German Pension Refund After You Leave: Reclaim Your Contributions (§210 SGB VI)
Leaving Germany for good? If you are a non-EU national from a country without a social-security agreement, you can reclaim the employee share of your German state-pension contributions 24 months after you stop being insured. Who qualifies, how much you get back, and how to apply to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung.
Reviewed: 2026-06•Read time: 6 min read•Best for: Non-EU workers from non-agreement countries leaving Germany permanently
Written & reviewed by the Starting in Germany team, checked against official German government sources.
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Can you get your German pension contributions back?
If you worked in Germany you paid into the statutory pension (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) every month — and if you leave for good, some of that money can come back to you. The refund is called Beitragserstattung, set out in § 210 SGB VI.
You can apply when all of these are true:
You are no longer subject to compulsory insurance in Germany and have no right to voluntary insurance there (this is the condition that, in practice, excludes most EU citizens — see below).
24 calendar months have passed since you left compulsory insurance.
You have not completed the 60-month (5-year) minimum contribution period (allgemeine Wartezeit). If you already have 5 years in, you keep a German pension entitlement instead and cannot take a refund.
The total statutory pension contribution is 18.6% of gross salary in 2026, split between you and your employer. A refund returns only the share you paid yourself — for employees, the employee share (Arbeitnehmeranteil). The employer's share is not refunded (§ 210 Abs. 3 SGB VI). Voluntary or self-employed contributions are refunded at half.
So as a rough mental model: an employee gets back roughly their own ~9.3% of gross, not the full 18.6%. Your actual figure depends on what you earned and how long you contributed — the Deutsche Rentenversicherung calculates it from your record.
The 24-month waiting period
You cannot claim the moment you leave. § 210 Abs. 2 SGB VI requires that 24 calendar months pass after you stop being compulsorily insured before a refund can be paid. The waiting period exists so you don't cash out during a short gap and then return to work in Germany. Mark the date your German job (and insurance) ended, add two years, and set a reminder — the entitlement does not expire, but you cannot apply early.
EU & agreement countries: why you usually can't claim
This is the part that surprises people. If you are a citizen of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, or of a country with a German social-security agreement (Sozialversicherungsabkommen — 18 agreements covering 21 states, including the USA, India, Türkiye, Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Israel), you generally cannot get a refund. You retain the right to voluntary insurance, so your contribution periods are preserved and can be added to a future pension in your home system instead of being paid out.
In other words, a refund under § 210 mainly applies to non-EU nationals from non-agreement countries. If your country is on the agreement list, your money isn't lost — it stays as a pension entitlement you can draw later. Check the Deutsche Rentenversicherung agreement-states list for your nationality before assuming either outcome.
How to apply to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung
Apply directly to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (DRV) — there is no fee and you do not need a lawyer:
Form V0901 — "Antrag auf Beitragserstattung bei Aufenthalt im Ausland" (refund application for residence abroad), available in a bilingual German/English version. Use V0900 if you are still in Germany; leaflet V0910 explains the rules. You can also file online via DRV eAntrag.
Have your German pension insurance number (Versicherungsnummer), passport, proof of departure, and bank details ready.
The refund is paid after the 24-month wait and after the DRV confirms you meet § 210.
One caution this guide will not guess on: the tax treatment of the refund can vary by your situation and country — confirm with the Finanzamt or a cross-border tax adviser rather than assume it is tax-free.