FAQ
1) How should I apply for a Czech pension if I have also worked in an EU member state or in a country with which the Czech Republic has a social security agreement and I live outside the Czech Republic?
2) How should I apply for a Czech pension if I have also worked in an EU member state or in a country with which the Czech Republic has a social security agreement and I live in the Czech Republic?
3) How should I apply for a Czech pension if I live in a country that is not a member of the EU and with which the Czech Republic does not have a social security agreement?
4) What is a Certificate of Living?
A Certificate of Living is a form that the recipient of a Czech pension who permanently resides abroad must fill out and send to the CSSA in order to have their Czech pension paid. A Certificate of Living proves that the conditions for the right to pension payments still apply (i.e., that the pensioner is still alive). If a pensioner living abroad does not send in this certificate, the pension will not be paid to him or her.
The completed form with the pensioner's officially certified signature must be sent to:
- by post to the following address: ČSSZ [CSSA], oddělení výplat do zahraničí [Department for Payments Abroad], Křížová 25, 225 08 Prague 5,
- electronically with a qualified electronic signature to posta@cssz.cz.
The Certificate of Living form is available in different languages at the CSSA ePortal. Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Benefits Payment section.
5) Are there fixed deadlines for pension payments abroad?
Up to December 2025
There are none. The recipient of a Czech pension living abroad sends the Certificate of Living at time intervals of his/her choosing and the pension is paid retroactively for this period. This can be, for example, monthly, quarterly, annually or at some another time interval. Therefore, if a pensioner sends the Certificate of Living for example, once every three months, the pension will be paid once every three months, but the exact date of the pension payment within a given month is not laid down.
As of January 2026
For clients residing in another EU Member State (other than Slovakia) or in an Agreement State, pensions are paid every month without the need to provide a Certificate of Living before each instalment. It is sufficient to submit an authenticated Certificate of Living twice a year – in June and in December.
Clients residing in Slovakia are paid their pension in regular monthly instalments without the need to provide a Certificate of Living.
A receiver of a Czech pension abroad whose place of residence is in a Non-Agreement State sends a Certificate of Living at intervals of their choice, and the pension is paid retroactively for that period. For example, this might be every month, quarterly, once a year, or another time interval. If, for instance, the pensioner sends a Certificate of Living once every three months, the pension will be paid once every three months, but the exact payment date within that month is not set.
Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Benefits Payment section.
6) How long does it take to process a Certificate of Living?
After the Certificate of Living is processed at the CSSA, the request for pension payment is sent to the Czech National Bank, which transfers the pension to the client's account through foreign banks.
7) How often do I need to send the Certificate of Living?
Up to December 2025
A pensioner who is in receipt of a Czech pension and lives abroad chooses for themselves how often to send in the Certificate of Living. In the case of lower-level pensions, it may be more advantageous to send in the Certificate of Living for example, once or twice a year, in order to reduce the cost of bank fees when transferring the pension, or of official signature certifications. In the case of higher-level pensions, the Certificate of Living is usually sent in more often, so that the pension payment is also more frequent.
The CSSA recommends sending the Certificate of Living at least once a year, as the payment of pensions is only possible 5 years retrospectively.
As of January 2026
For clients residing in another EU Member State (other than Slovakia) or in an Agreement State, pensions are paid every month without the need to provide a Certificate of Living before each instalment. It is sufficient to submit an authenticated Certificate of Living twice a year – in June and in December.
Clients residing in Slovakia are paid their pension in regular monthly instalments without the need to provide a Certificate of Living.
A receiver of a Czech pension abroad whose place of residence is in a Non-Agreement State sends a Certificate of Living at intervals of their choice, and the pension is paid retroactively for that period. For example, this might be every month, quarterly, once a year, or another time interval. If, for instance, the pensioner sends a Certificate of Living once every three months, the pension will be paid once every three months, but the exact payment date within that month is not set.
Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Benefits Payment section.
8) Who abroad can certify my signature on the Certificate of Living for the purpose of paying out the Czech pension?
9) How and to whom to report the death of a Czech pension recipient abroad?
10) Can I request a refund of social insurance contribution already paid?
If you have worked in several EU or EEA countries or in Switzerland, you are entitled to a separate pension from each country where you were insured for at least a year, if you meet the conditions laid down by national legislation (e.g. the applicable age for the entitlement to a pension). If necessary, insurance periods completed in different member states will be added together to assess the claim. If the insurance period in a certain country was shorter than the required (one) year, the country in which you last worked or lived will take this over.
11) How to apply for confirmation of the period of employment/time worked in the Czech Republic?
You can find out the status of your pension insurance periods in two ways:
- Online by viewing your account via the CSSA ePortal "Overview of pension insurance periods". This method is only available if you are the owner of a data box, have the National Identity Authority, the so-called NIA, possibly via the Citizen identity portal. This method is available at any time and at no cost.
- Once per calendar year, one may request the sending of a so-called personal pension insurance information sheet (Czech: IOLDP), free of charge. The CSSA will send the IOLDP no later than 90 days from the date of delivery of the request. It is requested using the form Request to send an personal pension insurance information sheet, located at the CSSA ePortal, or by letter (must include the applicant's personal identification (birth) number, first name, surname, maiden name and address or ID of the data box to which it is to be sent), to be send to the following address: ČSSZ [CSSA], Odbor správy údajové základny [Database Management Section], Křížová 25, 225 08 Prague 5.
12) How and to whom should I report a change of address or name or surname if I am in receipt of a Czech pension and live abroad?
If you receive a pension from the CSSA and live abroad, you can notify any change of address/name in writing in the form of a personally signed letter that you send to the following address: Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení [Czech Social Security Administration], Křížová 25, 225 08 Prague 5, Czech Republic. You may also send notice of any change of address/name in electronic form, signed with an acknowledged electronic signature, to the following email address: posta@cssz.cz or by data message via the data box information system to the CSSA data box: ID: 49kaiq3.
You may also use the form Hlášení změny adresy nebo jména a příjmení [Reporting a change of address or name and surname] available on the CSSA ePortal. In the notification, state the reference number (personal identification (birth) number) under which the pension is paid.
13) How and to whom should I report a change of bank details (bank account number) if I am in receipt of a Czech pension and live abroad?
14) I am a foreigner, how should I apply for a Czech birth number and how should I report it to the CSSA after it has been assigned?
An application for the allocation of a Czech birth number may be submitted:
- in person or by post to: Ministry of the Interior - Administrative Activities Section, Czech Birth Numbers Department, náměstí Hrdinů 1634/3, 140 21 Prague 4,
- via the Ministry of the Interior data box (data box identification number: 6BNAAWP). If, as a foreigner, you have not been assigned Czech birth number, the CSSA can assign you an insured person’s identification number (Czech: EČP). You can then report information on the allocation of a personal identification (birth) number to any district social security administration branch or by email to posta@cssz.cz.
15) What is the insured person’s identification number (EČP)?
The insured person's identification number (EČP) is a temporary social insurance number that the Czech Social Security Administration assigns to you for a temporary period (until a personal identification (birth) number is assigned) on the basis of an application and upon presentation of an identity document and a birth certificate.
However, it should be noted that the insured person's identification number (EČP) is assigned to you separately by the CSSA, you will receive another record number from your health insurance company and a further one will be given to you by the Czech Inland Revenue/Tax Office).
The insured person's identification number (EČP) is different from the Czech birth number assigned by the Czech Ministry of the Interior. If you first received an insured person's identification number and then a Czech birth number, you must submit a request to change the EČP to a personal identification (birth) number. This is possible either in person at any branch of the district social security administration or by email to: posta@cssz.cz.
16) Will the state in which I live grant me a pension also for any insurance period abroad and will I receive only one pension?
Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Pensions section.
17) How do I log in to the ePortal?
No separate registration is required to use the CSSA ePortal. You can log in either via a data box or via the National Identification and Authentication (NIA) portal. More information on all login options is available at https://eportal.cssz.cz/web/portal-en/eportal-services-log-in.
When logging in via a data box, use the same login details as for the Data Box Information System. After selecting “Log in”, you will be redirected for verification. The CSSA obtains information on new data boxes from basic registers in a process that may take 3–5 days.
f you do not have a data box, you can log in, for example, using an electronic identity card, bank identity, international (EU) gateway, or another means via the NIA portal. After selecting the login method and agreeing to the transfer of data, you will be redirected to the CSSA ePortal
18) How to obtain a paper indexation notification?
The indexation notification can be collected free of charge from any social security administration office, where it will be printed on the spot.
If you wish to receive the indexation notification by post, a Request for Indexation Notifications to be Sent by Post must be submitted in advance. The request must be delivered to us no later than three months before the next indexation. For example, for the January indexation, the request must reach the CSSA by 30 September of the previous year, and any request delivered after this date will apply only to the following indexation. The completed and signed form may be submitted in person, by post, electronically (signed with a qualified electronic signature and sent by email to posta@cssz.cz), or via a data box.
Postage will then be deducted from the first indexed pension instalment. If you were born before 1955, you are not required to cover postage.
More information on sending the indexation notification by post is available here (in Czech).
Last update: 25. 8. 2025