Old-age pensions

In Lithuania, a person is entitled to a state social insurance old-age pension if he/she meets all of the following requirements:

• reaches the statutory retirement age (as of 2024, the retirement age in Lithuania is 64 and 8 months  for men and 64 and 4 months for women);
• has the minimum social insurance contribution period required for the old age pension (fifteen years);

It is planned to push the pension age up to 65 years for both men and women by 2026.

SoDra is the Lithuanian pension system and ensures that anyone who loses all or part of their ability to work is taken care of. Everyone who works on a labour contract in Lithuania is automatically insured by SoDra. Freelancers are required to make payments to SoDra themselves.

To get the old-age pension you should address SoDra not earlier than three months before your pension age and submit the following documents:

• Application form
• Your passport/ID card/residence permit in Lithuania
• If you haven’t submitted it before:
  - Documents that show your work record until 31 December 1993;
  - Military certificate (if you were enrolled in the military until 31  December 1994);
  - Marriage or divorce certificate (in case of a name change).

The application can be submitted in three ways: in person at one of the SoDra offices, per post or online.

The size of your pension depends on your work record, taxes paid, the size of the basic pension and other factors.

The pension is assigned no later than 30 days after submitting all required documents and providing data. The old age pension is paid for the current month.

What will happen with my old age pension after I move to Lithuania?

In the EU/EEA member states, pensions are calculated according to a person’s social insurance record and paid by the competent bodies of a respective member state, irrespective of the person’s nationality.

In a situation like this, the EU Member States, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein will transfer the pension to you if you choose to live in Lithuania.

The Republic of Lithuania has also concluded bilateral international agreements on social security with Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Canada, regulating the granting and payment of pensions to recipients. Currently, an agreement is being negotiated with the USA.

If you are moving to Lithuania from Russia, having already received the pension granted by the said country, the payment of the pension in Russia will be terminated and your pension will be granted in Lithuania. If you have worked in Russia but are not yet a recipient of the pension of the Russian Federation, Lithuania will include the work record gained in Russia, granting the pension under Lithuanian law.

When a person moves to Lithuania from Canada, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus, provided the pension has already been granted in the above-mentioned countries, the payment of the pension is continued by the respective countries.

If you worked in several EU Member States (for example – in Germany AND Lithuania), you may have acquired the right to qualify for a pension in each of them. The work period from abroad does not disappear but is included in the social insurance period when counting the pension in Lithuania. However, the size of the pension is calculated only by taking into consideration the work record in Lithuania. If the person has worked in Lithuania, let’s say, 10 years and 5 (or more) years has worked in Germany – he will be eligible to get an old age pension in Lithuania, but Lithuania will pay only for those 10 years, whereas Germany – for the remaining five. For more information please visit Sodra website.

Before leaving a foreign country, it is important that you notify the relevant bodies about your move.

Source: "Sodra"