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How to apply for pension refund Germany

  • 15 min read

Who can get a pension refund in Germany?

The German statutory pension insurance is not very inclined of refunding contributions. That is why you must meet particular requirements to have the pension refunded.

Statutory pension insurance wants to prevent people from deciding prematurely to have their contributions refunded, as this means that one’s insurance relationship is entirely and irrevocably terminated. Thus, one loses all pension entitlements in the statutory pension insurance. 

The refund amounts are often very high, yet the refunding process is lengthy, complicated, and confusing.

In principle, only three groups of people are eligible to have their pension contributions paid out: 

  • Civil servants and persons similar to civil servants
  • Persons who have reached the standard retirement age but do not fulfill the general waiting period 
  • Foreigners who have worked in Germany and emigrated again

But even within these three groups, you must meet specific requirements to qualify for pension refunds.
This article addresses the requirements of foreigners who have worked in Germany and decided to leave Germany again.

Can my German pension contributions be refunded?

 Pension Refund Germany

You can have your pension contributions paid out early if you meet the following three basic requirements: 

  • You must no longer be liable to pay contributions in Germany
  •  You must have made the last contribution payment at least 24 months ago
  • You do not have the option of paying into the German pension insurance scheme voluntarily.

Whether or not you can pay into the pension insurance scheme voluntarily depends on your nationality and your current residence. The German Pension Insurance divides the potentially eligible persons into four different groups:

  • German citizens
  • EEA citizens, as well as Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK)
  • Contracting states 
  • Non-contracting states

We will introduce these to you in the next section and explain which countries belong to each group.

German Pension Refund – Who is eligible?

Whether or not you qualify for the pension refund depends mainly on your citizenship and in which country you now live. If you still have the opportunity to pay voluntary contributions to German statutory pension insurance, you are not entitled to have your pension contributions paid out.

Pension Refund: German citizens and nationals

German citizens

As a German citizen, you are unfortunately not eligible for a pension refund. If you have a German passport, you always have the option to pay into the pension insurance scheme voluntarily until you reach retirement age, regardless of where you currently reside. Therefore, German citizens are usually not entitled to a pension refund, which also applies to dual citizenship.

As a German national, you can only have your contributions paid out, as described above, if you have civil servant status or reached the legal retirement age but have yet to fulfill the general waiting period. 

Pension Refund: EEA citizens, Switzerland & UK

If you live in a country in the European Economic Area, you have very little chance of a successful pension refund.

EEA is the European Economic Area abbreviation, including all 27 EU countries, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. Switzerland is neither part of the EU nor the EEA. Nevertheless, it is linked to the EU by many treaties, which means that Swiss citizens are on an equal footing with EU citizens in most areas. The same rule has applied to the UK since Brexit.

Suppose you are a citizen of the EEA states (except Germany), Switzerland or the UK. In that case, you can also voluntarily pay into the German pension insurance scheme until you reach retirement age. German pension refund is therefore only possible once you reach retirement age.

As an EEA citizen or national, you are eligible for pension refunds if you emigrated to a non-treaty country & reside there. We will clarify which countries are non-treaty countries later on. 

Which countries belong to the European Economic Area (EEA)?

Pension Refund: Contracting States

As a citizen of a contracting state, you have a good chance of successfully receiving a pension refund from Germany.

The contracting states are countries that have a social security agreement with Germany. 

  • You have worked in Germany for less than 5 years and now live in a contracting state or a non-contracting state 

or

  • You have worked in Germany for over 5 years and now live in a non-contracting state. 

Which countries are among the contracting states? 

Pension Refund: Non-contracting states

As a citizen of a non-contracting state, you have a very good chance of getting your pension refunded.

If your country is neither one of the EEA countries nor one of the contracting states, it is considered a non-contracting state. Non-contracting states include all states that have not concluded a social security agreement with Germany. It means that as a citizen of a non-contracting state, regardless of your current place of residence, you can’t pay voluntary contributions to German pension insurance. That is why your chances of a successful pension refund are so high.

  • You now live in a contracting state. Regardless of how many years you have worked in Germany.

or

  • You now live in a non-contracting state. It does not matter how many years you have worked in Germany.

Which countries count as non-contracting states? 

All countries that belong neither to the contracting states nor to the European Economic Area are classed as non-contracting states. Such countries are, for example, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, all African countries, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia, Mexico, and Korea. And there are more.

Pension Refund Germany

How much German pension refund can I get?

The German pension insurance is part of the social security system and protects people in old age in case of illness or unemployment. You automatically acquire the right to this social benefit if employed in Germany. The money that goes into the social security system funds pension benefits.
In Germany, employers and employees pay a certain percentage of the employee’s gross income into the pension insurance system as an insurance contribution. – This is how the pension insurance system is financed.

In 2022, the percentage is – 9.3% for employers and employees. So a total of 18.6% of the employee’s gross income flows into the German pension insurance. In 2023, the contribution is to increase slightly to 18.7%.

However, you can only have the pension contribution reimbursed that you have paid into the German pension insurance – i.e., 9.3% in 2022.
The pension payment amount depends on how many months you have worked in Germany and how high your gross income was. It is because you paid 9.3% of your income to German Pension Insurance every month up to a particular assessment limit (7050€).

Pension Refund Calculator

Before you think about getting your pension contributions refunded, you can calculate how much money you can expect. You can do this, for example, with our pension refund calculator. You must enter your monthly gross income and how many months you worked in Germany. The calculator multiplies the values with each other and then with the percentage you have paid from your gross salary into the “Deutsche Rentenversicherung.” 

Try it out!

How to apply for German pension refund?

STEP 1: Check eligibility

The process of contribution refund is quite complicated and lengthy. First, you should be 100% sure you are qualified to receive your pension contributions; otherwise, you’ll be putting in a lot of effort for nothing. Feel free to use our eligibility test. If you have yet to reach the legal retirement age in Germany, you must fulfill a 24-month waiting period, starting in the month after your last pension contribution.

Please note: Even if you have fulfilled the 24-month waiting period, you can only apply once you have left Germany. As a reminder, you are not entitled to a pension refund as long as you reside in one of the EEA states. Switzerland and the UK will be treated the same way even after Brexit.

Pension Refund form

STEP 2: Pension claim form

Fill out the correct application form and the additional documents, such as proof of life and citizenship (since the corona pandemic), payment declaration, and payment authorization, and have the necessary sections confirmed by a notary, for example. Then have your data (passport/ID card and proof of residence) certified by a local authority or a German embassy. Even if the embassy is far from your home, this will speed up the procedure, and you will usually not be asked to provide further proof. If you don’t feel like dealing with German bureaucracy, feel free to contact us for assistance. 

STEP 4: Collect & send documents

Pension Refund documents

Once you have completed the forms, attach a certified copy of your passport and proof of residence. Other documents, such as the deregistration certificate, your social security card, or your income tax certificate, are also helpful to add. In addition, requesting an insurance record from your health insurance company is advantageous. This record can be used to check whether all contributions made in the past are listed before the actual refund application is submitted. We recommend that you send your documents in a traceable manner so they do not get lost and you have to do the confirmation section again.

Note: You can either mail the completed and signed applications to the pension insurance carrier or drop them off at one of the local counseling centers in Germany.

STEP 5: Refund of pension contributions

Be patient. Once the German Pension Insurance has reviewed your case, which can take up to 6 months, they will send a letter with a “decision” to the address you provided on the application form. It will list the contribution periods and the amount of the refund. In addition, the amount will be automatically transferred to your German bank account. If your bank account is outside of Germany, the pension authority will wait another two months after sending the notice before transferring the money to you. Check carefully if the contribution period is correct! Sometimes it only covers part of the period. In this case, you should reply or call immediately to ensure you get the full refund.

Note: Also, make sure you respond within the deadline. If the deadline has passed, it legally means that you accept the contents of the notice. Even if the notice is incomplete, you cannot make further changes or ask for a full refund! 

German Pension Refund for foreigners – FAQ

Can you get your pension refunded if you are leaving Germany?

Yes, you can if you lived and worked in Germany in employment. bIn that case you paid a certain percentage of your gross salary into the statutory pension insurance every month. You can have this amount paid out two years after you have ended your employment and left Germany.

You are eligible for a refund of your pension if you are no longer eligible to pay voluntary contributions to the pension insurance in Germany. It depends on your citizenship and what country you live in. Take an eligibility test.

How to get Pension reimbursement in Germany

How to get pension Refund Germany

To get your pension contributions back, you must meet specific requirements. If you qualify for a refund of pension contributions, you can apply for it. For the application, you must fill out and certify various forms, have your proof of residence and passport or ID card notarized, and send other confirming documents to the German Pension Insurance. The process usually takes half a year. 

The address is: 

Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund

10704 Berlin

How many years do I have to work in Germany to be eligible for pension reimbursement?

It does not matter how many years you have worked in Germany. It depends on how long you have not been paying pension contributions and whether you can pay voluntary contributions. Take the eligibility test!

Who qualifies for the pension refund?

Short: Individuals who have not paid pension contributions for at least two years are not eligible for voluntary coverage.

Long: Individuals who do not have German citizenship (even if they have dual citizenship) and have their habitual residence abroad (again) are eligible for a refund. In addition, they must not be entitled to voluntary pension insurance under supranational or intergovernmental regulations. After a waiting period of 24 months, eligible individuals can apply to German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) using the correct forms and documents. 

Ince, it takes some time to fill out the correct forms and have the required documents assembled, notarized, or confirmed, we recommend starting the process a bit before the 24 calendar months expire. We like to allow 3-6 months for the application process.

How long will it take to receive my pension refund?

How long does it take to get pension refund

You’ll need to wait 24 months after your last pension contribution to apply for reimbursement. Depending on the case, the process may take between 1 and 6 months, and it may take a little longer if the amounts need to be transferred to a foreign account. However, with our service, we guarantee the fastest possible processing.

Can I claim the pension refund online?

Usually, the German pension cannot be refunded online, but using our service is possible. We take care of all the processes and communication with German Pension Insurance via post. So you can wait from home until the refund is in your bank account.

Can I have my pension refunds if I leave Germany after 5 years?

The number of years you have worked in Germany is only essential if you are a citizen of a contracting state.
As a citizen of a contracting state, you are entitled to a pension refund if you worked in Germany for less than five years and now live in a contracting state or a non-contracting state. OR you have worked in Germany for more than five years and now live in a non-contracting state.

The contracting states include all countries with a social security agreement with Germany. You can find more information about which countries these are above in the article.

Where do I find the pension claim form?

If you plan to do the pension refund process on your own, it is crucial to find the correct form for your application – in German, “Antrag auf Beitragserstattung.” You can find all the necessary documents on the German Pension Insurance website.

If you’re unsure how to proceed or your German is not good, we will help you. We have developed a service that makes the refund process as easy and convenient as possible. We know from the past that it is very time-consuming, and in some cases, it is good to have a lawyer on the team.

Pension Refund Germany

Can I get a pension refund within two years?

You can start the pension refund process in Germany after 24 months. So it must be at least two years since you last paid contributions to the German pension insurance.

After the application has been submitted, it may take 1 – 6 months to receive a response from the German pension insurance. In this message, they will tell you if you will receive your refund and, if so, in what amount.

The transfer will be faster if you indicate a German bank account in your application. If you want the money to be transferred to a foreign account, it can take up to two months until you finally get your money. But it will be worth it!

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Louisa Anger

Louisa Anger

Louisa is responsible for written content creation and adoption on our website. Content curation and Webdesign lie in her responsibility.