Get your German pension contributions back

Three conditions, all required. (1) You are a citizen of a country outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland — and outside the few countries with a bilateral social security agreement with Germany (notably the US, Israel, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, India for certain provisions). (2) You have NOT yet paid into the Deutsche Rentenversicherung for the minimum vesting period of 60 months (5 years). (3) You have lived outside Germany for at least 24 months since your last contribution. If all three apply, you are entitled to a refund of your share of the contributions (the employee half, not the employer half).

Different rules. The US, Canada, Australia, UK, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and several others have a bilateral social security agreement (Totalisation Agreement / Sozialversicherungsabkommen) with Germany. For these countries, the rules vary: most allow you to keep the contributions credited toward your home pension instead of refunding. Some — like India and post-Brexit UK — have only partial agreements, which means parts of the refund are still available. We assess your specific case during the intake. About 30% of our customers who think they cannot get a refund actually can, partially.

Depends on how much you and your employer paid in, and for how long. Rough rule of thumb: 9.3% of your gross salary went to the Rentenversicherung each month (split roughly half/half between you and your employer). You get back the employee half. For someone earning EUR 60,000/year and working in Germany for 3 years, the refund is typically EUR 8,000–10,000. For longer careers approaching the 5-year limit, refunds reach EUR 25,000+. Use our calculator for a personalised estimate.

Earliest: 24 months after your last German pension contribution. If you left Germany in June 2024, your earliest application date is June 2026. The 24-month wait period is statutory — there is no way to accelerate it. Plan accordingly: most expats use the wait time to gather employment records, payslips, and the German Versicherungsnummer (insurance number).

From application submission to refund payment: typically 6–12 months. The Deutsche Rentenversicherung is thorough but slow. Stages: application review (2–3 months), recalculation of contribution history (2–4 months), final notice (1 month), refund payment (1–2 months). We chase the process at each stage and notify you when the next step lands.

Three categories based on your home country and bilateral agreement status. Contracting State (CS): your country HAS a social security agreement with Germany; the rules are nuanced. Indian Subcontinent (IS): India and similar — partial agreements with specific provisions. Non-Contracting State (NCS): no agreement, the classic refund path. We route you to the right intake form based on your citizenship and last contribution date.

Fundsback is our specialist team for pension refunds. They handle the German pension authority correspondence, manage the contribution history reconstruction, and run the back-and-forth with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung. We bring the case, they do the heavy lifting, the refund lands in your account. You stay one contact — me — for the full process; fundsback works in the background.

Success-based: 9.405% of the refunded amount. Minimum fee EUR 854.05; maximum fee EUR 2,754.05. No upfront cost. If your application gets rejected or you decide not to proceed, you pay nothing. The fee is deducted from the refund automatically before it reaches your account — you see the net amount, no separate invoice.

Three essentials: (1) Your Versicherungsnummer — the 12-digit German social security number, format X XXX XX XX X. (2) Last 3 employer names and approximate dates. (3) Your current passport / citizenship documentation. Helpful but not blocking: payslips for incomplete employment periods, your Abmeldebestätigung, and your current bank IBAN for the refund. The intake takes about 15 minutes online.

No. The 24-month residence-abroad requirement means you must have lived OUTSIDE Germany for at least 24 months after your last contribution. If you are still in Germany, the application is automatically rejected. The earliest you can submit is 24 months after your final paycheck.