Pension from foreign country
Working in an EU member state
When working in different EU member states you receive pension from each state according to the time worked there. The years of pensionable service are computed by adding together the periods worked in different countries.
If you have worked in an EU member state, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland and acquired at least one year of pensionable service, you have to submit a pension application along with the documents proving your length of service (e.g. the employment contract) to the Social Insurance Board to apply for retirement pension in Estonia.
The documents must be submitted to the Social Insurance Board when you begin to apply for retirement pension. The retirement pension age is currently 63/65 years.
The EU social insurance coordination rules, which are established in Council Regulation 1408/71 “On the application of Social schemes to employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community”, and its implementation regulation 574/71, entered into force in Estonia on 1 May 2004. Both regulations are directly applicable and superior to the domestic laws of Estonia.
The EU member states are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Rumenia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
International agreements
Estonia has separate social insurance agreements with Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Ukraine, Canada and Russia. Pensions are assigned and paid under the international agreements by the Foreign Relations Department of the Social Insurance Board.
Transfer of the Pension Rights of the Officials Who Work in the Institutions of the European Communities
Pursuant to the official staff regulations of the officials of the European Communities and other service conditions of other public servants, as well as the State Pension Insurance Act, the officials of the European Communities have the right to choose whether to transfer their earned pension rights from Estonia to the pension scheme of the institutions of the European Communities.
Transfer of the pension rights is regulated in Estonia with the Regulation Procedure for the Calculation of Financial Resources Corresponding to the Pension Rights of the Officials of the Institutions of the European Communities and for the Receipt of Such Sums into the Estonian Pension System or on the Basis of the Pension Scheme of the Institutions of the European Communities and for Keeping Account Thereof.