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Children in your care
If you have a baby, or a child enters or leaves your care, you must tell us as soon as possible as it could affect your payments.
If you’ve had a baby, you need to tell us the date the child was born.
We’ll work out if the change affects what you’re getting from us.
How to tell us
- Fill out a change in circumstances form.
- Either:
- register your child's birth with Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) using SmartStart and agree to share this information with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD)
- provide a verified copy of your child's birth certificate.
- Log in to Connect and upload your:
- form
- verified birth certificate, if you haven't registered your child's birth with DIA and agreed to share this with MSD.
You have a partner
If you're under 24, having a baby may mean we now consider you and your partner to be in a recognised relationship which means you could now either:
- be able to get a Student Allowance or
- your Student Allowance payment could be affected.
If you're getting Jobseeker Support Student Hardship or Emergency Benefit, your partner's work obligations may change.
How to tell us
If you're in a recognised relationship, you'll need to:
- apply online (if you haven't already applied) if you're now able to get a Student Allowance
- get your partner to fill out Student Allowance partner's application form
- get your partner to provide a verified copy of their birth certificate (if we haven't already seen it)
- log in to Connect and upload your form and verified birth certificate
If you're getting Jobseeker Support Student Hardship or Emergency Benefit
Your partner's work obligations may change.
If you’ve recently started caring for a child, you need to tell us:
- the date the child entered your care
- the child’s relationship to you.
We’ll work out if the change affects what you’re getting from us.
How to tell us
- Fill out a change in circumstances form.
- Provide:
- a verified copy of the child's birth certificate
- if the child's not yours or you have shared care, confirmation from the parent or court that the child is in your care (eg a custody agreement).
- Log in to Connect and upload your form, verified birth certificate and other documents.
You have a partner
If you're under 24, having a baby may mean we now consider you and your partner to be in a recognised relationship which means you could now either:
- be able to get a Student Allowance or
- your Student Allowance payment could be affected.
How to tell us
If you're in a recognised relationship, you'll need to:
- apply online (if you haven't already applied) if you're now able to get a Student Allowance
- get your partner to fill out Student Allowance partner's application form
- get your partner to provide a verified copy of their birth certificate (if we haven't already seen it)
- log in to Connect and upload your form and verified birth certificate
If you're getting Jobseeker Support Student Hardship or Emergency Benefit
Your partner's work obligations may change.
If a child has left your care, you need to tell us the date the child left your care.
How to tell us
Email us or call us right away.
You have a partner
If you're under 24 and don't have any children in your care, we'll no longer consider you in a recognised relationship
This means your Student Allowance may now be based on your parents' income
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