No relationship with parents

If you don't have any parents, or you don't have a relationship with your parents, your Student Allowance may not depend on any parental income.

Your Student Allowance won't depend on any parental income if:

you can’t live with or be supported by your parents because of a family breakdown
you’re an orphan and don't live with someone acting as a parent
your caregiver or legal guardian is or was paid a Foster Care Allowance, Orphan’s Benefit or Unsupported Child’s Benefit for you
you’re living, or have lived, with a caregiver or legal guardian under a Transition Support Living Arrangement through Oranga Tamariki
one of your parents is in prison or a psychiatric hospital and the other parent can’t support you.

Your Student Allowance will depend on your parent's income if you have a relationship with them, even if they don't give you any financial support.

If there’s another reason why you get no support, email us or call us to discuss your situation.

What you need to do

Apply online for a Student Allowance (if you haven’t already).

You will be provided with an Independent Circumstances Allowance application form to download at the end of Apply Online.

Alternatively, you can download the form.

Fill out the Independent Circumstances Allowance application form.
Get someone who knows about your situation and you've known for at least a year (eg a doctor, counsellor, church minister) to complete the supporting statement in the form.
Get evidence of your situation (the application form will tell you what to provide).
Log in to Connect and upload your form and evidence.