How to apply for an old age pension

What is an old age pension?

An old age pension is a pension benefit paid from old age insurance intended to provide the insured person with an income in retirement.

Am I entitled to an old age pension?

  • You are not entitled to this benefit until you reach the pensionable age.
  • You are entitled to benefit if you have paid pension insurance for at least 15 years. Either it was paid by the employer on your behalf if you were in a regular employment relationship, or you paid it as a self-employed person, or you paid it voluntarily, or it was paid by the State in certain cases.

Women who have raised at least one child have a lower pensionable age. The pensionable age is reduced by six months for each child raised. If raising of a child cannot be taken into account for a woman, the entitlement to take raising of a child into account and the reduced pensionable age applies to the man who raised the child.

Those who have worked in a preferential occupational category may be granted an earlier pensionable age – the entitlement to a reduced pensionable age is retained after having worked the set number of years in an occupational category 1 or a function category 1/2.

USEFUL TIP:

To find out your pensionable age use the Pensionable Age Table (SK).

How do I apply for an old age pension?

Where do I apply for a pension?

You can tend to your pension at the Social Insurance Agency branch based on your place of permanent residence, where the relevant staff member will complete the pension application with you.

We recommend that you book the time for making your application in advance, approximately one month before reaching the pensionable age. To make your application, please book at the earliest on the date when you reach the pensionable age or at any time thereafter.

The branches and opening hours can be found at: Social Insurance Agency Branches.

To find contacts when you need to check on the status of your particular case, see the following: Information and Advisory Centre. 

How do I book the time for making the pension application?

  • We recommend that you book the time for making your application approximately one month before reaching the pensionable age.
  • You can book a time in the Reservation System. There you can select a specific branch based on your place of permanent residence. The Reservation System will offer you a precise date and time that is convenient for you.
  • Once you have booked a time in the Reservation System, you will receive information about the confirmation of the time, as well as documents required for making the application, contact details for the branch employee who will compile the application with you and whom you can contact in case of queries.

Book your time for making the application through the Pension Application Reservation System (SK).

Is it necessary to prepare for the application in advance?

Yes. We recommend checking in advance whether the Social Insurance Agency has records of all your periods of employment and gross earnings (because the amount of your pension benefit depends on them).

How do I know whether the Social Insurance Agency has records of all my periods of employment?

To check which pension insurance periods you have recorded, please visit your Electronic Account of an Insuree (EUP). In the pension insurance section (Dôchodkové poistenie), you can check the individual periods of your pension insurance and thus verify whether all periods are registered here for your pension.

You can also check the record of pension insurance periods by requesting an The EUP Statement (Výpis z EUP) via:

What is required for making an application for an old age pension?

  • Pre-prepared documents about missing periods of employment.
  • A valid identity card or passport.
  • Evidence of the completion of education (certificate of apprenticeship, school graduation certificate, diploma, or confirmation from a school of the period of study).
  • If you were born after 1963, you also need a certificate of completion of compulsory education.
  • If you are a man, you need a service member’s identity card or a certificate confirming the duration of military service.
  • Birth certificates of children, but only:
    • if you are a foreign national or if your children were born abroad and have not been registered in the special registry, since the information contained in the birth certificate may not be included the register of natural persons, and therefore the children’s birth certificates need to be submitted subsequently;
    • if you have taken the child into substitute care, you must provide the competent authority’s decision on the child’s substitute care;
    • in the event of the death of a child before reaching the age of 18, you need the death certificate or a statement from the civil registry only if you are a foreign national and/or the child died abroad and the child was not registered in the special registry, since the information about the death may not be included the register of natural persons;
    • if the child was in the care of another person or institution, a document proving the duration of such a period must also be submitted (only if you are seeking recognition of care or raising of the child – this applies both to women and to men/other insurees who want the child’s care to be taken into account).
  • Documents proving periods of employment and the amount of gross earnings not provided in the Information on the Status of the Individual Account of an Insuree for the period up to 31 December 2003.
  • Employer confirmations of periods of employment before 1 May 1990 in countries with which the Slovak Republic does not have an international social security agreement.
  • To assess the entitlement to a minimum pension, proof must also be submitted of the amount of pension paid from abroad at the date from which the applicant is applying to be awarded a old age pension if the foreign national is paid a pension from abroad, and a confirmation from the competent institution for insurance periods completed abroad if the applicant has completed gained insurance periods abroad.
  • In order for your pension to be paid into a bank account, please bring the filled in and bank endorsed form Remittance of Pension Benefits to the Pensioner's Bank Account (SK).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Other documents may also be needed, depending on what is required in your case (you may be advised by an employee of the Social Insurance Agency branch in this regard).
Please, check your periods of employment and information about your social insurance via Electronic Account of an Insuree (EUP): Electronic Account of an Insuree.

How will the application be made?

  • You must be present at the specific time and period agreed in advance at the Social Insurance Agency branch at your place of permanent residence.
  • Submit all documents that you have prepared in advance which are required for making your application.
  • The Social Insurance Agency branch employee (who has been assigned to you by the reservations system) will complete the electronic Pension Application Form with you, on the basis of authentic documents and declarations you have submitted.
  • By signing, you confirm that all the details in your application are correct. You can also ask for a confirmation of the completion of the pension application (for your employer for the purposes of paying severance pay and other benefits).

When will I find out if my pension has been awarded?

  • The time limit for deciding on a pension is 60 days.
  • This period runs from the date when the application for a pension is completed (pension procedure).
  • You will receive the decision on your pension by post or in an electronic mailbox (eMailbox) if one has been activated.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: In complex cases, the time limit may be extended by up to 60 days; however, the Social Insurance Agency will inform you about this in writing.

Your pension may also be paid in advance, but only if you meet the conditions for the entitlement to an old age pension; however, some facts that are necessary for determining the pension need to be ascertained before the decision on granting a pension is taken.

What does the amount of my pension depend on?

  • The length of the pension insurance period completed.
  • The amount of the gross earnings you have earned in your working life (social insurance contributions are also included in the gross wage).
  • Whether you were a saver in the Pillar 2 and completed the period of participation in old age pension insurance
  • or you also completed a pension insurance period after becoming entitled to the pension.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: All necessary data are always collected during the specific pension entitlement procedure of the given insuree.

 

How will my pension be paid?

  • Pension benefit is paid monthly in advance, always at a regular recurring date.
  • Your payment date is set by the Social Insurance Agency.
  • The pension benefit will be paid to you to the account you stated when completing the pension application.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Pension benefit may also be paid to your spouse’s account if you request it and have the right to dispose of the account and your spouse consents to this.

 

Can I also receive my pension in cash?

Yes, but you need to apply for this.

How is a pension paid in a social services facility?

If you are accommodated at a social services facility, your pension will be transferred to this facility by a collective payment, unless you apply for another method of receiving your pension.

Can I work even while receiving a retirement pension?

Yes. Employment while receiving a retirement pension has no effect on pension payments and a pensioner may work without limitation. On 1 January the Social Insurance Agency always automatically recalculates the old age pension taking account of the pension insurance period achieved in the previous calendar year by 31 March of the following calendar year.

For more information, see the PENSION INSURANCE – OLD-AGE PENSION section.