State Pension if you retire abroad

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Claim State Pension abroad

You can claim State Pension abroad if you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify.

You might also be eligible if you have lived or worked abroad.

Get a State Pension forecast if you need to find out how much State Pension you may get.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

Make a claim

You must be within 4 months of your State Pension age to claim.

To claim your pension, you can either:

If you also want to claim a state pension from another country

You might be able to make a single claim to the International Pension Centre or the country you’re living in. The state pension schemes in other countries you’ve lived or worked in could then be told that you’ve made a claim.

If they’re told, those other schemes will let you know if you’re eligible. You will not need to make separate claims to them.

This applies to state pension schemes in:

  • the European Economic Area (EEA) – this includes any country in the EU as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein
  • Switzerland
  • any country that has a social security agreement with the UK, apart from Canada and New Zealand

If you live in one of these countries and you’re eligible for the state pension there, make a claim to their state pension scheme. They’ll pass your details on to:

  • the UK
  • other state pension schemes in the EEA or Switzerland, if you made a claim there

Otherwise, when you make a claim to the International Pension Centre, they’ll pass on your details to all the state pension schemes on the list.

If you want to claim state pensions from any other countries that have not been named, including Canada and New Zealand, apply to their pension schemes separately.

If you live part of the year abroad

You must choose which country you want your pension to be paid in. You cannot be paid in one country for part of the year and another for the rest of the year.

Bank accounts your pension can be paid into

Your State Pension can be paid into:

  • a bank in the country you’re living in
  • a bank or building society in the UK

You can use:

  • an account in your name
  • a joint account
  • someone else’s account - if you have their permission and keep to the terms and conditions of the account

You’ll need the international bank account number (IBAN) and bank identification code (BIC) numbers if you have an overseas account.

You’ll be paid in local currency - the amount you get may change due to exchange rates.

When you’ll get paid

You can choose to be paid every 4 or 13 weeks.

If your State Pension is under £5 per week, you’ll be paid once a year in December.

Delays to payments around US federal holidays

If you live abroad and your payment is due in the same week as a US federal holiday, it could arrive one day late. This is because a US company processes these payments.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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