I have worked in another EU country

If you've worked in several EU countries, you may have accumulated pension rights in each of them. You'll have to apply to the pension authority in the country where you're living (in Lithuania it is Sodra) or last worked. If you've never worked in the country where you're living, your host country will forward your claim to the one where you were employed.

The EU Member State, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein will transfer the pension to you if you choose to live in Lithuania. Applying to Sodra in advance for your accumulated social insurance record abroad is not necessary but informing appropriate institutions of the member state where you currently reside is needed.

If a person moves to Lithuania prior to becoming eligible for an old age pension in a foreign country, but having acquired a certain work record, upon reaching legal retirement age one will be paid a respective portion of the pension accrued in the country in question. That is, the accrued pension will be paid separately by each country, in proportion to the period of work record acquired in a particular country. To claim an old age pension in Lithuania, you are required to have an employment record (stažas) of 15 years (obligatory pension social insurance record in 2023 is 33 years). Thus, if your employment record in Lithuania is, let’s say, 5 years, and for the remaining 10 years (or more) you have worked in Ireland, you are also eligible for an old age pension in Lithuania. Ireland will be paying for the 10 years, and for the remaining 5 - Lithuania.

You can find out how much work experience you have accumulated by signing in to your personal Sodra resident’s account and generating the summary "Rep.02 Information on work experience for the retirement pension social insurance".

As of 2012, the retirement age has been and will be increased every year until it reaches the equal level of 65 years for both women and men in 2026. In 2023, the retirement age is 64 years for women, and 64 years and 6 months for men.

On reaching a retirement age (when you are three or fewer months away from your retirement age or at any time thereafter), a person, applying in the territorial SoDra office for an old age pension in Lithuania, is required to indicate that he/she has also worked in another country and wishes his pension payments to be made to the Lithuanian account. In such cases, SoDra Foreign Benefit Office acts as an intermediary, forwarding a person’s request to the relevant foreign country and receiving documents which certify the period of social insurance acquired by the person in question, the person’s eligibility for a pension and a specific amount awarded by a foreign country. Account is taken of the person’s length of service/employment abroad while establishing his social insurance record and calculating his pension in Lithuania. In the meantime, a foreign country (the EU/EEA countries and Switzerland), notified by the person of the upcoming departure, pays an old age pension directly into the person’s account. The procedure for transaction costs is established by each individual country. E.g., in Lithuania, any fees related to transfer of funds abroad are covered by SoDra. A person may only have to pay for crediting the funds from a foreign bank to his account, if it is applicable.

Source: "Sodra"

Information updated: 2022-12-19
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