Applying for a pension from abroad or to be paid abroad

Do you live in Finland and want to apply for a pension accrued abroad?

If you have worked abroad, you may also be entitled to a pension from that country. Pensions from other countries are generally based on your employment and the pension insurance contributions paid in that country.

If you would like an estimate of the amount of your foreign pension, you should request it directly from the pension authority in that country. The pension record issued by a Finnish earnings-related pension provider does not contain information about pensions you have accrued abroad.

You can apply for a pension accrued abroad using the same application as for a Finnish pension if you are applying for a pension from an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country that has a social security agreement with Finland.

EU countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

The EEA countries are Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The social security agreement countries are Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Japan, Quebec, South Korea and the United States.

If you have worked in an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country that has a social security agreement with Finland, apply for a pension as follows

Apply for the pension you earned abroad using the same online application form as for a Finnish pension. Apply for a foreign pension approximately 3–6 months before you would like your pension to start.

Follow these steps:

1. Fill out a pension application in Keva’s My Pension service.
   You can use the same application to apply for both a Finnish earnings-related pension and a pension accrued abroad.
2. Fill out Appendix U.
   In Appendix U, provide details of your residence and employment abroad.
   Provide the information as accurately as possible, as the foreign pension institution will use it to determine your entitlement to pension.
3. Keva will forward your application.
   Keva will forward your application to the Finnish Centre for Pensions, which will arrange for it to be sent abroad.
4. Respond to any requests for additional information
   The foreign pension institution may ask you for additional information. Failure to respond to requests for additional information may delay the processing of your application or result in its rejection.
5. You will receive the decision on your foreign pension from the pension institution of the country concerned.
   If you are applying for a pension from several countries, each country will issue its own decision. Processing times for foreign pension applications can be long, typically 4–5 months.
   You can obtain further information about the status of your foreign pension application directly from the pension institution in the country concerned.

If you have worked in another country, apply for a pension as follows

If you have worked in a country other than an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country that has a social security agreement with Finland, apply for the pension directly from that country.

The foreign pension institution will process and decide on your pension application in accordance with its own legislation and may ask you for additional information if necessary. Once the foreign pension institution has processed your application, it will send the pension decision directly to you.

You can find contact details for pension authorities in different countries on the website of the International Social Security Association (ISSA)

• Issa members (Issa.int) 

If you live abroad and are applying for a pension accrued in Finland

If you have worked in Finland and accrued an earnings-related pension in Finland, you can check the amount accrued on your pension record. The pension record shows the earnings in Finland that have accrued pension rights. You can request your pension record from your own earnings-related pension provider or from the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

You must always apply for the earnings-related pension you have earned in Finland.

An earnings-related pension can be paid abroad regardless of the country you live in or your nationality. Read more on the ‘Payment of pension abroad’ page.

If you live in an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country that has a social security agreement with Finland, apply for a pension as follows

Apply for a Finnish pension through the pension authority in your country of residence. When you indicate in your application that you are applying for a pension based on your employment in Finland, the pension authority in your country of residence will forward your application to Finland for processing.

You will receive the pension decision from Finland. The decision on your Finnish earnings-related pension will be issued by the pension authority handling your pension application in Finland.

If you live in another country, apply for a pension as follows

If you live in a country other than an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country that has a social security agreement with Finland, apply for a Finnish earnings-related pension directly from Finland. Apply for the pension using a Finnish application form and submit it to the Finnish Centre for Pensions or your own earnings-related pension provider.

If you are applying for a pension from Keva, you can submit your application in the My Pension service if you have Finnish online banking credentials.

You can also print out the Finnish application forms and send them to Keva by post.

You can find the application forms for all types of pensions on the Forms page of the Työeläke.fi service.

• Forms (työeläke.fi)

Keva’s postal address is Keva, 00087 KEVA.

You can report information on work done abroad in advance

You can report information on work done abroad in the My Pension service even if you are not yet applying for a pension.

Report information on work you have done abroad in the “Asuminen ja työskentely ulkomailla” (Residence and working abroad) section of the My Pension service (available in Finnish and Swedish). If you use a laptop to access the service, you can find it under your own name. If you use a smart phone or tablet to access the service, you will find it in the menu.

Once you have reported this information in advance, you will no longer need to complete it when you apply for a pension.

Keva will not process the information on work you have done abroad until you apply for a pension. The information is not transferred, for example, to your earnings-related pension record. However, the information will be stored in Keva’s My Pension service. You can modify or print out the information at any time.

If you subsequently become a customer of another earnings-related pension provider than Keva, you should print out the information. The information is not automatically transferred from Keva to another pension provider.

Reporting information on work you have done abroad does not yet mean that you are applying for a foreign pension. When you wish to apply for a foreign pension, complete the pension application in the My Pension service and state that you are applying for a foreign pension. The information you have stored earlier will be transferred as an attachment to your application.

On what can I accrue pension abroad, i.e. what information should I report?

• Working abroad in the service of a foreign employer
• Studying abroad where this is not a student exchange from a Finnish educational institution
• Permanent residence in a country where there is residence-based pension provision (e.g. the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Canada or Australia)

What do I not need to report?

• Working in the service of a Finnish employer: posted workers, diplomats, Finnish UN peacekeepers
• Working or studying on a grant received from Finland
• Voluntary work or unpaid internships
• Holiday trips or other temporary stays abroad

Frequently asked questions

Can I apply for a Finnish pension and a foreign pension using the same application?

If you live in Finland, you can apply for a Finnish pension and a pension accrued abroad using the same application if you are applying for a pension from an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country with which Finland has a social security agreement. If you are applying for a pension from any other country, you must apply for the pension directly from that country.

How do I apply for a pension from Finland if I live abroad?

If you live in an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or a country with which Finland has a social security agreement, apply for a Finnish pension through the pension authority in your country of residence. If you live in another country, apply for a Finnish earnings-related pension directly from Finland.

Where can I find information about the pension I have accrued abroad?

Request information about your foreign pension from the pension authority in the country concerned. The Finnish pension record only shows pension information accrued in Finland.

When should I apply for a foreign pension?

Apply for a foreign pension approximately 3–6 months before you would like your pension to start.

Who processes the foreign pension application?

The foreign pension application is processed by the country from which the pension is being claimed. Each country processes the pension application in accordance with its own legislation and issues its own decision.

Can a Finnish earnings-related pension be paid abroad?

Yes. A Finnish earnings-related pension can be paid abroad regardless of the country you live in or your nationality. See more information on this page: Payment of pension abroad.