Lithuania, research page
Research date: 2026-08-09. The Sodra and e-government login screens were unreadable to us.
Every annually-changing figure carries its year inline: 34.5 years in 2026, 35 years in 2027, and age 65 from 2026. None may be restated for another year.
The minimum record that opens entitlement is 15 years, per Sodra and per the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. The butinasis stazas, the obligatory record for a full pension, is separate: 34.5 years in 2026, rising to 35 years in 2027. Neither figure may be restated for another year.
A person with eight years who was told they need thirty-odd was given the wrong threshold. The gate is 15 years, and it is not tested on Lithuanian service alone.
Sodra states that on reaching pension age all that remains is to apply, three months or less before that age or, in terms, at any time later. The age is 65 for both sexes from 2026, stated as the position from 2026 only.
Silence never forfeits a Lithuanian pension, but every year of silence is a year unpaid.
Recipients abroad must confirm each year between 1 October and 31 December that they are alive and in a named foreign state, on a document issued no earlier than 1 October that year. If it is late, payment is suspended from 1 January of the following year, and on filing it payment resumes from the day of suspension.
A pensioner abroad whose money stopped years ago over a missed form has not lost it. The restart is retrospective.
Sodra publishes that declaration in English, German and French, with an application to resume payment.
It sits with a private pension accumulation company in the participant's name. Sodra states you learn the accumulated sum from that company, which owes the participant an annual report, the report an emigrant with a stale Lithuanian address stopped receiving long ago.
Automatic inclusion ended on 1 January 2026, but Sodra's 2025 English notice shows an earlier round that treated silence by 30 June as agreement, so an account can exist that you never consciously opened. In the 2026 to 2027 window participants may leave and take back their own contributions and growth, less 3 per cent.
Exit applications go to the person's own pension accumulation company, not to Sodra, and are handled by calendar quarter.
Sodra states that record acquired in different EU or EEA member states, the United Kingdom and Switzerland is summed, so the 15 years are tested on a whole working life, and foreign institutions send Sodra those periods on a prescribed form.
The same page names Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and Canada as agreement states with their own summation rules, and states that periods in a country with neither coordination nor an agreement are disregarded entirely. Those agreements exist; that is not a promised outcome.
Sodra states that if you worked before 1994 and have not given it documents proving that record, you may do so at any time, and until you do those years are absent from the calculation.
Ask for your participation status and record through the Sodra personal account, and at or near pension age the award of the pension by application. Once logged in, the title screen shows whether or not you participate in the second pension pillar, with contributions transferred to date.
The identifier is the asmens kodas, the Lithuanian personal code. Know the KID too, Sodra's client identification code, because the Information Centre releases personal data only against the KID or the registered number you call from. A person abroad on a foreign mobile with no KID can fail telephone identification.
The confirmed channels are telephone and post. The number is +370 5 250 0883, which that page says suits calls from abroad. A posted application should enclose a notarially certified copy of the identity document, sent to Konstitucijos pr. 12-101, LT-09308 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Cost. No page we read stated a fee, and we do not call the route free.
Language. Sodra publishes extensively in English, but we do not claim it accepts applications or correspondence in English.
One Sodra page states that a resident of Lithuania goes to the nearest Sodra branch, and that a resident of an EU or EEA state, the UK or Switzerland applies to the competent institution of the place of residence, matching the EU rule that you apply where you live or last worked.
sodra.lt, working or having worked in the EU, EEA, UK or Switzerland, europa.eu, state pensions abroad
Another Sodra page, the one for people abroad who want a pension, describes applying to Sodra directly by post with a notarised identity document copy.
Sodra's own pages do not agree on when each route applies. We have not resolved it. Confirm the channel with Sodra in writing before filing.
Uzsienio ismoku skyrius, Foreign Benefits Division, Vilnius branch
Head of division Kristina Nevero
Telephone +370 5 250 0883
Correspondence address: Konstitucijos pr. 12-101, LT-09308 Vilnius, Lithuania
sodra.lt, write a letter, sodra.lt, Foreign Benefits Division
Ordered by how often the missing item stops everything.
Sodra states those periods are disregarded entirely.
Tested after summing EU, EEA, UK, Swiss and agreement-country periods, not on Lithuanian years alone.
Then there is no accumulation account to look for.
Being under 65 is a wait, not a rule-out.
Two periods are routinely confused. The minimum record that opens entitlement is 15 years, per Sodra and per the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. The butinasis stazas, the obligatory record for a full pension, is separate: 34.5 years in 2026, rising to 35 years in 2027. So a person with eight years who was told they need thirty-odd was given the wrong threshold. The gate is 15 years, and it is not tested on Lithuanian service alone.
No. Sodra states that on reaching pension age all that remains is to apply, three months or less before that age or, in terms, at any time later. Silence never forfeits a Lithuanian pension, but every year of silence is a year unpaid. The age is 65 for both sexes from 2026.
No. Recipients abroad must confirm each year between 1 October and 31 December that they are alive and in a named foreign state, on a document issued no earlier than 1 October that year. If it is late, payment is suspended from 1 January of the following year, and on filing it payment resumes from the day of suspension. So a pensioner abroad whose money stopped years ago over a missed form has not lost it; the restart is retrospective. Sodra publishes that declaration in English, German and French, with an application to resume payment.
Not at Sodra. It sits with a private pension accumulation company in the participant's name, and Sodra states you learn the accumulated sum from that company, which owes the participant an annual report, the report an emigrant with a stale Lithuanian address stopped receiving long ago. Automatic inclusion ended on 1 January 2026, but Sodra's 2025 English notice shows an earlier round that treated silence by 30 June as agreement, so an account can exist that you never consciously opened. In the 2026 to 2027 window participants may leave and take back their own contributions and growth, less 3 per cent. Exit applications go to the person's own pension accumulation company, not to Sodra, and are handled by calendar quarter.
Sodra states that record acquired in different EU or EEA member states, the United Kingdom and Switzerland is summed, so the 15 years are tested on a whole working life, and foreign institutions send Sodra those periods on a prescribed form. The same page names Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and Canada as agreement states with their own summation rules, and states that periods in a country with neither coordination nor an agreement are disregarded entirely. Those agreements exist; that is not a promised outcome.
Sodra's own pages do not agree, and we have not resolved it. One Sodra page states that a resident of Lithuania goes to the nearest Sodra branch and that a resident of an EU or EEA state, the UK or Switzerland applies to the competent institution of the place of residence, which matches the EU rule that you apply where you live or last worked. Another Sodra page, the one for people abroad who want a pension, describes applying to Sodra directly by post with a notarised identity document copy. Confirm the channel with Sodra in writing before filing.
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.