Pension question, France
Do French pensioners abroad need a certificat de vie?
A French state pensioner living abroad must return the certificat de vie within 2 months of being asked, every year, or the pension payment is suspended. Under the all-schemes portal, a pensioner abroad now supplies only one certificat de vie per year covering the schemes, and failure to return the completed document within the time limits can suspend payment of the pension.
What to do next
- Keep the month the certificate usually arrives in your diary.
- Find the local authority in your country that can complete the certificate.
- Run our free check to see whether another country also holds a pension for you.
Check your own working life for free
Tell us where you worked. The free check shows which countries may hold a pension for you, and which can be ruled out and why. No sign in, no charge.
Run the free checkQuestions people also ask
Does Agirc-Arrco ask for its own proof?
Agirc-Arrco (French private-sector supplementary pension) sends its existence questionnaire to pensioners abroad every year, 3 months before the date on which the pension entitlement ends, and failure to return the proof suspends payment of the pensions.
Which countries no longer need an Agirc-Arrco certificate?
Agirc-Arrco pensioners resident in the Netherlands stop having to send a certificat d'existence from March 2026, joining Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal and Denmark whose life data is updated automatically.
Do you give advice on what to do?
No. We identify where a pension is likely held and the official route to it, and we name each source with the date we read it. We do not give financial, tax or legal advice.