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Responsible for the service Finnish Centre for Pensions

How to claim your pension from abroad

  • Service
  • Nationwide
  • Public service

The Finnish Centre for Pensions is at your service when you want to claim a pension that you have earned abroad. It will forward your application abroad if you live in Finland and apply for a pension from one or several of the following countries:

  • EU/EEA countries,
  • Great Britain,
  • Switzerland, and
  • countries with which Finland has a bilateral social security agreement (Australia, Canada, Que ...

Do the following

Claim your pension from abroad with the same application that you claim your pension from Finland. You can claim your pension online via the website of most earnings-related pension providers. Check your pension provider’s website to see if they offer the online application service in English. You can also claim your pension by filling out a paper form or by filling and print out the forms from the websites of the Finnish Centre for Pensions and Kela or at Työeläke.fi.

You must attach information on your work and living abroad to your application. If you are applying for your pension via an online application service, you will get the instructions on how to provide that information via the online service. If you fill out a paper form, attach Appendix U (form 7110e) to your application. See form 7110oe for instructions on how to fill in form 7110e.

You can submit your pension application to an earnings-related pension provider, Kela or the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The Finnish Centre for Pensions will forward your application to the foreign country.

To whom and on what terms

In general, you have the right to a pension from abroad if your work abroad has been insured there.

Each country has its own regulations on the length of employment relationship for which pension accrues. The countries may also require that the pension claimants have a certain amount (varies from country to country) of total working years. As a rule, work done in Finland or other EU/EEA countries are included in the total amount of working years.

The retirement ages vary in different countries. Depending on the country, you may also be able to draw an early old-age pension.

In general, other countries do not have residence-based pension provision similar to our national pension. Some countries have minimum pensions that guarantee a minimum income but, as a rule, they are not paid from one country to another.

If you have lived in the Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Australia, Israel or Canada, you may also have to right to receive a pensions from those countries simply because you have lived there. As of 1 January 2023, due to an amendment of the law, the Swedish residence-based pension is no longer paid to people living abroad.

The service is provided by

Finnish Centre for Pensions

Responsible for the service

Finnish Centre for Pensions
Text edited by: Finnish Centre for Pensions
Updated: 11/10/2023