State Pension if you retire abroad
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:
- contact the International Pension Centre
- send the international claim form to the International Pension Centre (the address is on the form)
If you want to claim a state pension from another country
If you lived or worked abroad, you may be able to claim an overseas state pension before you reach State Pension age in the UK.
Contact the pension authority in the country you live in. They may be able to notify state pension schemes in the countries you’ve lived or worked in.
The schemes will contact you if you’re eligible.
Contact the International Pension Centre if you need help with your claim.
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
If you have an overseas account
You’ll need:
- the international bank account number (IBAN)
- Business Identifier Code (BIC), previously Bank Identifier Code
If you choose to be paid in your local currency, the amount will be converted using the exchange rate at the time of the conversion. There’s a conversion charge of 0.39% before payment.
If you choose to be paid in pound sterling, there will be no charge.
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.