Whether you can access your Spaceship Super while living overseas depends on your visa status and personal circumstances. This FAQ covers the two most common situations: Australian citizens and permanent residents, and people who worked in Australia on a temporary visa.
If you're an Australian citizen or permanent resident
Living overseas doesn't give you early access to your super. Your super stays preserved until you meet a condition of release, regardless of where you live.
The most common conditions of release are:
reaching your preservation age (currently 60) and retiring
turning 65
You can't access your super early just because you've moved overseas permanently, and there's no way to freeze your super while you're away.
If you held a temporary visa
If you worked in Australia on a temporary visa and have since left (or are about to leave) permanently with your visa expired or cancelled, you may be eligible to withdraw your super through a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment (DASP). This is a payment the Australian government makes available to eligible temporary visa holders when they leave Australia for good
To apply for a DASP:
Submit your application through the ATO's DASP online application system.
Once the ATO approves your application and notifies us, we'll ask you to provide certified identification and a bank statement for payment processing.
Certifying your documents from overseas
If you're outside Australia, your documents can be certified by:
staff at an Australian embassy, high commission, or consulate (including those headed by Austrade honorary consuls)
a notary public
Each certified copy needs to include:
a statement confirming the certifier sighted the original document
initials on each page
the certifier's name, date, phone number, and position
an English translation, if the document was certified in another language