The long stay

Way 2 of 5: 3 to 6 months. One base for a season. Long enough to have a favourite cafe, short enough to keep your life at home.

A retired woman unlocks the door of a rented apartment with plants on the balconies, for a long stay overseas

Is this the right step for you?

Who it suits

  • You liked a winter away and want longer
  • You want a routine somewhere, not a holiday
  • Your house can sit empty, or someone can mind it

Probably not yet if

  • You rely on the Pension Supplement every fortnight and will not have it past 12 weeks
  • You need ongoing specialist care at home

What changes on the long stay

Your Age Pension
Keeps paying. The Pension Supplement stops after 12 weeks away. Past 26 weeks your rate can be reduced if you have lived in Australia for less than 35 years between age 16 and pension age.
Your house
Stays your home. While you are away temporarily, it stays exempt from the assets test for the first 12 months.
Visa
Usually a longer-stay visa. Malaysia's 90 days on arrival covers three months. Thailand's Non-O retirement visa is for people 50 and over with 800,000 baht in a Thai bank (about A$35,650) or 65,000 baht a month in income (about A$2,900). Check the current terms with the Thai embassy. Across Europe's Schengen area the limit is 90 days in any 180.
Health cover
Travel insurance for three to six months gets harder after 70. Some policies cap trip length by age, so quote the actual trip and declare your conditions.
Tax
Usually still an Australian resident, because your home, family and ties stay here. The ATO looks at your whole situation.
Coming home
Your supplements come back from when you return, if you still qualify.

General information, checked 19 October 2026 against Services Australia, the ATO and Smartraveller. Your situation may differ.

The steps, in order

  1. Check the visa for the full length of the stay before booking
  2. Work out what the 12 and 26-week rules mean for your pension
  3. Arrange someone to check on the house, mail and garden
  4. Quote travel insurance for the whole stay, at your age
  5. Tell Services Australia before you go

The long stay, in pictures

A key on a blank lease beside a pot of basil, for renting a furnished apartment on a long stay overseas
A lease, a key and something growing.
A retired couple unpack clothes into a wardrobe, settling into a rented flat for a long stay overseas
Unpacking properly, not living out of a bag.
A retired man buys vegetables from a market stallholder, getting to know the local market on a long stay overseas
The market stallholder starts to know you.
A bicycle with bread and flowers in its basket, for everyday local life on a long stay overseas in retirement
Everyday errands, the local way.

Talk it through for your situation

On a free Zoom call we will help you work out which way suits you, where to go and who with.

No pressure and no card details. You decide what comes next.