Austria, country page
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$99
Country Pension Identification Report, Austria
Within 24 to 48 hours
Full refund if we find nothing material.
Enhanced Pension Identification Report, $499: your Action Pack, a complete request pack for every fund we identify, written in your voice and ready to send, delivered within five working days of your intake form. Global Pension Identification Report, $799: the same across every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover, within ten working days. Full refund if we find nothing material, decided at identification.
At the Country Report you contact the administrators yourself, using the routes in your report. On Enhanced and Global: We stay with your case after delivery. If an administrator asks you a question, refuses, or simply does not reply, send it to us and we will tell you exactly what to send next. That continues until every fund we identified has answered you, or the route is exhausted and we say so plainly.
Identification only. We do not open credential-protected accounts, and we do not transfer, negotiate, or make decisions regarding any pension. Everything below is the free official route, and it stays free: you are welcome to use it instead.
One
Since 2003, Austrian employers must pay 1.53 per cent of monthly pay into a Betriebliche Vorsorgekasse, the occupational provision fund, under Abfertigung neu, the occupational severance provision system. The employer picked the fund, and the health insurance carrier collects the money and forwards it, so the worker never contracted with the fund and does not know who holds it.
The official business portal states that the capital does not lapse but stays invested in the existing fund. A 2004 Austrian job can still be sitting there in 2026, and it is yours. A right to dispose of it arises after three contribution years, with several employers counting together. It is separate from the state pension and shows on no pension award.
Sources: usp.gv.at, Abfertigung, usp.gv.at, Abfertigung neu for employees and free service contractors
Two
PV states that you must always apply. That is the Antragsprinzip, the application principle. There is no automatic award, and the Stichtag, the reference date governing when payment starts, exists only once you apply. Someone abroad who never applies never receives.
PV asks for a change of residence to be notified within two weeks, so a years-old address on file means any outreach failed silently. Always apply. Never wait to be contacted.
Sources: pv.at, making a pension application, pv.at, the Austrian pension abroad
Three
Pensioners living abroad must return a life certificate, the Lebensbestaetigung, every year. It is sent each January and due in mid-June, and the pension is temporarily suspended if it does not come back. If a payment stopped, suspect a missed Lebensbestaetigung before you suspect a lost entitlement.
PV states that the old-age pension needs at least 180 insurance months, 15 years, of which at least 84 months, 7 years, must be in gainful employment. Pension age is 65, and since 1 January 2024 the age for women is rising in stages from 60 to 65.
The unlock.
The 180-month test is met by aggregating periods from other EU, EEA and agreement states. The EU rule is that all periods worked in other EU countries count as if you had worked there all along.
Austria then adds a floor of its own. For old-age and survivors pensions calculated on a Pensionskonto, the pension account, under the General Pensions Act (APG), entitlement can arise on fewer than 12 Austrian insurance months, while other Austrian benefits require at least 12. A single season or a student job can still be worth money.
PV states that if you were insured in Austria and at least one further Member State, you apply as a rule in your country of residence, not separately in each. PV is the addressee for record requests, and for claimants outside the coordination area.
Sources: pv.at, old-age pension, pv.at, cross-border pension insurance, pv.at, guide to taking up a pension in Austria, Your Europe, state pensions abroad
Start with the Versicherungsdatenauszug, the insurance data extract, a statement of account of your social insurance data. It shows where and when you were registered and insured, and it covers occupational provision under Abfertigung neu. We have not verified that it names the fund holding your Abfertigung neu money.
The portal is MeineSV, alongside the PV e-services page. The identifier is the Versicherungsnummer, the Austrian ten-digit social insurance number, printed on an old e-card, a payslip or a contract. If you do not have yours, contact PV.
The online route requires ID Austria for both records. Registration needs Austrian citizenship or a sufficient connection to Austria, plus photo identification, and full function needs an Austrian identity card or passport number. A non-citizen is therefore not excluded outright, but most departed workers lack that document, so treat ID Austria as a likely blocker. We have not confirmed whether it can be obtained from abroad.
PV states that you may request the extract at any time directly from PV. For the Pensionskonto, oesterreich.gv.at describes ID Austria, FinanzOnline, or, offline, asking your pension insurance institution to send your calculation results and account statement. ID Austria is not a prerequisite.
pv.at, checking insurance periods, oesterreich.gv.at, pension account, oesterreich.gv.at, pension information
PV states that both records are free, round the clock. There is no English in the PV brochure and form index, so expect to write in German.
The Finanzmarktaufsicht (FMA) supervises the Betriebliche Vorsorgekassen. Its company database lists the Vorsorgekassen authorised in Austria, under the category of Betriebliche Vorsorgekassen licensed in Austria. It needs a real browser to open.
The routing fact that matters: PV states that where residence is abroad, the Landesstelle Wien is competent.
Pensionsversicherung Oesterreich
Friedrich-Hillegeist-Strasse 1
1020 Wien, Austria
Ghegastrasse 1
1030 Wien, Austria
Published as the consultation address during renovation works.
We have not confirmed that post goes to Ghegastrasse 1 rather than to Friedrich-Hillegeist-Strasse 1. Confirm with PV before you send anything.
Email: pva@pv.at. Telephone as published: +43 (0)5 03 03. That is PV's single national number. There is no separate international line and no separate international email address, and we have not verified that the number works from abroad. If it fails, use email or post.
Sources: pv.at, contact, pv.at, the Austrian pension abroad, pv.at, cross-border pension insurance
People stall here, so say it plainly: documents may be an original, a scan, a copy or a certified transcript. Certified or apostilled originals are not universally demanded.
Get the extract first. Reconcile it against your own employment history. Close the gaps with PV's form for the supplementing of periods. Then file at home, or, if you are outside the EU and EEA, with the Landesstelle Wien.
Sources: pv.at, making a pension application, pv.at, checking insurance periods, pv.at, guide to taking up a pension in Austria
Austria's aggregation rules rule very few people out. These are the genuine stops.
You must always apply. PV states the Antragsprinzip, the application principle: there is no automatic award, and the Stichtag that governs when payment starts exists only once you apply. Someone living abroad who never applies never receives. PV also asks for a change of residence to be notified within two weeks, so a years-old address means any outreach failed silently.
Ask for the Versicherungsdatenauszug, the insurance data extract. Online it is available through MeineSV and the PV e-services page, but the online route requires ID Austria for both records, which is a likely blocker for most departed workers, and we have not confirmed whether ID Austria can be obtained from abroad. The fallbacks are the main path for non-residents: PV states you may request the extract at any time directly from PV, and for the Pensionskonto oesterreich.gv.at describes ID Austria, FinanzOnline, or, offline, asking your pension insurance institution to send your calculation results and account statement. PV states both records are free, round the clock.
Yes. The old-age pension needs at least 180 insurance months, 15 years, of which at least 84 months, 7 years, in gainful employment, and the 180-month test is met by aggregating periods from other EU, EEA and agreement states. Austria then adds its own floor: for old-age and survivors pensions calculated on a Pensionskonto under the General Pensions Act, entitlement can arise on fewer than 12 Austrian insurance months, while other Austrian benefits require at least 12. A single season or a student job can still be worth money.
If you were employed in Austria from 2003 onwards, possibly. Employers must pay 1.53 per cent of monthly pay into a Betriebliche Vorsorgekasse under Abfertigung neu. The employer picked the fund and the health insurance carrier collects and forwards the money, so the worker never contracted with the fund and usually does not know who holds it. The official business portal states the capital does not lapse but stays invested in the existing fund. A right to dispose of it arises after three contribution years, with several employers counting together. It is separate from the state pension and appears on no pension award.
PV states that where residence is abroad, the Landesstelle Wien is competent. PV also states that if you were insured in Austria and at least one further Member State you apply as a rule in your country of residence, not separately in each, and PV is the addressee for record requests and for claimants outside the coordination area.
Start here
$99
Country Pension Identification Report, Austria
Within 24 to 48 hours
Full refund if we find nothing material.
Enhanced Pension Identification Report, $499: your Action Pack, a complete request pack for every fund we identify, written in your voice and ready to send, delivered within five working days of your intake form. Global Pension Identification Report, $799: the same across every country you worked in, up to all 41 we cover, within ten working days. Full refund if we find nothing material, decided at identification.
At the Country Report you contact the administrators yourself, using the routes in your report. On Enhanced and Global: We stay with your case after delivery. If an administrator asks you a question, refuses, or simply does not reply, send it to us and we will tell you exactly what to send next. That continues until every fund we identified has answered you, or the route is exhausted and we say so plainly.
Identification only. We do not open credential-protected accounts, and we do not transfer, negotiate, or make decisions regarding any pension. Everything below is the free official route, and it stays free: you are welcome to use it instead.
Important Information
PensionHunter is a research and administrative assistance service only. We search pension registries and employer records to identify whether pension entitlements may exist in your name, we do not provide financial advice, manage pension funds, arrange pension transfers, or assist with claiming or accessing pension funds.
PensionHunter is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or any equivalent financial-services or pensions regulator in your jurisdiction. Our service is limited to research and information provision. We charge a fixed research fee paid in advance, Full refund if we find nothing material.
All decisions about your pension, including whether to contact providers, transfer funds, or take any other action, remain entirely yours. We strongly recommend consulting a qualified independent financial adviser regulated in your jurisdiction before making any decisions about any pension we locate.