vfxguy

Pulaski

This doesn't answer your question directly, but in the UK you don't get anything out by way of state pension unless you have paid ten years of NI contributions, and I think it is the same in the US for "social security" (state pension), so it certainly wouldn't surprise me if you are SOL with respect to your German pension contributions if you only paid in for 5 years. ..... And you can't claim back contributions in either country.

BEVS

How long since you left Germany?

As you reside in NZ you will be able to draw an NZ state pension provided you meet the criteria.
If you are British , then the UK and NZ have a reciprocal agreement in place.

No. It would not be illegal if you are out of time or do not fit Germany's criteria re the state pension there.

Assanah

Did you get a Bescheid from the Deutsche Rentenversicherung? If so you need to be quick in your review of the decision otherwise the Bescheid will become legally effective. Most of the time the opposition period is 4 weeks.

You might be able to add the years worked in Germany to your UK pension (if you get one from there). Here too be quick as the UK is leaving the EU and the legal setting might change.

You could also have a look at the forum "toytown Germany", a forum for expats in Germany which is more active.

calman014

Take a look here:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizen...d/index_en.htm

If you had previously worked in UK (or any other EU country), you can bundle all your EU pension time together in order to receive a pension in the last EU country of residence.

It may no longer apply to you as you are now outside EU, but worth investigating..the qualifying years can be increased by adding those other years.

As far as I know, the rules for Germany are a minimum 5 years pension contribution in order to claim it.

Thairetired2016

"Bundling contributions together" is easier said then done. My husband was in the same situation as the poster. Germans told him to apply in UK for his British pension, German pension would be paid separately. He had the option to get his 60 months German contributions paid out in a lump sum which he did.

dmu

FWIW, when I applied for my French State Pension, the Agent entered my British NI number and, hey presto, all my contributions during the 5 years that I worked in the UK, and even those for when I worked on Saturdays and in the holidays, came up on the screen. The British "stamps" (this goes back awhile....) added enough to my French contributions for me to be eligible for a full French Pension. The pro rata UK Pension (peanuts in fact, but it all adds up) is paid separately.
Normally you apply for your Pension in the last country you worked in and the authorities "bundle up" the contributions, but the OP hasn't come back to say whether he worked in the UK in the past....

Novocastrian

That was my experience too. When I applied for my vestigial UK pension, the DWP, based on my employment history, said I should apply direct to the German pension fund to acquire proceeds from the 7.5 years I worked there between 1986 and 1993. After the usual German bureaucracy rigmarole I started getting the monthly payments of 400 euro deposited into my UK account. After a bit over three years, the euro amount has gone up by about 5% while the exchange rate has also favoured the situation, so the DR is now worth about 10% more than at first in pounds, (about the same BTW as my main pensions, both state and private, which are sourced in Canadian dollars).