If you worked in Germany and are leaving, the pension contributions taken from every payslip do not simply vanish — but what happens to them depends on your nationality, how long you paid in, and where you are going. For some people there is a refund. For others a refund would be a bad idea even if it were available.
1. The five-year line that decides everything
German state pension has a qualifying period: broadly five years of contributions (60 months). Cross it and you have earned a German pension, payable when you reach retirement age — including if you live abroad by then.
Which sets up the central decision:
- Under five years, you have no pension entitlement, and a refund of contributions may be available instead.
- Over five years, you have an entitlement — and a refund is generally no longer possible, because you now hold something worth more than the money.
So the first thing to establish is not "how do I get my money back" but how many months you actually have. Periods you may not think of can count, including certain time raising children, and months under a social security agreement with another country. People assume they are under the line when they are not.
Ask the Deutsche Rentenversicherung for your insurance record (Versicherungsverlauf) before deciding anything. It is free, and it is the only reliable answer.
2. Who can get a refund
A refund (Beitragserstattung) is aimed at people who are leaving the German system for good and will never draw from it. In practice it is mainly available to non-EU nationals leaving the EU permanently who are below the qualifying period and no longer compulsorily insured in Germany.
It is not a general "leaving Germany" refund, and it is not available simply because you have moved away.
3. The two-year wait
You generally cannot apply immediately. There is a waiting period of about 24 months after compulsory insurance ends.
The logic is that you might come back. The practical consequence is that many people leave, forget, and never claim. Put a reminder in your calendar for two years after your last German payslip, and keep the documents you will need — your social insurance number, your German employment history and your addresses.
There is no short deadline pushing the other way, so being late costs you nothing except the delay itself.
4. You get back less than you think
This is the part that disappoints people: a refund returns broadly the employee's share of the contributions. The employer's matching share — roughly half of what was paid in on your behalf — is not refunded.
Taking a refund also generally wipes the slate: the periods are spent, and they no longer count towards anything later, including under agreements that might otherwise have let another country's system recognise them. If there is any real chance you will work in Germany or the EU again, that is a significant thing to give up for half the money.
5. EU citizens: why there is no refund, and why that's fine
EU, EEA and Swiss nationals generally cannot claim a refund — and generally do not benefit from one.
European coordination rules add your periods together across member states. Three years in Germany, four in Spain and five in Poland are not three orphaned fragments; they count towards qualifying, and each country pays its own share at retirement based on what you paid there.
So contributions are not lost when you move within Europe. They are held for you. That is a better outcome than half your money back today, which is precisely why the refund route is closed.
6. Agreements with your home country
Germany has bilateral social security agreements with a number of countries outside the EU. Where one applies, periods can often be aggregated in a similar way, and a refund may be restricted for the same reason it is for EU citizens.
Whether your country has such an agreement, and what it covers, is a factual question with a definite answer — and it changes the arithmetic completely. Establish it before you apply for anything, not after.
7. If it is refused
A refusal is a decision like any other benefits decision: you generally have one month to object, the objection is free, and the route onward is the social court, which charges insured people no court fees. Living abroad, the window is usually longer.
The disputes worth checking are almost always factual: months missing from your record, periods abroad not credited, employment your file does not show, or a misjudged application of an agreement. Our guide to challenging a benefits decision explains the procedure.
Before you do anything
- Request your Versicherungsverlauf. Free, and it settles the five-year question.
- Check whether your country has an agreement with Germany.
- Keep your social insurance number and your employment records permanently.
- Keep an address the German system can reach — many people are simply lost to the post.
- Do not take a refund reflexively. Half the money now, against an entitlement that follows you abroad, is a real trade rather than an obvious win.
Qualifying periods, waiting times and the list of agreement countries change over time, and how they apply depends on your own record. This is the shape of the system, not a calculation for your case — the Deutsche Rentenversicherung advises free of charge, and a lawyer is worth involving where a decision has already gone against you.