Ariana MartinsThey count – they are not lost. European social security coordination requires each country to add up the insurance periods completed in the others to decide whether you are entitled to a pension. It is called aggregation and it is in Regulation (EC) No 883/2004. What does not happen is a transfer: your German contributions stay in Germany, and Germany pays the German part of your pension. That is the difference that confuses everyone, and it is the only thing you need to understand properly.
What European law says, plainly
Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 coordinates the social security systems of the Member States. It does not make them uniform – each country keeps its own rules, its own ages and its own calculations. It coordinates them, and it rests on four principles: you are subject to the legislation of only one country at a time, you have the same rights as nationals of that country, periods completed in other countries count, and a cash benefit continues to be paid to you if you move country.
The third principle is the one that matters to you. Implementing Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 sets out the procedures between institutions – who talks to whom, what data is exchanged, in what order. The rules have applied since 1 May 2010.
In plain terms: as a rule, it is not up to you to prove your German years with payslips in a folder. The institutions exchange that information among themselves.
Why "contributions are not transferred" is not bad news
Each country where you were insured assesses your claim and pays the share that corresponds to it. The authority in each country compares two calculations – the pro rata benefit, adjusted to the time you were insured there, and the independent benefit, calculated only with national rules – and pays you the higher of the two. If you live in the European Union, each country pays its amount into an account in your country of residence.
In other words: you may end up with more than one pension, from more than one country, each calculated under that country's rules.
On the Portuguese side: the qualifying period is 15 years
In Portugal, the old-age pension under the general scheme requires a qualifying period (prazo de garantia) of 15 calendar years with recorded earnings. The practical guide of the Instituto da Segurança Social says this period can be met by aggregating contribution periods completed under other schemes – and expressly includes foreign social security schemes, as long as they provide old-age cover. In that case, the same guide requires at least one year of contributions to the general scheme.
When that aggregation is needed, the Portuguese pension is proportional. The guide explains it like this: the amount reflects the ratio between the period you contributed to the general scheme and the qualifying period – if 70% of the qualifying period corresponds to contributions to the general scheme, you receive 70% of the pension amount.
I will not put calculations for your case here. I don't know your years, I don't know your earnings, and an invented number would be worse in this article than anywhere else on this site.
And Switzerland, which is not in the EU?
It is covered, and this can be confirmed. The Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU was concluded on 21 June 1999 and has been in force since 1 June 2002. Annex II of the agreement contains the coordination provisions, and Switzerland applies Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 in its relations with EU and EFTA countries. The Swiss Central Compensation Office states specifically that anyone insured in more than one State can claim a partial pension from each.
Luxembourg is a Member State of the Union. It is not a special case at all.
What I have not confirmed: whether there are Swiss particularities in specific benefits beyond old age and invalidity. The agreement applies – the detail for each benefit is checked case by case.
Where you apply, and the paper that arrives at the end
You apply once, not country by country. You do so through the pension body of the country where you live or the country where you last worked, and that body gathers the records from all the countries where you worked.
If you live in Portugal, you apply through Segurança Social Direta or at the Segurança Social offices, including the Centro Nacional de Pensões. The practical guide says the application is submitted when there are three months or less to go before the date you want the pension to start. The Your Europe portal recommends asking for information about your pension at least six months before you retire, because drawing a pension from several countries can take a long time. These are not contradictory instructions – one is the deadline for the application, the other is advice on lead time.
How long it takes: the guide is honest and says a response cannot be guaranteed. It gives a reference for simple cases, with contributions only to the general scheme and no coordination with other schemes – 50 days on average. Your case, by definition, is not one of those.
At the end, you receive the P1 summary note (form P1). It brings together each country's decisions on your claim, and it shows how each institution treated each insurance period. It is there for you to check whether any gap or overlap was left.
Before that, check your Portuguese record
You can check the Portuguese record at any time, long before retirement is in sight. In Segurança Social Direta, under Emprego, there is Carreira Contributiva, and you can get a statement of your contribution record.
A note, plainly: this explains the official mechanism; it is not advice. I do not assess your case and I do not tell you what you should do. Questions about your specific situation are answered by Segurança Social – Linha Segurança Social, 210 545 400 or 300 502 502, working days from 9:00 to 18:00 – or by the Centro Nacional de Pensões.
Do I have to apply for my pension in Germany and in Portugal separately?
No. You submit the claim in the country where you live or the last one where you worked, and that body gathers the records from the other countries.
Are my German contributions transferred to Portugal?
There is no transfer. Each country counts the periods to decide entitlement and pays the share that corresponds to it.
I worked in Switzerland. Does it count too?
Yes. Switzerland applies Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 under the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the EU, in force since 1 June 2002.
I have 8 years in Germany and 9 in Portugal. Am I entitled to a Portuguese pension?
The Portuguese qualifying period is 15 calendar years and can be met by aggregation with foreign schemes. Whether or not you meet the conditions is checked by Segurança Social, with your records in front of them.
How much will I receive?
I won't do that calculation, and be wary of anyone who does it without seeing your record. The amount depends on each country's rules and the periods completed in each.
I'm going back to work in Portugal. Does that spoil what I built abroad?
No. The periods do not overlap or cancel each other out – they are added together for entitlement purposes, and each country calculates its share.
- Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems, EUR-Lex – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PT/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32004R0883
- Regulation (EC) No 987/2009, laying down the procedure for implementing Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, EUR-Lex – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/PT/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX%3A32009R0987
- Coordination of social security systems, summary of EU legislation, EUR-Lex – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/PT/legal-content/summary/coordination-of-social-security-systems.html
- Receiving a pension abroad, Your Europe, European Commission – https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/index_pt.htm
- Frequently asked questions on pensions abroad, Your Europe, European Commission – https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/faq/index_en.htm
- Guia Prático - Pensão de Velhice (practical guide - old-age pension), Instituto da Segurança Social, I.P., published 14 February 2025 – https://sisscontent.seg-social.pt/documents/10152/14521664/7001_pensao_velhice.pdf/003416f8-5c4e-44e6-a502-844a423a9396
- Applying for the old-age pension, gov.pt – https://www.gov.pt/servicos/requerer-a-pensao-de-velhice
- Segurança Social Direta, Instituto da Segurança Social – https://app.seg-social.pt/sso/login
- Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU, Swiss Central Compensation Office (Zentrale Ausgleichsstelle) – https://www.zas.admin.ch/en/agreement-on-the-free-movement-of-persons-eu
- Social security agreements, Swiss Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) – https://www.bsv.admin.ch/en/social-security-agreements