What happens to my pension if I change citizenship?

In some systems it changes what is open to you. Nationality decides, country by country, who may take a refund of contributions, join a voluntary scheme or keep a payment going while living abroad. Singapore states the most direct rule: If you renounce Singapore citizenship or PR from 1 April 2024 onwards and do not close your CPF account yourself, CPF Board closes it automatically in the month after your renunciation and the savings stop earning the normal CPF interest rate (Source: cpf.gov.sg, read 1 September 2026). The money itself stays available: The savings can still be transferred to a bank account at any time (Source: cpf.gov.sg, read 1 September 2026). The rows below show where else nationality appears in the rules we hold.

Where does nationality decide a refund?

• Switzerland. Nationals of countries with no Swiss social security agreement can apply for the AHV contribution refund (Rueckverguetung) once they are permanently settled abroad (Source: zas.admin.ch, read 1 September 2026).
• South Korea. NPS states plainly that a Korean lump sum refund is not paid to nationals of the United Kingdom, and not payable to Chinese nationals, and it permits none for Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Finland or New Zealand (Source: nps.or.kr, read 4 October 2026).
• Japan. One of the mandatory eligibility requirements for the Lump-sum Withdrawal Payment is that not more than two years have elapsed since the person last lost insured status under the public pension system, alongside not holding Japanese nationality, having at least 6 months of coverage, not meeting the 10-year qualifying period, never having held a right to a disability pension, and not having an address in Japan (Source: nenkin.go.jp, read 1 September 2026).

Our post on getting contributions back sets out the refund rules in full.

Where does it decide a payment abroad?

United States. If you are not a US citizen there is a second clock: SSA generally cannot pay Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance benefits after your sixth calendar month outside the United States unless you fall within one of its specific exceptions, several of which turn on your exact nationality and country of residence (Source: ssa.gov Handbook 1513, ssa.gov international payments, and SSA POMS, read 3 October 2026).

Which systems keep a door open for their own nationals abroad?

• Spain. Spanish nationals who are emigrants, and children of emigrants who hold Spanish nationality, can subscribe to a special agreement (convenio especial) with Spanish Social Security that requires no prior contribution period, and is not conditional on the country involved having a Social Security agreement with Spain (Source: portal.seg-social.gob.es, read 1 September 2026).
• Turkey. Turkish citizens, and people who were Turkish citizens by birth but lost that citizenship by obtaining an official release (Blue Card holders), along with their Turkish citizen heirs, have the right to buy back qualifying foreign periods under Law 3201 (Source: sgk.gov.tr, read 1 September 2026).
• Liechtenstein. Entry into the Liechtenstein voluntary AHV/IV insurance for nationals abroad must be declared at the latest by completion of the 50th year of age (Source: ahv.li, read 1 September 2026).
• Italy. Its own pages add a single exception: a PIN, issued only to citizens resident abroad who hold no Italian identity document (Source: inps.it, read 3 October 2026).

What about people who were never citizens of the country they worked in?

Some rules apply to them alone. Malaysia. A non citizen member's EPF account, registered on or after 1 August 1998, is transferred out of the EPF once no contribution has been credited to it for three years (Source: kwsp.gov.my, read 1 September 2026).

What can I check today?

The country hubs for the examples above: Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, United States, Spain, Turkey, Liechtenstein, Italy and Malaysia.

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

Does a new citizenship remove years I was already insured? The rows we hold do not say so. They attach conditions to refunds, voluntary schemes and payment abroad, as set out above, and each country hub names the institution that decides.

Should I change citizenship because of a pension? That is a decision we do not advise on. We identify and research, and set out each rule with its source and read date.

Sources

• Deadline register row sg-11, citing cpf.gov.sg, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row sg-16, citing cpf.gov.sg, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row ch-2, citing zas.admin.ch, read 1 September 2026.
• South Korea, pension portals directory entry, citing nps.or.kr, read 4 October 2026.
• Deadline register row jp-9, citing nenkin.go.jp, read 1 September 2026.
• United States, pension portals directory entry, citing ssa.gov Handbook 1513, ssa.gov international payments, and SSA POMS, read 3 October 2026.
• Deadline register row tr-3, citing sgk.gov.tr, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row es-5, citing portal.seg-social.gob.es, read 1 September 2026.
• Deadline register row li-17, citing ahv.li, read 1 September 2026.
• Italy, pension portals directory entry, citing inps.it, read 3 October 2026.
• Deadline register row my-6, citing kwsp.gov.my, read 1 September 2026.