Working abroad and your Ukrainian pension: how foreign insurance record counts and who pays

The main rule: foreign record gives you the right to a pension but does not increase it

To receive an old-age pension in Ukraine you need a minimum insurance record. In 2026 that is 33 years to retire at 60, at least 23 years to retire at 63 and 15 years to retire at 65. The requirement for 60 grows every year: from 2028 you will need 35 years. For many people who spent part of their working life abroad, these are exactly the missing years.

Work abroad fills that gap, but only for the right to a pension. The Ukrainian pension is calculated with a formula that includes only your Ukrainian record and the Ukrainian earnings on which contributions were paid. Foreign years do not enter the formula. The country where you worked pays a pension for them under its own rules, usually once you reach its own pension age.

Countries with and without an agreement: two different mechanisms

Pensions for Ukrainians who worked abroad are governed by 18 international agreements. They come in two types, and the type determines who pays you what.

The list of agreements grows from time to time, so before submitting documents check with the Pension Fund whether an agreement with your country has appeared.

Poland, Czechia and other countries with an agreement

Take Poland as the most common case. The Ukraine-Poland social security agreement of 18 May 2012 has been in force since 1 January 2014. Under its Article 12, if the right to a pension depends on the length of record, the authority of one country takes into account the record from the other as needed, provided the periods do not overlap.

In practice it works like this. You apply for a pension to the Pension Fund in Ukraine and state that you worked in Poland. The Pension Fund itself requests a form confirming your Polish record from the Polish social insurance institution. Separately, the Polish side grants a Polish pension for the Polish years once you reach pension age under Polish law. To identify you in the Polish system you will need your PESEL number, so keep it with your employment documents.

The agreements with Czechia, Slovakia, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Spain and Portugal work the same way: each country pays for its own part, and the record is added only for the right.

Germany, Italy and other countries without an agreement

Until 2024, work in a country without an agreement did not count towards a Ukrainian pension at all. Amendments to the Law «On Compulsory State Pension Insurance», in force since 23 June 2024, added Article 26-1: if you lack the record needed for an old-age pension, periods of work in another country are added to it. They are counted in calendar terms and only if that country itself counts these periods as insurance record under its own law.

The Cabinet of Ministers set out the practical procedure in Resolution No. 562 of 16 May 2025. The key conditions:

• the procedure applies to people living in Ukraine and to the old-age pension;
• foreign record is added only if your Ukrainian record is not enough for the right to a pension;
• you attach documents from the foreign country (certificates, statements) confirming that these periods are counted there as insurance record;
• foreign documents are recognised in Ukraine if legalised (usually with an apostille), unless an international agreement waives this requirement;
• if there are no documents or they lack information, the Pension Fund may contact the competent authorities of the other country through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For Germany, such a document is usually the insurance record statement from the German pension insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung). Undeclared work with no contributions paid is not insurance record in any country, so Ukraine will not count it either.

What it gives you: two examples

The Ukrainian pension is calculated as: average wage indicator × earnings ratio × years of record × 1%. For pensions granted in 2026, the average wage indicator is UAH 17,482.87. The earnings ratio shows how many times your official salary was higher or lower than the national average. We explain the formula in detail in the article how to calculate your old-age pension.

The figures in the examples are simplified: no supplements, allowances or indexation. You can estimate your Ukrainian part with the pension calculator and add up your record by periods of work with the length of service calculator.

How to submit documents: step by step

1. Check your Ukrainian record. Look at your data in your account on the Pension Fund web portal and count how many years you are missing. How to find and fix errors in your Ukrainian record is explained in the article on insurance record.
2. Collect your foreign documents. For countries with an agreement, details of your work are enough (employer names, periods, your insurance number in that country): the Pension Fund will request the form itself. For countries without an agreement, order a statement or certificate of the counted insurance periods from the local pension authority.
3. Legalise the documents and prepare a translation. For most countries without an agreement you need an apostille. Documents from countries with which Ukraine has a legal assistance treaty are accepted without one. Check the translation requirements with a Pension Fund service centre in advance.
4. Apply for your pension through the Pension Fund web portal or a service centre, attaching the foreign documents. You can do this a month before reaching pension age.
5. Apply for the foreign pension separately to the pension institution of the country where you worked, once you reach pension age under its law. The Ukrainian application does not replace the foreign one.

Common situations

I work abroad now: what to do today

Work officially and make sure your employer pays contributions: in most countries you can check your insurance account online. Keep contracts and annual statements and write down your insurance number in that country. If you plan to come back, work out how much Ukrainian record you will have at pension age and how much foreign record you will need to close the gap.

I worked in Ukraine and abroad at the same time

Overlapping periods are not counted twice: a year when you worked both here and there adds only one year to your record for the right. The agreement with Poland explicitly provides for adding up only periods that do not overlap.

I was self-employed, on parental leave or studying abroad

For countries without an agreement, one rule applies: a foreign period counts if that country counts it as insurance record. So self-employment with contributions paid, parental leave or other periods may qualify if they appear in your foreign insurance record statement. What is not in the statement will not count in Ukraine either.

My pension was already granted without the foreign record

Foreign record affects only the right to a pension, so it will not change the amount of a Ukrainian pension already granted. Foreign documents are most useful before the pension is granted, when they help you get the right to it earlier.

If you are still short of record

Sometimes foreign work cannot be confirmed: the employer did not pay contributions, or the documents were lost. Then the Ukrainian options remain. You can buy record for past periods or pay voluntary contributions, even while living abroad. The minimum monthly contribution in 2026 is UAH 1,902.34. Whether it pays off and how quickly is calculated in the article how to buy insurance record.

Another option is to wait for the age at which the record requirement is lower: 63 or 65. Compare which works out better: paying contributions for a few years or getting your pension later.

In short

• Official foreign record helps you reach the years needed for the right to a Ukrainian old-age pension, but the Ukrainian pension amount is calculated only from Ukrainian record.
• Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Spain and Portugal have proportional agreements with Ukraine: each country pays its own part, and the record is confirmed with forms.
• For countries without an agreement, such as Germany, Article 26-1 of the law has applied since 2024, and the procedure under Resolution No. 562 since May 2025: you submit legalised documents about the record counted there to the Pension Fund.
• Undeclared work is not insurance record anywhere. Keep documents about your work abroad starting now.
• Apply for a pension for your foreign years to that country's pension institution separately.

The calculations in the examples are simplified: the earnings ratio is illustrative and supplements and allowances are not included. The final pension amount is set by the Pension Fund based on your documents. This article is not legal advice; in complex cases contact the Pension Fund or Ukraine's free legal aid system.