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How to Get a German Pension Refund?

Updated on February, 23, 2024 by Georg Kallscheid, Düsseldorf, Germany

If you have been employed in Germany, most likely you have paid contributions to the German Pension Insurance, also called Deutsche Rentenversicherung. We have assisted hundreds of Expats during their application. In this guide I want to share our experience and show you how you can get back your German Pension contnributions.

1. Do you qualify for a German Pension Refund?

We receive many requests from people who would like to get a refund but truth is, they never even paid contributions. So first thing you need to check is, if you have paid pension contributions. Take a look at one of your monthly German salary statements (Lohn-Gehalt-Verdienstabrechnung) you have received from your employer and look for a line called “RV-Beitrag”, which stands for “Pension insurance contribution”. If this line shows a Euro value, you paid pension contributions and might be able to claim them back.

Also take a look if you find your German Pension insurance number. The number is mentioned as: SV-Nr or SVNR Number – Sozialversicherungsnummer - Social Insurance number or RV-Nr or RNVR Number – Rentenversicherungsnummer or Versicherungs-Nr. - PI Number - Pension Insurance Number. Number is easy to identify as it includes your birth date: example: 19th of March 1980 = 190380 (DD/MM/YY). It also includes the first letter of your last name. example: Smith = S. Number has 12 digits. example: 14 190380 S 042

Now that we know you paid contributions to the German Pension insurance, let’s move one level further and check your eligibility.

If you want to save time in reading, you can directly try our free eligibility check

Who Can Get a Pension Refund?

The following 3 requirements need to be met in order to receive an early lump-sum pension refund.

Requirement #1: You are not required to contribute to the German pension system.

Requirement #2: You cannot voluntarily contribute to the German pension system.

Requirement #3: Your last pension payment in the European Union, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, or Turkey was more than 2 years ago.

I. EU Nationals: Important! Nationals of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland are not eligible for a refund as they always have the rigth to make contributions to the German Pension insurance. As always there are exceptions for those who are at least 67 years old and do not qualify for a German pension.

II. Contract State Nationals: As of 23rd of February 2024, Germany has negotiated pension agreements with following countries, which are called “Contracting States or countries”

Australia
Albania
Brazil
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Chile
India
Israel
Japan
Canada and Quebec
Kosovo
Morocco
North Macedonia
Montenegro
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Republic of Moldova
Serbia
Tunisia
Turkey
Uruguay
USA

If you have a citizenship of one of above countries you will be able to get a German Pension Refund if you:

Worked less then 5 years in Germany
Worked the last time in Germany 2 years ago
Do not live in the EU, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Turkey

Update on BREXIT and UK residents: If you now live in the United Kingdom and worked in Germany before Brexit (January 1, 2021) you are not eligible for a pension refund.

Reason: You are eligible to voluntarily pay contributions in Germany in this constallation and reimbursement of contributions is only permitted if the right to voluntary insurance does not exist. Even though you might not be paying voluntary contributions you could and that fact makes you NOT eligible for earlier refund. Also interesting to know is that you can not even apply to get a refund of the payments you made after BREXIT.

If you now realise that you are not eligible for an earlier lump-sum refund, don’t worry, your contributions are definetely not lost, but you might need to wait until you reach retirement age because, if your you contributed less than 5 years into the German pension insurance and you are at least 67 years old, living anywhere in the world makes you eligible for a pension refund.

III. Nationals of following countries: UK (BREXIT), Japan, Israel, Korea, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Tunisia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

a) UK / British nationals – NEW BREXIT Update! It is possible to get a earlier pension refund if you started working in Germany on 1st of January 2021 (BREXIT) or later, and you worked less then 5 years in Germany and the last time you worked in Germany is 2 years ago. Also you need to live outside the European Union, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Turkey. Unfortunately if you started working in Germany before BREXIT it is not possible to get an earlier lump-sum refund of your contributions. If you want to further deep dive on the topic we have prepared a dedicated article on the BREXIT topic.

b) JAPAN nationals – CAUTION: Your country of residence can make a big difference on your eligibility to receive a German Pension Refund. If you live in Japan, and the last time you worked in Germany is 2 years ago, and you worked less then 5 years in Germany, you can get a refund. If you live outside of Japan, it does not matter how many years you have worked in Germany. One essential requirement is that you you need to live outside the European Union, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Turkey. Do you live in the UK? If yes, the new BREXIT rules also apply to you. You are eligible if you did start working in Germany on 1st of January 2021 (BREXIT) or later. As always, don’t worry if you realize you are not eligible. You might still be able to receive pension payments, if you paid less than 5 years into the German pension insurance and you are at least 67 years old, living anywhere in the world makes you eligible for a pension refund.

c) ISRAEL nationals – IMPORTANT! If you live in Israel it is not possible for you to get a early pension refund. If you move out of Israel, this situation might change. In a nutshell, you can get a pension refund, if you DO NOT live in Israel and you also DO NOT live in the European Union, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Turkey and you worked less then 5 years in Germany, and the last time you worked in Germany is 2 years ago. Do you live in the UK? If yes, the new BREXIT rules also apply to you. You are eligible if you did start working in Germany on 1st of January 2021 (BREXIT) or later. As always, don’t worry if you realize you are not eligible. You might still be able to receive pension payments, if you paid less than 5 years into the German pension insurance and you are at least 67 years old, living anywhere in the world makes you eligible for a pension refund.

d) Korea nationals: It is possible to get a pension refund as Korea has negotiated a contract with Germany. Please check the rules at point II) for Contract State nationals.

e) Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tunisia nationals: It is possible to get a earlier pension refund if you worked less then 5 years in Germany and the last time you worked in Germany is 2 years ago. Also you need to live outside the European Union, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Turkey. Do you live in the UK? If yes, the new BREXIT rules also apply to you. You are eligible if you did start working in Germany on 1st of January 2021 (BREXIT) or later. As always, don’t worry if you realize you are not eligible. You might still be able to receive pension payments, if you paid less than 5 years into the German pension insurance and you are at least 67 years old, living anywhere in the world makes you eligible for a pension refund.

f) Turkey nationals: You are eligible for the refund if within the last 2 years you did not pay any contributions to the Turkish Pension Insurance (SGK - http://www.sgk.gov.tr). Here also the information in Turkish: prim iadesi hakki sadece, dilekce vermeden önceki son 24 takvim ayi icerisinde Türkiye'de herhangibir Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumuna zorunlu prim ödenmemisse, vardir. The questions is: Are you currently working and did you pay any contributions to the Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu (SGK) within the last 2 years? If yes, you are not eligible. If, not you are eligible if you worked less then 5 years in Germany and the last time you worked in Germany is 2 years ago. Also you need to live outside the European Union. Do you live in the UK? If yes, the new BREXIT rules also apply to you. You are eligible if you did start working in Germany on 1st of January 2021 (BREXIT) or later. As always, don’t worry if you realize you are not eligible. You might still be able to receive pension payments, if you paid less than 5 years into the German pension insurance and you are at least 67 years old, living anywhere in the world makes you eligible for a pension refund.

If you still don't know if you are eligible, easiest is to use our free refund check, answer 5 questions and we give you the result in less then one minute.

2. Which amount can you expect as your refund?

When you work in Germany as a normally employed person, you usually pay around 9.3% of your salary automatically every month to the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung). The percentage value changes over time. So as an example: If you worked in the year 2000 in Germany you paid 9.65% and in 2016 you paid 9.35%. Interesting is that Germany has an income ceiling until which you have to pay contributions to the German Pension insurance. This ceiling also changes over the years and differs between the region west and east within Germany and also between the two pension insurance institutions, the “Deutsche Rentenversicherung” and the “Knappschaft”. Without going too much into detail, an example will help you understand this logic. Imagine you worked in 2020 in Germany and earned 90,000€ / year gross. If you were insured at the “Deutsche Rentenversicherung” and you lived in West Germany you only paid contributions of 9.3% up to a income ceiling of 84,800€. For the rest (5,200€) you don’t have to pay pension contributions in Germany. I am making this example so you understand that when you had a high income while you worked in Germany, it does not automatically mean that you paid pension contributions on 100% of your salary. You can use our refund calculator that provides you with an estimate based on your monthly gross salary and the duration of your work in Germany, but always bear in mind, that this is a basic calculator which does not provide the exact figures.

It's also important to clarify that not all pension contributions are refundable. As an Expat, you are generally entitled to get a refund of the contributions you made yourself and not the ones made by your employer. As said the calculator gives you an idea of the refund amount but after you have made the eligibility check we ask you if you want the get a more precise calculation. What we do is to ask for your permission to request your insurance record at the German Pension insurance. The insurance record (Versicherungsverlauf) lists all of your pension periods and details about your contributions. We will provide you with the calculation and record, so you can check if it is correct and complete. But for now, first check if you are really eligible.

3. How to Apply for a Pension Refund?

Applying for a pension refund is not automatic and requires an application. You can either apply on your own or use our A-Z Support for Reimbursement: We guide you through the process without any pen or paper needed. We have invested years to make the process friction free for you. Get started now with the free refund check.

4. Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

We have dedicated an entire section on our website to answer all the questions, customers have asked us over the years. For example we answer questions such as:

If you have further questions, feel free to also reach out to us via Whatsapp by simply clicking on the Whatsapp symbol “Start Chat”. I hope this article was useful for you and will be happy to assist you in the refund process.

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