# Spanish pension



## ANNIE100 (Oct 3, 2013)

Does anyone know if years worked in the Uk can be taken into account to qualify for a Spanish Pension.


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

Nope. When you retire, UK will pay its part (the number of years you have worked there) and Spain will pay their part. But you can't join them together.

Or so I think!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

But if you have worked in the UK + at least one other EU country , your pensions come under EU rules meaning at least 25-30% more from each pension payer. 


EU - Pension claims and calculation of EU pensions-Your Europe


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

You can in fact keep making voluntary contributions to the UK state pension while working in Spain (and therefore also contributing to the Spanish system at the same time). Upon retirement you will then be entitled to two state pensions, and most likely in different currencies.


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## stevelin (Apr 25, 2009)

My understanding you claim in the country you are living in and they take into account the payments made into other EU countries. Under EU law


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Definitely go to the link that gus posted, it explains it all very clearly.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

stevelin said:


> My understanding you claim in the country you are living in and they take into account the payments made into other EU countries. Under EU law


You can do that, and the EU law gives you the right to do that, but I don't think it obliges you to do that. I believe (and have had it confirmed by the UK Inland Revenue) that if a UK citizen is working in Spain, they can also choose to keep contributing to the UK system through voluntary payments while at the same time paying into the Spanish system as well.

Upon retirement, as far as the UK is concerned they have the right to claim the UK state pension and, if they have worked for at least 15 years in Spain then as far as the Spanish government is concerned, they also have the right to claim the Spanish state pension.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Chopera said:


> You can do that, and the EU law gives you the right to do that, but I don't think it obliges you to do that. I believe (and have had it confirmed by the UK Inland Revenue) that if a UK citizen is working in Spain, they can also choose to keep contributing to the UK system through voluntary payments while at the same time paying into the Spanish system as well.
> 
> Upon retirement, as far as the UK is concerned they have the right to claim the UK state pension and, if they have worked for at least 15 years in Spain then as far as the Spanish government is concerned, they also have the right to claim the Spanish state pension.


BUT they apply for both in Spain if that is where they are living or last worked.


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## ANNIE100 (Oct 3, 2013)

Im movingi to Gran Canaria in February and have paid my 30 years in contributions but not entitled to my pension for a couple of years when I am entitled will I just need to get the uk to send it over to GC or will I have to apply in GC xx


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Following the advice/help from Gus a while back (over the same issue) I also contacted the UK to ask for the EU form as I had also worked in the UK/Spain.

Nothing heard yet, but on the form it clearly stated that you had to apply for your pension in the *last country that you worked in*
Lucky for me that was the UK as I had just recived my pension before Gus gave us the heads up.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Chopera said:


> You can do that, and the EU law gives you the right to do that, but I don't think it obliges you to do that. I believe (and have had it confirmed by the UK Inland Revenue) that if a UK citizen is working in Spain, they can also choose to keep contributing to the UK system through voluntary payments while at the same time paying into the Spanish system as well.
> 
> Upon retirement, as far as the UK is concerned they have the right to claim the UK state pension and, if they have worked for at least 15 years in Spain then as far as the Spanish government is concerned, they also have the right to claim the Spanish state pension.


You can receive a Spanish pension, as a % of the full amount, for any amount of years now.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

baldilocks said:


> BUT they apply for both in Spain if that is where they are living or last worked.


yes, but I don't see how that is relevant - as far as I know you can apply for a UK state pension and/or a Spanish state pension from anywhere in the world. So where you happen to be living and working when you retire is irrelevant. If you have made sufficient contributions to both systems you'll get both pensions. It's mainly a technical point because it doesn't apply to that many people - most people will probably choose to contribute to one system or the other and have their contributions to one system count towards the other when it comes to claiming a state pension. However it is possible for someone to make sufficient contributions to each system to qualify for both pensions.


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## colrose777 (May 6, 2013)

Chopera said:


> You can in fact keep making voluntary contributions to the UK state pension while working in Spain (and therefore also contributing to the Spanish system at the same time). Upon retirement you will then be entitled to two state pensions, and most likely in different currencies.


If someone has been working in the UK for perhaps 25 years or so, and moves to Spain but does not work there, would they pay class 2 or class 3 contributions to build up their pension rights to the 30 year requirement? There is a significant difference in the cost but it does not seem to be clear which one will be appropriate.


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## Swerve (Jun 29, 2011)

Have a look here

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/volcontr/abroad.htm


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

colrose777 said:


> If someone has been working in the UK for perhaps 25 years or so, and moves to Spain but does not work there, would they pay class 2 or class 3 contributions to build up their pension rights to the 30 year requirement? There is a significant difference in the cost but it does not seem to be clear which one will be appropriate.


I am not an expert, but my understanding is that provided you were either working or registered unemployed before leaving, you can pay class 2 contributions abroad:

HM Revenue & Customs: Voluntary National Insurance contributions if you live abroad

However they might also want you to be working abroad as well. If not class 2 then I suspect you can pay class 3 contributions as they are more flexible (and more expensive). The best thing to do is drop them an email, they replied to mine in detail.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

gus-lopez said:


> You can receive a Spanish pension, as a % of the full amount, for any amount of years now.


Thanks - do you have a link by any chance? They must have changed that quite recently

Edit - to answer my own question I think it is still 15 years:

Seguridad Social:Trabajadores



> * Período mínimo de cotización*
> 
> 
> _Trabajadores en situación de alta o asimilada:_
> ...


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## Lolito (Aug 25, 2012)

I pay Class 3 contributions and done so for the last 3 years to top up my UK pension, it is 54 quid a month (4 weeks) or 67 quid monthly (5 weeks). I think it is around 700 quid per year.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Chopera said:


> Thanks - do you have a link by any chance? They must have changed that quite recently
> 
> Edit - to answer my own question I think it is still 15 years:
> 
> Seguridad Social:Trabajadores


No, I haven't a link but many posters on another forum all receive a part spanish pension with far less than 15 years. Some seem to think that as they paid in , in the UK & then worked here for a few years that the contributions in the UK take them above the spanish minimum & so entitle them to a part spanish pension as well. It comes under EU rules that A) increase pensions for people who have worked in more than 1 EU state & B) EU rules state 1 year is only required for a pension.
One chap gets a pension for 9 years.



" If you have been covered for less than a year in one country, a special rule may apply, as some countries do not provide a pension for short periods: your months of insurance or residence in the country where you worked for a short time will not be lost but taken into account in the calculation of your pension by the countries where you worked longer.

If you have a problem obtaining the payment of a pension for working periods of less than a year, you can get support."

EU - Pension claims and calculation of EU pensions-Your Europe


colrose777; it has now gone back up to 35 years required for the new increased pension from 2016 (?)


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

gus-lopez said:


> No, I haven't a link but many posters on another forum all receive a part spanish pension with far less than 15 years. Some seem to think that as they paid in , in the UK & then worked here for a few years that the contributions in the UK take them above the spanish minimum & so entitle them to a part spanish pension as well. It comes under EU rules that A) increase pensions for people who have worked in more than 1 EU state & B) EU rules state 1 year is only required for a pension.
> One chap gets a pension for 9 years.
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks that's excellent information. Do you know if those posters claiming both UK and Spanish pensions simultaneously?

There's an intersting section on that link:



> ...
> Step 2 — EU-equivalent rate
> 
> Then each country adds together your contribution periods from all countries and works out how much pension you would get if these contributions had all been paid into its own scheme.
> ...


I suspect the EU-equivalent rate is usually sufficiently high that people usually make a "combined" claim in one country or the other in order to take advantage of it. In fact bearing that in mind, it seems rather a good idea for people to spend at least one year working in another EU country so they can take advantage of that rate.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Yes, that's quite true. It works out at 25-30% more.

Sorry , meant to say that to my knowledge they all claimed here in Spain, the last country in which they worked, & the Spanish did all the tie ups etc; with the UK. 
When my brother claimed his pension in Germany where he'd lived for nearly 40 years the German pension department liased with the UK & Sweden & the Germans paid the total pension. 
The pension statement showed which country paid what amount.


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