel intent. A Future Residency Referral intray (with a 365 day due date) is created, go to Step 3

Note: if a residency referral has been submitted to a Team Leader (TL), and it is necessary to add additional information, request the TL reject the original submission, see Residency Cuba Process Help, Submit a Residency referral. Update with the additional information and resubmit to the TL.

Where Cuba displays a message indicating that no residency decision is required:

• advise the customer there will be no change to their residency status as the journey is of a short duration
• offer CSAonline as an option to manage their child support while overseas, and
• advise the customer to contact Child Support if their plans change

Child Support will not reassess the customer's residency status (there will be no change).

Procedure ends here.

A residency decision may be delayed:

• to allow confirmation that the customer has not returned in accordance with the travel intention communicated to Child Support, go to Step 4
• where the travel date is a future date, go to Step 5

Change the Future Residency Referral intray due date to the day after the customer is expected to return as a reminder to request a Department of Home Affairs check.

A Department of Home Affairs check is required to confirm whether the customer has returned in accordance with the initial intention communicated to Child Support. To assist with requesting a Department of Home Affairs search, see Table 1, Step 8.

Do not refer a Future Residency Referral intray to Specialist Residency Team

Note: after the Department of Home Affairs check is completed and the results are recorded, go to Step 1.

Change the Future Residency Referral intray due date to the day after the travel date as a reminder to request a Department of Home Affairs check. To assist with requesting a Department of Home Affairs search, see Table 1, Step 8.

Do not refer a Future Residency Referral intray to Specialist Residency Team.

Note: after the Department of Home Affairs check is completed and the results are recorded, go to Step 1.

To refer the customer for a residency decision, route the Residency Decision Required intray to the Service Officer TL.

Continue to manage the case as per Customer Management Approach (CMA) for Child Support.

Do not refer a Residency Referral Follow Up intray to Specialist Residency Team. New applications, restarts, initiating agreements and court orders where either customer is overseas must be referred to International New Customers, see Customer Management Approach (CMA) for Child Support.

If a Residency Decision Required intray is received ensure all appropriate details have been recorded in the travelling customer's Residency Referral Contact dialogue box by viewing the residency referral details. See Table 5 in Residency Cuba process Help.

Note: a decision to approve, reject or approve override a residency referral must be made within 2 working days.

When completing the review, a minimum of 2 of the following information types must be recorded in a separate 'contact' record

• (a) Department of Home Affairs and/or PAX card request
• (b) Travelling customer (phone and/or residency questionnaire)
• (c) Other customer (phone and/or residency questionnaire)
• (d) Other source

If there is information recorded for a and b above, the submission can be accepted. If the submission is to be accepted, go to Step 3.

If there is no information for:

• a and b above, and it is possible to source information, the submission must be rejected, go to Step 5.
• a to d above, but all information that can be sourced has been, accept if the option in Cuba presents, go to Step 3.

Otherwise consider the most appropriate option, either:

• go to Step 4 to 'approve override' the referral, or
• go to Step 5 to reject the referral

Seek help from an International SSO if required. See Technical support in Child Support.

If it is determined a residency decision is needed:

• Process the referral, see Table 4 in Residency Cuba Process Help
• Route the existing Residency Decision Required intray to the Specialist Residency Team. See Customer Referral Guidelines > International Services > Residency decision required
• Do not update the Client Residency window. The Specialist Residency Team will do this, if necessary, following the residency decision

Procedure ends here for domestic TL/Service Officer.

The decision to approve override should only occur when:

• International SSO advice has been sought, see Technical support in Child Support, or
• there are compelling reasons to refer, for example Complaint, COA, Ministerial, PS, Ombudsman

If the override is approved:

• Document the reasons for approve override in the Residency Decision Required intray before routing to the Specialist Residency Team
• Route the Residency Decision Required intray to the Specialist Residency Team. See Customer Referral Guidelines > International Services > Residency decision required
• Do not update the Client Residency window. The Specialist Residency Team will do this, if necessary, after the residency decision

Procedure ends here for domestic TL/Service Officer.

If a decision is made that the residency referral should not proceed:

• Process the decision to reject the referral, see Table 4 in Residency Cuba Process Help
• Route the Residency Decision Required intray back to the Service Officer to review details before resubmitting

Procedure ends here.