If you are applying for a Czech pension and you live in another EU member state or in a contracting state, you do not need to submit an application in the Czech Republic. Contact the institution responsible for pensions in the country in which you live; you can then apply through them. The institution of your place of residence will take care of the necessary administrative steps and will then forward the application to the CSSA for processing. You will receive a written decision on the awarding of a pension directly from the CSSA.

If you live in the Czech Republic, you apply for a pension at the local relevant district social security administration (in Prague at the territorial unit of the Prague Social Security Administration, in Brno at the Municipal Social Security Administration), where the staff of the pension insurance department will complete the forms with you to claim the right to a pension in the Czech Republic and in other states where you have worked (and were pension insured); the option of applying online is being planned for 2024 onwards. Provide all the necessary information you have about your employment in other countries and provide supporting documents (documents proving you were insured abroad, employment contracts, etc.). Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Pensions section. The CSSA will forward your pension application to the other country and will arrange ongoing communication with the institution there. The date when the application was drawn up at the district social security administration will be taken as the date of submission of the application in other countries as well. However, you do have the right to request that this application not be exercised for any particular country for the time being. This applies, for example, to situations where you have not reached the age that is the condition in the other country for fulfilling the conditions for the right to a pension

Apply for your pension using the form "Application for a pension from the Czech Republic - for applicants residing in a non-contracting foreign state", which is available on the CSSA e-Portal. You need to have your signature on the application officially certified, for example, at the Czech Embassy, or at an authority authorised to officially certify signatures in accordance with the regulations of the country of residence. Then send the completed form to the following address: ČSSZ [CSSA], Křížová 25, 225 08 Prague 5, Czech Republic. Once the CSSA has ruled on your right to a pension, it will send you a written decision.

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 e-Portal. Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Benefits Payment section.

There are none. The recipient of a Czech pension living abroad sends the Living Certificate 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 Living Certificate, 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.

Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Benefits Payment section.

If the Certificate of Living as sent is filled in correctly, contains a personal identification (“birth”) number and the pensioner’s officially certified signature, it usually takes three weeks to process from the date of its delivery to the CSSA. For implementation of the first payment or if there has been a change in bank details, processing of the payment is extended by one or two weeks. It is very important that the pensioner fills in his Czech personal identification (“birth”) number on the Certificate of Living; this is also the reference number and is given on the pension award decision.
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.

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.
Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Benefits Payment section.

General information on who can certify a pensioner's signature is given directly on the Certificate of Living form. This will be an institution that is authorized to certify signatures in the given country, e.g. municipal and urban authorities, pension insurance institutions, etc. A Czech representative office abroad (embassy, consulate) can also certify the signature.

If the recipient of a Czech pension dies abroad, this fact must be reported to the CSSA. A copy of the death certificate can be posted to: ČSSZ [CSSA], Křížová 25, 225 08 Prague 5 or sent by email to posta@cssz.cz.

If you have paid insurance premiums for social security in the Czech Republic, Czech legislation does not allow for the transfer or payment of this paid insurance premium to another country.
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.

You can find out the status of your pension insurance periods in two ways:

• Online by viewing your account via the CSSA ePortal: „Přehled dob důchodového pojištění“ ["Overview of pension insurance periods"] or

„Náhled na informativní osobní list důchodového pojištění“ ["View of the personal pension insurance information sheet"]. 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 (www.identitaobcana.cz). 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.

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.

If you receive a pension from the CSSA and live abroad, you can notify a change in your bank details using the form Žádost osoby žijící mimo území České republiky o výplatu českého důchodu poukazem na účet [Application from a person living outside the Czech Republic for the payment of a Czech pension by bank transfer], which should be sent to: Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení [Czech Social Security Administration] oddělení výplat do zahraničí, [Department for Payments Abroad] Křížová 25, 225 08 Prague 5, Czech Republic. You can also send a notification of a change in bank details in electronic form, signed with a qualified electronic signature, to the email address: posta@cssz.cz or by data message via the data box information system to the CSSA data box: ID: 49kaiq3.

If, as a foreigner, you have been granted a permit to stay in the Czech Republic for a period longer than 90 days, the personal identification (birth) number is assigned ex officio by the Ministry of the Interior - Asylum and Migration Policy Section, responsible for the place of your authorized residence.
An application for the allocation of a Czech birth number may be submitted:

1. 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,
2. 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.

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.

No. For the purposes of establishing the right to a pension, in the case of obtaining insurance periods from more than one country, the principle of aggregation of insurance periods is applied. This makes it possible to add up insurance periods acquired in any of the EU member states, or contracting countries. If a citizen obtains the insurance period necessary for the right to a pension in one country without taking into account insurance periods in other countries, he is entitled to a so-called full pension. However, if he is entitled to a pension in a particular country only by taking into account periods of insurance obtained in another country, he will be granted a so-called partial pension. Each state will pay a pension corresponding to the length of the insurance period obtained in that state.
Detailed information can be found on the CSSA website in the appropriate language version of the Pensions section.

This service can be used by holders of data boxes, eObčanka (an electronic ID card with a chip) or user accounts (name, password, SMS code will be activated at Identita občana)