Many immigrants after moving to the United States do not really hope to receive a pension from their homeland, even if they spent many years of life, strength and health working in this country. Unfortunately, not all states consider it necessary to pay pensions to those who went to live abroad. Citizens of the United States, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Israel, Latvia and many other countries have no problem receiving their earned pensions, wherever they live. Let’s see how things are with the payment of pensions by Russia and Ukraine to their citizens living abroad.
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Russia: there is citizenship – there is a pension
Russia pays and has always paid pensions to its citizens. The conditions for obtaining a Russian pension are the presence of Russian citizenship, age, and length of service. At the same time, citizenship is confirmed exclusively by a valid Russian passport.
If your passport has expired, you will not be able to resolve any issues related to pension provision until you restore your passport. The right to obtain a Russian passport is held by all those who permanently resided in the territory of the Russian Federation as of 6 February 1992, as well as those who acquired Russian citizenship in accordance with the established procedure after that date.
I have to disappoint those who left Russia for permanent residence abroad before 1992 – unfortunately, these people do not have the right to receive Russian pensions, since Russia does not recognize them as its citizens.
To apply for a pension, it is not necessary to go to Russia – all the necessary steps can be performed remotely through a notarized power of attorney. By the way, you can properly issue a power of attorney, which will be accepted both in Russia and in other countries, in our office.
So, your representative in Russia, armed with your power of attorney, will be able to apply to the pension fund for the appointment of a pension for you. To do this, he will need your work book (in the absence, it can be restored). If the length of service is not enough, it can be blocked by the time of study in higher educational institutions, parental leave, in addition, there are other ways that are called “stretch the length of service”.
If you already have a pension, then you need to maintain its payment by providing the pension fund with a certificate of the fact of being alive (also known as the Personal Appearance Act).
A certificate of survival is provided to the Pension Fund to confirm that the applicant is alive and therefore entitled to a pension. The fact is that in the event of the death of a Russian citizen abroad, the pension fund risks never knowing about it (foreign registry offices, of course, will not inform him about this), therefore, they require pensioners living abroad to annually provide a Certificate of Fact of Being Alive. If you do not do this, then at first the payment of the pension to you will be suspended, and over time, it will be completely stopped.
There is a common misconception that the certificate of the fact of being alive can be issued exclusively in the Russian consulate. Many of those who adhere to this myth have already lost their pensions. In fact, the certificate of survival can be issued by a notary with an apostille, and this document will have full legal force, and will be accepted by the pension fund authorities unconditionally, thanks to the Hague Convention of 1961.
The most common reason for refusing to accept a foreign document is its incorrect execution. In order for your document to be accepted, it must not only contain an apostille, it must also be properly executed. The presence of an apostille does not add legitimacy to a document that was originally designed with errors.
Legally competent execution of the document is the primary condition that you will receive a pension, so do not write documents “on the knee” and contact the professionals.
Karina Duvall. Photo from personal archive
Ukraine: courts on the side of emigrants, but the Pension Fund is in no hurry to pay pensions
For many years, the situation with Ukrainian pensions for emigrants was as follows: since you left, then we do not owe you anything. The Pension Fund of Ukraine still continues to insist on such a policy, but the courts do not agree with it and have already made many decisions that allow Ukrainians living abroad to receive Ukrainian pensions.
The most important in this regard is the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in case 25-rp/2009 of October 7, 2009. The court decided that any norms of the law allowing to deprive Ukrainian citizens of the money they earned are unconstitutional.
That is, the refusal of the Pension Fund to pay you a pension just because you do not live in Ukraine can be successfully challenged in court, citing the unconstitutionality of such a refusal. But there’s a catch. If you were not paid a pension because of your inaction – you did not request it on time and did not provide the necessary documents, then the state will not compensate you for all the overdue years, limiting yourself to the limitation period, which is three years. But if the pension was not paid to you through the fault of the Pension Fund, then Ukraine is obliged to reimburse all the amounts you did not receive, to which you are entitled.
In 2019, the Supreme Court of Ukraine made three decisions at once regarding the payment of pensions to emigrants. On February 14, 2019, he recognized the actions of the Pension Fund as violating the constitutional rights of a citizen after the department decided to stop paying pensions to a Ukrainian woman who moved to Israel. The Supreme Court of Ukraine stressed that the right to social protection is fundamental and under no circumstances can be canceled or restricted. Moreover, the court clearly stated that a person’s stay outside Ukraine and his lack of registration in the country could not be grounds for refusing him a pension.
On June 13, 2019, the Supreme Court of Ukraine made another important decision on this topic. He noted that the absence of a special international treaty between Ukraine and Israel cannot be a reason for denying a citizen of Ukraine a pension. That is, the presence of such a contract is not mandatory.
On September 30, 2019, the Supreme Court indicated that the right of a Ukrainian to receive a pension depends on his compliance with only two conditions: reaching retirement age and having an insurance period. At the same time, the place of his residence does not play any role at all.
That is, it is possible to receive a Ukrainian pension abroad, but, unfortunately, not to everyone. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, if you went abroad before August 24, 1991, you cannot claim a Ukrainian pension, even if you have the necessary experience.
In 2020, courts in Ukraine agreed that the right to a pension falls under Article 1 of the First Protocol of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This means that the authorities cannot, under any pretext, take away this right from a citizen.
Thus, by its decisions, the Supreme Court of Ukraine recognized the right of Ukrainian citizens to receive a pension unconditional, regardless of the country of their residence and registration.
Despite the fact that the courts are ready to protect Ukrainians in the matter of pension provision, citizens of Ukraine also have a number of duties that they must perform. In particular, they must update their passport of a citizen of Ukraine in time, because it is possible to issue a Ukrainian pension only with a valid passport.
In addition, it is necessary to issue a pension on the territory of Ukraine – personally or by proxy. A power of attorney abroad can be issued in two ways – at the embassy / consulate or by a notary with an apostille. Our office in New York draws up powers of attorney for any purpose, including obtaining a Ukrainian pension. In addition, we issue powers of attorney for the purchase and sale of real estate, for the opening and closing of companies, for the disposal of funds; in our office you can also issue consent to the sale of property acquired during marriage, an application for deregistration, consent to the child’s departure abroad, a certificate of the fact of being alive, and much, much more. All documents are issued on a turnkey basis, with an apostille and delivery anywhere in the world.
The material was prepared in partnership with
Karina Duval – notary, lawyer, expert in international law
web: russianatty.com
address: 1400 Ave Z, Office 507, Brooklyn, NY 11235
e-mail: karina.duvall@gmail.com
cell: +1-718 704 8558