Use this topic page when your biggest question is what to prepare first and what can wait.

Most cases start with identity details, contribution history and the current address or exit context. The first review should clarify those essentials first and request the remaining documents only when they are really needed.

Most refund cases are done in around 8 weeks, and many finish faster. The exact timing depends on your contribution history, document readiness and the pension authority’s workload, so complex records can take longer. The first step clarifies whether a refund is realistic in your case.

Most cases start with the essential identity, family and pension context that helps Fundsback understand the claim path. More specific documents can then be requested in the right order instead of overwhelming you at the start.

Almost always, yes. Your contribution history is stored at the Deutsche Rentenversicherung under your insurance number, and it does not disappear because your paperwork did. A lost insurance number can be recovered with your name, date of birth and place of birth. Missing employment periods can be reconstructed through an account clarification (Kontenklärung), the procedure that matches your record against what employers reported. What you genuinely need fresh are the documents that prove who and where you are today: a valid passport and proof of your current address abroad. Fundsback handles the recovery and the account clarification as part of the refund process, so lost papers slow a case down more often than they stop one.

Yes. You do not need to keep a German bank account open for the refund; the Deutsche Rentenversicherung transfers to accounts worldwide. What the transfer needs is complete account data: account holder, bank name and address, IBAN where the country uses it, and otherwise the account number with the SWIFT/BIC code. Two practical points are worth knowing. A payout to a non-German account can add up to two months on top of the normal processing time, and the amount arrives in euros, so your receiving bank sets the exchange rate and any conversion fee. Naming the account correctly in the application is the easiest way to avoid a second round of correspondence.