🇹🇷 German Pension Refund for Citizens of Türkiye
For Turkish citizens, the German refund rules run on insurance, not geography: no 60-month cap exists, living in Türkiye never blocks a claim — and the one clock that matters is the 24 months since your last mandatory pension insurance, Turkish SGK included. Sixty German months or two hundred, the employee share you paid is claimable once that clock has run and you live outside the EU, the UK and India.
⭐ Over 4.9/5 on ProvenExpert from more than 1,250 reviews
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✅ Our retained completed paid cases across all nationalities show an average refund of €11,572
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✅ On record: completed refunds from under €200 to over €53,000
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✅ No German bank account required
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✅ More than three quarters of our 300 most recent completed refunds reached the client escrow account within three months
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✅ No refund, no fee — success-based only
No cap on months — and what that means
Pendant que vous étiez employé en Allemagne , chaque mois un pourcentage de votre salaire brut était versé à la " Deutsche Rentenversicherung " (Assurance pension allemande) pour les futures prestations de retraite. Mais que se passe-t-il après avoir quitté l'Allemagne ?
Selon le Code social allemand (§210 SGB IV), les cotisations retraite sont remboursables après avoir quitté l'Allemagne, uniquement si
une) vous n'êtes pas autorisé à payer des cotisations retraite là où vous vivez actuellement, et...
b) 24 mois se sont écoulés depuis que vos dernières cotisations retraite ont été versées
c) vous résidez en dehors de l' UE/EEE/CH/UK
Alors que b et c sont faciles à remplir, a définit si vous pouvez obtenir un remboursement de l'argent qui a été prélevé sur votre chèque de paie.
Êtes-vous autorisé à payer des contributions volontaires?
Cette question trouve une réponse dans l'accord de sécurité sociale que l'Albanie a signé avec l'Allemagne.
L'accord de pension entre l' Albanie et l'Allemagne :
En tant que citoyen albanais, vous n'êtes pas autorisé à payer des cotisations de retraite volontaires après avoir quitté l'Allemagne et la région mentionnée sous c uniquement si vous avez cotisé à votre retraite pendant moins de 60 mois au régime de retraite allemand.
En d'autres termes, en tant que citoyen albanais, vous n'avez droit au remboursement de vos cotisations d'assurance retraite que si vous n'avez pas droit à de futures prestations de retraite. Pour avoir droit aux prestations de retraite mensuelles, une période minimale de cotisation de retraite de 60 mois est requise.
Si vous avez droit à des prestations de retraite, vous êtes autorisé à cotiser volontairement au système allemand depuis n'importe où dans le monde. Mais : Vous n'avez pas droit à un remboursement de vos cotisations de retraite.
We know foreign pension rules are complicated, especially years after you left Germany. That's why our eligibility check is completely free — no charge just to learn whether you qualify. If you're eligible, we explain the process clearly before you commit to anything. Our service is exclusively available for non-EU passport holders.
Êtes-vous autorisé à payer des contributions volontaires?
Cette question trouve une réponse dans l'accord de sécurité sociale que l'Albanie a signé avec l'Allemagne.
L'accord de pension entre l' Albanie et l'Allemagne :
En tant que citoyen albanais, vous n'êtes pas autorisé à payer des cotisations de retraite volontaires après avoir quitté l'Allemagne et la région mentionnée sous c uniquement si vous avez cotisé à votre retraite pendant moins de 60 mois au régime de retraite allemand.
En d'autres termes, en tant que citoyen albanais, vous n'avez droit au remboursement de vos cotisations d'assurance retraite que si vous n'avez pas droit à de futures prestations de retraite. Pour avoir droit aux prestations de retraite mensuelles, une période minimale de cotisation de retraite de 60 mois est requise.
Si vous avez droit à des prestations de retraite, vous êtes autorisé à cotiser volontairement au système allemand depuis n'importe où dans le monde. Mais : Vous n'avez pas droit à un remboursement de vos cotisations de retraite.
One rare historical exception — voluntary insurance before April 1987
Voluntary German insurance begun for periods up to 31 March 1987 can keep old voluntary-insurance rights alive — and a live voluntary-insurance right blocks the refund regardless of everything else. This touches a small group of long-standing accounts; if your German history includes voluntary contributions from that era, ask us before applying. The pension-at-retirement route may remain open.
What comes back
Our retained completed paid cases across all nationalities show an average refund of €11,571.66 and a median of €10,327.10 (calculated 24 August 2026) — on record: completed refunds from under €200 to over €53,000. The legal composition: 100% of the employee pension contributions deducted from your German salary, 50% of voluntary or self-employed contributions, plus or minus adjustments from a divorce-court pension equalization. The employer's half stays in the system. Since 2018 the employee rate has been 9.3% of gross salary, capped at the monthly Beitragsbemessungsgrenze — €8,450 in 2026 (2025: €8,050); pay above the cap carried no deductions.
Estimate your figure with the free refund calculator →
The fee
9.75% of the refunded amount, capped at €2,500 including VAT — you pay only after your money arrives, with nothing upfront and no minimum fee. The cap covers the agreed managed administrative scope; regulated legal support within that scope comes from our external German partner law firm — we ourselves provide administrative support, not legal advice or representation. Ordinary German correspondence and the decision are explained and translated into English as part of the service; certified translations require a separate agreement, and separate representation in an objection, appeal or court proceeding is not included automatically.
What to have ready
Turkish passport; German pension number (Versicherungsnummer — our guide shows where to look); approximate German employment dates and employers; current address and payout account; Abmeldung if it survived the years. Missing pieces resolve along the way: we can help recover your pension number, German deregistration is available as an optional €50 add-on (including VAT), and we obtain and review the relevant account information during the managed process where required.
How much happens online
Nearly the whole client side, for most clients — details, signatures and document exchange run digitally while we manage the pension-office correspondence within the agreed scope. The single analog step for everyone is the Certificate of Life and Nationality we prepare, confirmed by a notary or another authority accepted by the responsible pension office; online notarization is often accepted, and any local notary or certification cost is borne by the client. And when DRV Oldenburg-Bremen is the office responsible for your refund, we prepare the power of attorney and payment declaration and ask you to send us the signed originals — a limited exception rather than the rule.
Getting paid
No German account needed at any point: the refund arrives in the escrow account operated by our German partner law firm, the agreed fee is deducted, and the balance is transferred to the bank account you nominate — Turkish accounts included. A third-party account can be used where the required account-holder declaration and compliance checks are satisfied. Account-holder checks, international sanctions and banking restrictions can limit where — and in which currency — the money can be sent.
How long it takes
The current audited set: more than three quarters of our 300 most recent completed refunds reached the client escrow account within three months — 229 of 300 (76.3%) within 90 days of complete submission — see the full data and methodology. Individual processing times vary; the responsible office sets its own tempo, 93.3% of our latest 300 completed refunds reached escrow within six months, and German law can provide 4% annual interest from the seventh calendar month after a complete application.
Our contribution is a file that invites no follow-up questions — a process designed to avoid preventable delays — plus a status update at least every four weeks during an active claim, with known response deadlines tracked within the managed scope. An inactivity action (Untätigkeitsklage) can become available after six months as a case-dependent last resort; in our operating history, none has yet been required.
Not a Turkish citizen, but living in Türkiye?
The same insurance logic serves you: residence in Türkiye blocks nobody, but mandatory SGK contributions block while they last and restart the 24-month clock when they end. Once the clock has run, your eligibility follows your own citizenship's rules — check your passport's position in under a minute.
Frequently asked questions
Is there really no month limit for Turkish citizens? None. Sixty, one hundred or two hundred German contribution months — the full employee share is claimable once the SGK-inclusive 24-month waiting period has run and you live outside the EU, the UK and India.
I still pay SGK in Türkiye — can I claim? Not yet. Mandatory Turkish pension insurance suspends eligibility, and the 24-month clock starts only when those contributions end.
What about my voluntary German contributions from before April 1987? They can keep old voluntary-insurance rights alive, which blocks the refund regardless of other conditions. Ask us before applying — the pension route may remain open.
Refund or pension at 60+ months? One or the other: a completed refund dissolves the old insurance relationship, so refunded months never become pension months. Our free check shows which routes stand open.
What is the fee? 9.75% of the refunded amount, capped at €2,500 including VAT — nothing upfront, no minimum fee, covering the agreed managed administrative scope including our partner law firm's support within that scope. Separate representation in an objection, appeal or court proceeding is not included automatically. No refund, no fee.
Do I need a German bank account? No — escrow (operated by our German partner law firm) first, then the account you nominate, Turkish accounts included. Account-holder checks, international sanctions and banking restrictions can limit where — and in which currency — the money can be sent.
Claim your pension refund today
The clock may already have run — starting your claim takes less than one minute, and you pay only when your money arrives.
Want the full rules, forms and process in detail? Read our complete guide: How to Claim a German Pension Refund: Complete 2026 Guide