If you are a foreigner and working in Finland, you will accrue pension for your work in the same way as Finnish people do. Your employer must take out pension insurance for you and withhold your share of the pension contribution from your monthly wage. If you are self-employed, you have to take out insurance and pay the total contribution yourself. You can take out insurance with an earnings-related pension provider of your own choice. Your pension grows for all work that you have insured, regardless of for how long you work.
If you are an asylum seeker, the same rules apply to you. Your employer must take out pension insurance for you if you work in Finland, even if you have not yet received a personal ID or been granted a residence permit.
Pension that you have earned in Finland is paid to all countries in the world. You will receive your pension even if you move abroad. The pension you have earned is yours even if your employer changes or you end your self-employment.
Under certain conditions, if you come to Finland from abroad, you may also be paid a national pension or a guarantee pension from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).
For more information, contact Kela
Check how much pension you have earned
Contact your earnings-related pension provider or the Finnish Centre for Pensions to check how much pension you have earned in Finland. If you have a personal ID code and passwords to a Finnish bank, you can check your pension online. In that case, go to the Check your Pension Record service on this site.
If you live abroad, you can request your pension record by phone if your foreign address is listed in the Finnish population register. In other cases, you can order the pension record by faxing your request to +358 9 148 1172, or writing to the address: Finnish Centre for Pensions, FI-00065 Eläketurvakeskus, Finland. Include your personal data, Finnish personal ID and your address in your letter. Don’t forget to sign it!
Applying for an A1 certificate in cross-border situations
Contact the Finnish Centre for Pensions for more information on applying for an A1 certificate in a cross-border situation, phone +358 29 411 2110, or by e-mail at ulkomaanasiat(at)etk. Contact Kela for information on residence-based social security.
Notification of change of circumstances relating to pensions
If your personal circumstances change in a way that may affect the pension you are receiving from Finland, contact the earnings-related pension provider that pays out your pension. Such a change in circumstances is, for example, beginning to work if you are receiving a disability pension. Correspondingly, if a person receiving a spouse’s pension marries, it may affect the pension in payment.
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