Newly arrived resident's waiting period

If you’ve recently arrived as a resident in Australia, you may have to wait to get payments or concession cards.

Waiting period

The newly arrived resident’s waiting period (NARWP) is time spent in Australia as an Australian resident. This means, if you travel overseas, the time you’re away from Australia won’t count towards the waiting period.

New residents may have to wait up to 4 years before they can get most of our payments or concession cards.

A maximum 2 year waiting period applies if you’re the holder of either:

  • an Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117 or 837)
  • a Remaining Relative visa (subclass 115 and 835).

The rules for these visas are the same as visas granted before 1 January 2019, even if your visa was granted after 1 January 2019.

There are some exemptions to the NARWP.

For visas granted after 1 January 2019

If you got your permanent residence visa or partner provisional visa on or after 1 January 2019, the following waiting periods apply.

4 year waiting period

There’s a 4 year waiting period for the following payments and concessions:

Partner provisional visa holders can only get:

2 year waiting period

There’s a 2 year waiting period for the following payments:

Partner provisional visa holders can only get Parental Leave Pay.

You may be an Australian citizen and started living in Australia for the first time. In this case, there’s a 2 year waiting period for Parenting Payment single and partnered.

One year waiting period

There’s a one year waiting period for:

Partner provisional visa holders can only get Family Tax Benefit Part A.

You won’t have to serve the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for any of these:

For visas granted before 1 January 2019

There’s a 2 year waiting period if either of the following apply:

It applies to the following payments and concessions:

Partner provisional visa holders can only get:

You won’t have to serve the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for any of these:

Partner provisional visa holders cannot get Carer Allowance.

New Zealand visa waiting periods

You may need to have a permanent residence visa before we can look at time you’ve spent in Australia. This will happen if you arrive on a New Zealand passport with a Special Category visa (SCV).

You don’t need a permanent residence visa to claim any of these:

Read more about New Zealand citizens claiming payments in Australia.

Access to some of our services and payments

If you have a waiting period, you can still use some of our services.

You can use the:

The Community Development Program may help you if you live in a remote area. It’s run by the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

You may have lived in a country that has a social security agreement with Australia. In this case you may be eligible for one of these payments:

Page last updated: 1 July 2024.
QC 30726