Australian Superannuation When You Move to the U.S.

Australian superannuation doesn't come with you when you take a job in the U.S., and what happens to it turns almost entirely on one thing: whether you were a citizen or permanent resident, or a temporary resident, when you built the balance. That single distinction decides whether your super stays locked in Australia until 60, can be paid out once you leave, or follows a third path.

On top of that, once you become a U.S. tax resident, the IRS treats super very differently from the way Australia does, which creates reporting obligations and tax traps long before you can touch the money.

This guide covers who can access their super and when, how it's taxed on the way out, what the IRS does with it, and the steps worth taking before you leave.

Accessing your super after you leave Australia

Your options split on a single question: were you an Australian citizen or permanent resident when you earned the super, or a temporary resident? Citizens and permanent residents keep their super in Australia under the normal preservation rules. Former temporary residents can take it with them through a DASP. New Zealand citizens follow a separate path again.

Citizens and permanent residents: your super stays locked until 60

Leaving Australia isn't a condition of release. Your super stays locked until you reach preservation age, which is 60 for anyone born from 1 July 1964, and meet a condition of release such as retiring or ceasing an employment arrangement.

From 65, reaching that age is enough on its own. A move overseas, however permanent it feels, doesn't unlock anything early, and the narrow hardship and terminal-illness exceptions aren't triggered by relocation.

Reaching 60 while living abroad does count. You can meet a condition of release and withdraw from anywhere in the world, and lump sums from a taxed fund at 60 and over are generally tax-free under Australian rules.

In the meantime the account stays open and keeps investing. Employer contributions stop when your Australian employment ends, but the balance keeps moving with the market and the fund keeps charging fees.

Temporary residents: claiming a DASP

A Departing Australia Superannuation Payment is the only way a former temporary resident can take super out of Australia early. You can start the application before you go, but you can only submit it once you've left and your visa has ceased.

You can claim a DASP if all of the following are true:

• You earned the super on a temporary visa issued under the Migration Act 1958, with subclasses 405 and 410 excluded.
• Your visa has expired or been cancelled.
• You have left Australia and hold no other active Australian visa.
• You aren't an Australian or New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident.

New Zealand citizens are the exception. They can't claim a DASP, but they can transfer their balance to KiwiSaver under the Trans-Tasman scheme.

Apply through the free DASP online system, which confirms your immigration status directly with the Department of Home Affairs, so most people don't need a separate Certification of Immigration Status. Paper applications go to each fund individually, and if a single fund holds $5,000 or more, expect to provide certified copies of your ID. Payment usually lands within 28 days. For super the ATO already holds, use the ATO-held super form (NAT 74880) instead.

If you don't claim within six months of leaving and your visa ceasing, your fund transfers the balance to the ATO as unclaimed super. You can still claim it from the ATO later at the same DASP rates, or roll it into a fund if you return as a permanent resident, but claiming directly from your fund first is simpler.

How a DASP is taxed

DASP isn't added to your income. It's taxed at a flat withholding rate that depends on the component and your visa history.

What happens to your super account while you live overseas

Nothing closes automatically when you leave, but two things can quietly erode the account.

The first is inactivity. If contributions stop and the balance is low, generally under $6,000, the account can be classed as inactive and swept to the ATO, where you reunite it later through myGov. Receiving at least one amount, such as a personal contribution within the caps, in any 16-month period keeps the account active.

The second is insurance. Default life and total and permanent disability cover is cancelled after 16 months without a contribution unless you actively elect to keep it. Most funds won't reinstate lapsed cover after the fact, so if you want to keep it, tell your fund before you leave. Some policies also exclude certain occupations or overseas work, which the product disclosure statement spells out.

U.S. employers don't pay into Australian super

U.S. employers operate inside the U.S. retirement system, which means a 401(k), which is employer-sponsored, or an IRA, which is personal, rather than Australian super.

Many larger employers match 401(k) contributions up to a limit, though unlike Australia's compulsory Super Guarantee, that matching is voluntary. Smaller startups may not offer a 401(k) at all in their early years, so it's worth asking before you accept.

Australia and the U.S. do have a social security agreement, in force since 2002, but it doesn't help here. It coordinates Social Security and Super Guarantee coverage for short-term cross-border postings and lets you combine credits toward the Age Pension or U.S. Social Security. It doesn't route a U.S. employer's contributions back to your Australian fund. Your U.S. salary builds U.S. retirement savings, and your Australian super stays where it is.

How the IRS taxes your Australian super

This is where Australian super gets complicated, because the U.S. doesn't recognize it as a tax-advantaged retirement account the way it recognizes a 401(k).

Once you become a U.S. tax resident, the IRS generally treats your fund as a foreign trust. Whether it's a grantor trust or an employee benefits trust depends mostly on how much control you have, and self-managed funds are almost always the more complex grantor type. Either way, contributions and in some cases annual growth can be taxable in the U.S. before you can access a cent, and a layer of reporting applies.

You become a U.S. tax resident under the substantial presence test, a weighted day count. For a first-year arrival with no prior U.S. days, the practical line is 183 days in the calendar year. If you don't cross it in a given year, these obligations generally don't apply for that year.

Pooled investment options inside a super fund can hold passive foreign investment companies, each of which triggers its own Form 8621 and can be taxed at the top rate with interest charges when sold. Because that tax is paid inside the fund in Australia rather than by you, those Australian taxes generally can't be claimed as U.S. foreign tax credits.

Engage a cross-border U.S.-Australia tax adviser before your first U.S. tax year. The rules turn on your exact fund and circumstances, and the penalties for a missed FBAR or Form 8938 are steep, so the cost of good advice is small by comparison.

Your super and your U.S. work visa (E-3, H-1B, L-1)

For Australians, the visa mostly changes your U.S. tax exposure, not your super access, because Australian citizens can't claim a DASP regardless of which visa they use to leave.

What to do with your super before you move to the U.S.

Build the super check into evaluating the offer, not your packing list. A few steps in the months before you leave prevent most of the common problems.

• Audit and consolidate. Pull a super search through myGov and combine multiple accounts into one strong, low-fee fund. Check the insurance in any fund you're about to close first, because some underwritten cover can't be replaced from overseas.
• Decide on insurance actively. Default cover lapses after about 16 months of inactivity, so submit a written election to keep it before you go if you want it.
• Update your details. Give the fund an overseas or family postal address, a working email, and switch to electronic statements so the account isn't marked lost.
• Sort an SMSF early. If you have a self-managed fund, your residency-of-trustees position needs a plan before departure, since all trustees being overseas can cost the fund its complying status.
• Engage a cross-border tax adviser before your first U.S. tax year.

Securing your E-3 visa before your move

If you're planning to move to the U.S. for work, getting your visa secured is the first step. For Australians, the most common route is the E-3 visa, a specialty-occupation visa open only to Australian citizens.

Migrate Mate handles the E-3 filing end to end for a flat $499. A dedicated E-3 expert prepares the LCA, completes your DS-160, reviews your documents, and books your consulate slot, including concurrent petitions where they apply. Once your documents are in, filing happens within one business day, and the service has a 100% approval rate.

Frequently asked questions