In this article
For a career in France and Switzerland, a pension application is submitted to an institution determined in particular by where you live and the states where you have worked. If you live in France, contact the pension fund for the place where you were last affiliated in France. This fund will examine your French pension entitlements and forward a pension claim to the institutions in the other states where you have worked.
To prepare your application, distinguish between where you live at the time of the application, the states where you have worked and the insurance periods completed in each of them. The first helps you identify where to submit your application; the others help you present your work history and understand the entitlements being examined.
You live in France: which fund should you contact?
Cleiss states that the application may be sent to the pension fund for the place where you were last affiliated in France, through your online personal account or by post. It cites, among others, Carsat, Cnav, CGSS and CCMSA.
To identify where to submit your application, start with your last affiliation in France. The application concerns your French pension and, where applicable, pensions from the other states where you have worked. Cleiss advises specifying these states in your application.
The French fund examines your French pension entitlements under the coordination regulations. It also forwards a foreign pension claim to the pension institutions in the other states where you have worked, using electronic exchanges and your French career record.
In practical terms, if your work history includes France and Switzerland, mention these countries when you submit your application. Your starting point is your last affiliation in France: this enables you to choose the fund to contact, whether you use your online personal account or post.
If you live in another state
If you live in another state within the area covered by the European regulations where you have worked, submit your application to that state's pension institution. Switzerland is included in this area. Here too, Cleiss advises specifying the states where you have worked.
This institution examines your foreign pension entitlements under the coordination regulations. It forwards a pension claim to the pension funds in each other state where you have worked, using electronic exchanges and your foreign career record.
If you live in a state where you have not worked, Cleiss says you should contact the pension institution in the state of your last employment. To choose where to submit your application, you therefore need to distinguish between your country of residence, the states where you have worked and, in this last case, the state of your last employment.
A practical approach is to start with your residence at the time of the application, then check whether you have worked in that state. If your situation falls under the last-employment rule, look for the pension institution in the corresponding state. Also keep the other states in your work history in mind so that you can specify them.
When should you submit the application?
A pension is not granted automatically; you must apply for it. Cleiss advises submitting your pension application approximately 6 months before reaching the statutory retirement age. This age may vary depending on the state from which you are claiming an old-age benefit and the applicant's sex.
This advice provides a guide for preparing your application. To assess your situation, take into account the state from which you are claiming a benefit: the applicable age may vary from one state to another. Also identify the fund to which you should apply and the countries to mention before submitting your application.
What happens to the periods completed in each country?
Each state pays for the insurance periods completed under its legislation. It pays the pension share corresponding to contribution periods and equivalent periods completed on its territory.
Among equivalent periods, Cleiss cites interruptions to work due in particular to illness, maternity, disability, workplace accidents, military service or unemployment. To trace your work history, distinguish these periods from contribution periods and identify the state on whose territory they were completed.
Your pension may be calculated in coordination with foreign old-age schemes under the rules set out in the European pension insurance regulations. The competent institution in each country aggregates the insurance periods completed in France and in the other EU/EEA states or in Switzerland.
It calculates the pension as if the entire career had taken place in a single country: this is aggregation. The amount of the pension paid by each state is then reduced in proportion to the respective insurance periods completed in each state relative to the total insurance period: this is pro-rating.
In France, this aggregation is useful in particular for determining the old-age pension rate at the statutory age at which entitlement begins. To assess your situation, distinguish between where the application is submitted, its forwarding to the institutions concerned and the calculation of the share payable by each state.
Before submitting your application
- Identify your residence at the time of the application and the states where you have worked.
- In France, look for the fund for the place of your last affiliation in France; in other situations, check the case corresponding to your residence and, where applicable, your last employment.
- Prepare to present your work history by distinguishing between states and insurance periods, then specify the states where you have worked in your application.
- Keep in mind Cleiss's advice on when to apply and the possible variations in the statutory age depending on the state from which a benefit is claimed and the applicant's sex.
This check helps you separate the question of the recipient from that of the calculation: the fund receiving the application examines the entitlements within its remit and forwards the applications to the institutions concerned according to the situation described by Cleiss.
This information presents general guidance from Cleiss; it does not constitute personalised advice.