People who live and work abroad can retire from Turkey if they make a foreign-service contribution (yurt dışı borçlanması). It is important to note that contribution amounts are calculated based on the 2018 gross minimum wage. First, let’s look at which countries qualify for foreign-service contributions.
Which Countries Qualify for Foreign-Service Contribution?
According to Article 5, paragraph 5 of Law No. 6552, under international social security agreements, if a person’s first registered employment was in a foreign country rather than in Turkey, that foreign registration is accepted as a Turkish start-of-work registration and the relevant date is treated as the first employment date.
So which countries and territories are accepted for foreign-service contribution?
- Slovakia
- Azerbaijan
- Netherlands
- TRNC (Northern Cyprus)
- Germany
- Quebec – Canada
- Belgium
- Albania
- North Macedonia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Croatia
- France
- Luxembourg
- Czech Republic
- Georgia
How Does the First Employment Date in These Countries Help in Turkey?
If you worked in any of the countries listed above, as a Turkish citizen you can use foreign-service contribution to retire from Turkey or to complete missing insurance days. You may also be eligible for unemployment and sickness benefits. In addition, the adaptation payment (intibak) can be calculated using that first employment date, and in eligible situations you can count periods such as exempt limited work, care periods, and child-rearing periods toward your insurance record.
What Are the Requirements to Retire from Abroad?
If you live abroad but want to retire from Turkey through contribution, you need to know Turkey’s retirement conditions. Even if special arrangements apply because you live abroad, you remain a Turkish citizen, and your pension will be determined according to Turkish rules. Understanding those rules helps you estimate your retirement timing and pension amount more accurately.
One important detail: the most flexible retirement conditions in Turkey are typically under 4A (SSK). Therefore, before applying to SGK using your first employment date and contribution payments, it is advantageous if your last insured employment in Turkey was under 4A. This does not mean you must have worked in Turkey for months or years — even one day insured under SSK before applying provides an advantage. The only caution is not to register yourself as insured without actually working. One day of actual work at an employer is sufficient to establish the first employment date and other insured days for SGK applications.
If you meet this condition, your retirement process will be more favorable.
What Are the Minimum and Maximum Amounts Payable for Foreign-Service Contribution?
If you make a foreign-service contribution in 2018, the daily minimum amount is 21.64 TL and the daily maximum amount is 162.32 TL.
How Much Will My Pension Be with Foreign-Service Contribution?
Two main factors affect the pension you will receive:
- The period(s) for which you make contributions
- Whether those contributions are paid at the minimum (base) or maximum rate
If your contribution periods are before 2000, you may receive a higher pension. Contributions for periods after 2000 generally result in progressively lower pensions. Based on contributions paid at the base rate, estimated pension ranges are roughly as follows:
- If the contributions are entirely before 2000: roughly 1,400 TL to 1,600 TL on average.
- If some contributions are before 2000 and some between 2000–2008: roughly 1,200 TL to 1,400 TL.
- If contributions cover periods before 2000, between 2000–2008, and after 2008: roughly 1,000 TL to 1,200 TL.
If You Are a Homemaker Living Abroad and Want to Retire
Under international social security agreements, a homemaker living abroad can retire without a work requirement, provided she registers her official residence abroad with SGK. Never having worked abroad does not prevent retirement through contribution, but you must have worked in Turkey for some time previously. That prior Turkish employment moves your first employment date earlier and allows retirement calculations that may make you eligible.
If You Have Never Worked
If you have never worked in Turkey or in the listed countries, merely living abroad does not qualify you for retirement. In other words, being a Turkish citizen who has never worked does not by itself grant retirement rights.
Can Those Living Abroad Retire with 15 Years and 3,600 Days of Contributions?
People living abroad who want to retire are generally subject to nearly the same conditions as those living in Turkey, so the 15-year and 3,600-day rule applies in this context as well.
Remember that the 3,600-day requirement applies under 4A insurance. Therefore, the insurance category of your last workplace should be 4A. Additionally, to use the 15-year and 3,600-day rule without waiting for a retirement age, your first registered employment must be before 8 September 1999.
Thus, if your last workplace (even for one day) was insured under 4A SSK and your first employment date is before 8 September 1999, you can benefit from retiring based on 15 years and 3,600 contribution days without waiting for the age requirement.