If you are a foreigner and working in Finland, you will accrue pension for your work in the same way as Finnish people do. Your employer must take out pension insurance for you and withhold your share of the pension contribution from your monthly wage. If you are self-employed, you have to take out insurance and pay the total contribution yourself. You can take out insurance with an earnings-related pension provider of your own choice. Your pension grows for all work that you have insured, regardless of for how long you work.
If you are an asylum seeker, the same rules apply to you. Your employer must take out pension insurance for you if you work in Finland, even if you have not yet received a personal ID or been granted a residence permit.
Pension that you have earned in Finland is paid to all countries in the world. You will receive your pension even if you move abroad. The pension you have earned is yours even if your employer changes or you end your self-employment.
Under certain conditions, if you come to Finland from abroad, you may also be paid a national pension or a guarantee pension from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela).
For more information, contact Kela
Check how much pension you have earned
You can check how much pension you have accumulated in Finland by contacting your own pension provider or the Finnish Centre for Pensions. If you have online banking credentials to a Finnish bank, you can check your pension record online using the service “Check your pension record” on this website.
If you live abroad, you can request the pension record from your own pension provider or by phone from the Finnish Centre for Pensions at +358 29 411 2110. You can also ask for the pension record by sending a letter of request to the Finnish Centre for Pensions, FI-00065 Eläketurvakeskus, Finland. State your name, your Finnish ID code and your address in the letter and remember to sign it!
Claiming a pension from Finland and the country in which you currently reside
How you claim your pension from Finland depends on in which country you reside when you claim your pension. If you reside in an EU/EEA country, the UK, Switzerland or a country with which Finland has a social security agreement, submit your claim to the pension authority in the country in which you reside. The pension authority will forward your claim to Finland.
If you reside in a country which does not have a social security agreement with Finland, or if you reside in China, fill out the Finnish national pension claim form. Submit your claim to the Finnish Centre for Pensions or the pension provider in Finland in which you were last insured for a pension.
Read more about how to claim an earnings-related pension from Finland to a country abroad
Applying for an A1 certificate in cross-border situations
Contact the Finnish Centre for Pensions for more information on applying for an A1 certificate in a cross-border situation, phone +358 29 411 2110, or by e-mail at ulkomaanasiat(at)etk.fi. Contact Kela for information on residence-based social security.
Notification of change of circumstances relating to pensions
If your personal circumstances change in a way that may affect the pension you are receiving from Finland, contact the earnings-related pension provider that pays out your pension. Such a change in circumstances is, for example, beginning to work if you are receiving a disability pension. Correspondingly, if a person receiving a spouse’s pension marries, it may affect the pension in payment.
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