If you have worked abroad, you may qualify for a pension also from the foreign country in which you have worked.
In foreign countries, pensions are usually based on work and the pension contributions paid to the country in question. In general, you must have worked in the foreign country for around 12 months to qualify for a pension. However, in some cases you may qualify for a pension also for a shorter period of work.
This rule may also vary from one country to another. Generally, work you have done in Finland or other EU and EEA countries may also be considered. This is the case when you claim a pension from an EU or EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country with which Finland has a social security agreement.
Assessment of amount of pension
If you want a preliminary estimate of the amount of your pension from abroad, you must ask for it from the pension authorities in the country in question. The pension record provided by Finnish pension providers doesn’t include data on pensions accrued abroad, nor does the Finnish Centre for Pensions have information on them.
You can get a pension estimate from many foreign pension providers if you ask for one. However, the estimate may be hard to get from certain countries. In some cases, you can get a pension estimate only 1–2 years before the country’s general retirement age.
As a rule, to get a pension estimate from abroad, you must contact the foreign pension provider yourself. The easiest and often only way to get a pension estimate is to request it in writing.
The information you must include in the letter depends on the country, but it should include at least the following:
- your own personal details and contact information (your current and earlier first name and last name, date of birth and address),
- your personal or insurance number in the country in question (if you know them), and
- as detailed information as possible about where you lived and what work you did in the country in question.
When you ask for an estimate from an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland or a country that has a social security agreement with Finland, you can write the letter in English or in any other official EU language.
Some countries have a form for requesting a pension estimate. If there is a form, you can print it from the website of the relevant country’s pension authority.
Most foreign pension institutions send you the estimate by post to your home address. Some of them might send you a log-in code or password. Use them to check your own pension information directly from their web service.
Some countries cannot give a rough estimate, but they can send you an employment record of the insurance periods that have been registered in your name in the country in question.
Before you apply for a pension from abroad
Before you apply for a pension from another country, find out how the pension paid from abroad affects your situation in Finland. Generally, a foreign pension doesn’t affect the earnings-related pension paid from Finland, but it can affect the pensions paid by Kela (the national pension and the guarantee pension) and benefits paid from Finland.
A pension from abroad may affect what benefits you can get from Finland. A pension paid from abroad may reduce the amount of your unemployment or sickness allowance or prevent the payment of these benefits altogether. Getting a pension from abroad can also lead to the recovery of benefits you have already been paid.
Find out how a pension paid from abroad would impact your pension from Finland and other benefits you are already paid before you apply for a pension from abroad. For more information, please contact the institution that pays out the benefit.
If you get a partial old-age pension from Finland, you can apply for an old-age pension from abroad without it affecting the amount of your partial old-age pension. Please note, however, that if you receive a benefit alongside a partial old-age pension now or later, such as an unemployment or a sickness allowance, a pension from abroad will reduce the amount of the benefit or may prevent it from being paid at all.
If you are self-employed or a farmer, your obligation to take out insurance ends when you start to get a statutory pension from Finland or abroad. After that, you can take out voluntary pension insurance for the self-employed or farmers. Note that you cannot take out voluntary pension insurance for the self-employed or farmers in retrospect. For more information, please turn to your pension provider.
Apply for your pension from abroad
Pension that you have accrued in another country is paid to you, at the latest, when you have reached the old-age retirement age and claim your old-age pension. The retirement age for the old-age pension varies from one country to another.
Some countries may not pay old-age pensions to people who live in another country.
The list below includes countries that pay pensions to Finland under the EU Regulation or based on a social security agreement.
EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
EEA countries: Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Social security agreement countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Japan, Quebec, South Korea, and the United States of America.
Go to the instructions for claiming a pension from abroad