Can I appeal a pension decision from another country, and how long do I have?

Yes, within a time limit that each country sets for itself. Germany: An objection (Widerspruch) against a German pension decision must be lodged in writing within one month (Source: deutsche-rentenversicherung.de, read 1 September 2026). The United States: A request for reconsideration of a Social Security decision must be submitted within 60 days of receiving the decision (Source: ssa.gov, read 1 September 2026). Our Cross-Border Pension Deadline Register holds 25 appeal window rows across 17 countries. Each rule names the date its clock starts from, and that date differs by country.

How long do I have in each country?

• France. A decision of a French pension fund must be challenged before the Commission de recours amiable within 2 months of the notification of that decision (Source: info-retraite.fr, read 1 September 2026).
• Italy. An INPS decision can be challenged by administrative appeal (ricorso amministrativo) within ninety days of the date the decision was received (Source: inps.it, read 1 September 2026).
• Ireland. An appeal against a Department of Social Protection decision must be lodged within 60 days of the date on the decision letter for decisions dated on or after 28 April 2025 (Source: citizensinformation.ie, read 1 September 2026).
• Denmark. A complaint against a decision by Udbetaling Danmark about a pension must reach Udbetaling Danmark within 4 weeks of the person receiving the decision (Source: borger.dk, read 1 September 2026).
• Luxembourg. An appeal to the Social Security Arbitration Council (Conseil arbitral de la sécurité sociale) must be filed within forty days of notification of the contested decision (Source: secu.lu, read 1 September 2026).
• Brazil. An appeal against an INSS decision must be lodged within 30 days of learning the result (Source: gov.br, read 1 September 2026).
• Sweden. After a reconsideration decision, an appeal to the administrative court must be in writing and reach the Swedish Pensions Agency within two months of the person being notified (Source: pensionsmyndigheten.se, read 1 September 2026).
• United Kingdom. After a mandatory reconsideration decision there is one month to appeal to the tribunal, and a late appeal may simply be refused (Source: gov.uk, read 1 September 2026).
• New Zealand. A challenge to a Work and Income decision about a pension requires an application for a review of decision within three months of the decision being made (Source: workandincome.govt.nz, read 1 September 2026).
• South Africa. An unsuccessful applicant for the South African older person's grant must appeal within 90 days of being notified of the outcome (Source: gov.za, read 1 September 2026).

Is there a final cut-off?

In some systems there is. Norway. There is an absolute one-year bar on complaining about a Nav decision: once more than a year has passed since the decision was received, Nav cannot consider the complaint at all, even for good cause (Source: nav.no, read 1 September 2026). Belgium. The Belgian Pensions Ombudsman can refuse to handle a complaint about events that happened more than a year ago (Source: ombudsmanpensioenen.be, read 1 September 2026).

Where do I see the rule for one country?

On that country's deadline page, for example Germany or France. The country hubs for the examples above: Germany, United States, France, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Brazil, Sweden, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, Norway and Belgium.

Our free pension checker and our free map start from your own work history. Our pension questions pages answer single country questions, our authority answers publish what national pension institutions told us in writing, and our monthly data release publishes our agreement routes and deadline rows as CSV, each with its source and read date.

Frequently asked questions

Is an appeal the same as a correction of my record? Not always. Some countries set a separate time limit for correcting the contribution record, and our post on checking a pension record sets those out.

Does PensionHunter appeal for me? No. We identify and research, and set out each rule with its source and read date. We give no legal or financial advice.

Sources

• Deadline register row de-1, citing deutsche-rentenversicherung.de, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row fr-1, citing info-retraite.fr, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row it-1, citing inps.it, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row us-1, citing ssa.gov, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row ie-1, citing citizensinformation.ie, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row dk-1, citing borger.dk, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row lu-1, citing secu.lu, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row br-1, citing gov.br, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row se-2, citing pensionsmyndigheten.se, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row no-2, citing nav.no, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row nz-2, citing workandincome.govt.nz, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row uk-1, citing gov.uk, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row be-1, citing ombudsmanpensioenen.be, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row za-2, citing gov.za, read 1 September 2026.