Foreign insurance periods for pension
1 tasks in suggested order
1. Foreign insurance periods for pension
If you worked or built up insurance periods in several countries, these periods may be combined when checking entitlement. But there is no single “European pension”: each country decides under its own law and pays its own pension.
Clarify foreign insurance periods in your pension record as early as possible, not only shortly before applying for a pension. Cross-border checks can take longer.
German Pension Insurance via account clarification or international counselling; if you live in an EU or agreement country, a later pension application can often also be filed with the pension body there and forwarded.
Insurance periods in all countries concerned, foreign insurance numbers, residence and bank details.
Report foreign periods with any available insurance numbers and evidence. Since July 2026, German Pension Insurance has explicitly advised that early account clarification can avoid later delays.
Official source: Deutsche Rentenversicherung
