Get your pension money back

If you hold no EU, EEA or Swiss passport and live outside those countries, you file form V0901 with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung once 24 full calendar months have passed since your last compulsory contribution (§ 210 SGB VI). The DRV then pays back the share you paid yourself, 9.3% of your gross pay for every insured month, to a bank account in Germany or abroad; the employer's share stays in the system. With the form you send a certified copy of your passport, proof of your address abroad, your pension insurance number and your bank details, with SWIFT/BIC for an account outside Germany. The form asks its questions in German and English, every letter after it is in German, and the DRV may take up to six months to decide. With a passport from a treaty country such as the US, Canada or India, the refund usually only works with fewer than 60 contribution months, so check your case before you file; Fundsback files it for you through an external lawyer.

You can claim a German pension refund once you're no longer compulsorily insured in Germany, have no right to insure voluntarily, and 24 months have passed since your last compulsory contribution (§ 210 SGB VI). That usually applies if you hold no EU, EEA or Swiss passport and live outside those countries. With a passport from a treaty state such as the US, Canada, India or Turkey, a refund usually only works with fewer than 60 contribution months; UK citizens who started working in Germany from 2021 count as a treaty case, while those who started earlier are treated like EU citizens. German, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, and anyone living in Germany, usually only get their contributions back at the standard retirement age, and only with fewer than five years paid in. A second German, EU, EEA, Swiss or UK passport blocks the refund in the same way, which is why your own case needs a check before you apply.

In almost every case, yes. The Deutsche Rentenversicherung only refunds contributions once 24 full calendar months have passed since your last compulsory pension contribution (§ 210(2) SGB VI), and you cannot shorten that period. It starts with your last insured month in Germany, such as your last payslip or your last month on unemployment benefit (ALG I); leaving the country or deregistering doesn't move the start. If you become compulsorily insured in Germany again during that time, the clock starts over. Have Fundsback check your case when you leave anyway. You'll know your earliest date, everything is ready, and the claim goes out as soon as the wait is over.

Yes, if your passport is from a country without a social security agreement with Germany; citizens of most treaty countries lose the refund once they reach 60 contribution months (five years). At 60 months a German pension entitlement exists. With a Ukrainian, Vietnamese or Emirati passport, for example, you then choose between that pension and the refund. With a US, Canadian or Indian passport, the pension replaces the refund, and insurance months from your home country can count towards the 60. Morocco and Tunisia have treaties without this limit, and UK and EU citizens follow their own rules, so check your country page before you rely on the number.

If you decide to obtain your pension refund through Fundsback, you will only need to provide a valid identification document. The rest will be taken care of by Fundsback.

Most cases finish within 8 weeks. Around 90% of refunds arrive within two months, some after just 10 days. The exact timing depends on how complex your case is and how busy the German Pension Insurance is; by law it may take up to six months to decide. We submit your application in full so that missing documents or wrong details don’t delay it or get it rejected. We also run all correspondence with the German Pension Insurance, so time zones and slow post don’t cost you weeks.

Pension Refund follows a no-win-no-fee model. You only pay when the refund is successfully paid out. The standard success fee is 9.9%, with a minimum of EUR 899 and a maximum of EUR 2,631.58. Right now, Fundsback offers a limited discount of 5% on these fees, bringing the effective rate to 9.405% (minimum EUR 854.05, maximum EUR 2,500). The cost of an external lawyer is included. There are no upfront payments or hidden charges.

Yes, it is possible for you to apply for a pension refund yourself. You will then have to handle all the preparation, submission, and back and forth with the German authorities and bureaucracy yourself. On the other hand, by using a service like Fundsback, you will enjoy a hassle-free refund process without any need for active research or preparation from your side, since Fundsback takes care of all the documentation. Furthermore, your case will be submitted by a German lawyer who will make sure that your claim is correctly prepared, submitted and processed, and who will answer all queries from the German Pension Insurance directly.

Your refund is 9.3% of your monthly gross salary, up to the contribution ceiling, multiplied by the number of months you paid German pension contributions. Example: 36 months at EUR 4,000 gross comes to 4,000 × 9.3% × 36 = EUR 13,392. The 9.3% is your employee half of the 18.6% contribution rate that has applied since 2018 (earlier years had slightly higher rates); your employer's half stays with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung. Minijobs and jobs in the reduced-contribution band (Übergangsbereich) return less, because you paid a smaller share there, and citizens of most treaty countries can claim at most 59 months. Fundsback clients receive EUR 12,926 on average. The free Pension Check and our refund calculator apply the formula to your own figures.