Employees working in Germany at present have to pay 9.95 % of their gross income towards the German pension fund. Expats who will be leaving Germany may have the possibility to be reimbursed for this money. Nonetheless, the rules together with the implications of the pension reimbursement can be quite complicated for several nationalities. On the other hand, things are all way more uncomplicated with regard to citizens of countries that do not have a Social Security Agreement together with Germany (in connection with pension topic). This information here relates to the pension repayment for nationalities of these countries only. First, all countries that do not part of this class are placed (please keep in mind, a refund for the mentioned countries below is perhaps possible, but isn't inside the scope of this article here):

Every country of the European Union (EU), Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Israel, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Canada, USA, Chile, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

The up coming three basic policies apply if a refund regarding German pension contributions can be issued (for citizens of any country that do not settle the pension matter in a Social Security Agreement with Germany):

1.You are at the moment not insured and you presently do not need to be insured in the national pension fund of Germany.
2.You do not have the choice to be voluntarily insured in the German pension fund now.
3.The previous time you had been compulsorily covered inside the German pension fund was no less than 24 calendar months ago.

These 3 principles require additional explanations:

•An insurance in every state pension fund of an EU country is regarded coequal to an insurance in the German pension fund. This point influences number one) and number 3).
•If your residence is in any country of the European Union and you paid pension contributions to the German pension fund for a minimum of a month, you could be voluntarily insured within the German pension fund.
•Compulsory insured implies that you must be insured. The opposite terminology is voluntarily insured (meaning it was your own personal decision and you particularly requested it).
•Be sure to note the phrase calendar month. In case your work contract (for instance in Germany) terminated at the 15.05.2011 and you left to your home country, then the twenty four month waiting period will start at the 01.06.2011, since in May, contributions towards the German pension fund were still paid.

In an attempt to summarize, for the outlined class of countries, a German pension refund can be processed, if:

1.You're now not insured (and you don't need to be) in any national pension fund of an EU country.
2.The last time you are compulsorily insured in an EU country was not less than 24 calendar months ago.
3.You're now not residing in an EU country.

If you decide you want to apply for a reimbursement you ought to know that as a consequence all claims against the German pension fund expire. You are only able to refund the contributions you paid, not the one your employer paid for you (which is the equal amount). If you paid at minimum 60 months of pension contributions (totaling within all EU countries) you may otherwise choose to receive a old age pension later on. Nevertheless, if you plan to retire outside of the EU, you will probably normally just become a reduced pension (70% of the usual sum).