@Jontee I reached retirement age here in Spain so I applied via the INSS It was pretty straightforward and they took care of all the other countries I had worked in (France, Denmark and the UK) although the UK just started paying straight away whereas France and Denmark required loads of forms to be completed

I forgot to say that where you apply depends on where you are working when you reach retirement age if the UK then you do it through DWP

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

I was looking for useful information on what to do next. I think I have found it - we need to go to INSS on or after my wife's 65th birthday, armed with every single piece of paper we possess (we might chicken out and use a gestor). When my wife applied for her UK pension via INSS we assumed (wrongly it seems) that that was the end of the process for obtaining her spanish pension.

Petew, you can collect the relevant forms from the INSS prior to your wife's birthday, but you cannot submit the completed form until on or after her birthday.

Thanks for that.

I'm trembling as I'll have to apply to 4 different countries for my pensions, 2 EU and 2 non EU. I've tried to get advance info but all they say is 'call us on your 65th birthday'. That's going to be a fun day.

If one of them is the UK then you can apply beforehand...by the time you get your pension from the others you might well be in your 70s..good luck!

I totally agree, why INSS cant accept the information beforehand is ridiculous. OH's birthday is on a Sunday, so they told him to come in on the Monday. Then they realised that the Monday is a'Fiesta' in the Town so told him to come in on the Tuesday or Wednesday.

It will be interesting to see exactly what they do on the particular day, or if they will just take the form from him and dismiss him with a typical 'we will contact you'

There is a calculator on the DWP website that allows you to work out approximately how much Pension Credit you would be entitled to; but, it only applies to pensioners living in the UK. So I have worked out that by living in Spain I am saving the UK Government 5 grand a year. Does anybody know why Pension Credit is only for UK residents?

Just to update those who are interested or in similar circumstances. We went today to the INSS office, the day after OH 65th birthday with the form duly completed.

After the lady had entered what seemed like a significant amount of information on their computer, she asked for the bank details where the Spanish pension should be paid. At this stage, we were sat in anticipation expecting to be told how much and when the first payment would be.

We were then informed that we will be notified within the next 3 to 6 months of details of the Spanish pension!!!!

She blamed the delay on the UK, saying that Spain had to contact the DWP prior to confirming the pension.

Next update likely to be mid 2013!!!

That is true they do have to verify the details from DWP but it can take longer than six months...keep patient!

My wife received notification of her spanish pension today - 7 weeks after she applied. We were pleasantly surprised - we had been expecting to wait longer and the amount is more than we expected for 6 years spanish contributions. Also the spanish government seems to think there are 14 months in a year!

My Basque wife, who worked in total for 7 years only in Spain (before being in England all our 36 years of married life), claimed her pension through "Seguridad social" when we 'retired' here in 2009. You need to give seguridad social your DNI/NIE number & then they can find out your "historia laboral" (record of work).
You should then receive a paper with the heading "resolucion". All of this is linked to the "prestacion de asistencia sanitaria" (more or less the equivalent of our NHS).
It took her only a few weeks to sort, because she is Spanish.

At least that's how it was done here! Perhaps it differs according to the province you worked in/live in.

Your health card (tarjeta sanitaria) should show a red square mark somewhere, which shows that you are retired. Can be useful as proof you are retired in museums, etc!

Hope that helps.

That's because of the 'extra' payments in July & December. Actually, they're not extra, it's just that an annual salary is divided by 14 months instead of 12, so you think you are getting more, when in fact it's not the case.
One of the very few positive measures that Franco introduced.