Pension & moving home

Going home - what happens to your AHV

Salvador Jovells

View from a train window over a lake and hazy mountains, with an open notebook, a pen and a phone on the small table

You worked in Switzerland and you're heading back. Your AHV contributions are not lost - but what you get depends on which country you move to.

Answer in 30 seconds

Your AHV contributions stay yours. To EU/EFTA countries the pension is transferred abroad every month - but you cannot take it as a lump sum there.

EU/EFTA (e.g. Portugal, Spain, Italy): monthly pension from retirement age, no refund
Country with an agreement (e.g. Brazil since 1.10.2019): you choose - refund now or pension later
Country without an agreement: refund of contributions only

This applies when

Applies as soon as you leave Switzerland for good.

Calculate my pension

The three cases

What decides it is your nationality and whether Switzerland has a social security agreement with your country. Pick your case:

Where are you moving?

07EU or EFTA country13Country with an agreement (non-EU)21Country without an agreement

Specimen document

Type: Specimen
Holder: SPECIMEN, A.
Number: 00 000 000
As at: 2026
Destination: EU or EFTA countryCountry with an agreement (non-EU)Country without an agreement
1st pillar (AHV): pensionchoiceRefund

Entries07

EU or EFTA countrypension14.03.2026

Monthly pension, transferred to your address

From retirement age Switzerland pays you a partial pension - in proportion to your contribution years. It is paid by the Central Compensation Office in Geneva, monthly into your account abroad.

There is no refund of contributions here. Even a single full contribution year already gives you a claim to a partial pension.

Entries13

Country with an agreement (non-EU)choice02.06.2026

You get a choice

Where a social security agreement exists, you decide: either have the contributions refunded when you leave, or draw the pension later. Brazil has been covered since 1 October 2019.

A refund is final: it settles every claim. With many contribution years the pension is usually worth considerably more over time.

Entries21

Country without an agreementRefund27.08.2026

Refund of contributions

Without an agreement no pension is paid abroad. Instead you can have the AHV contributions paid back - yours and your employer's.

Conditions: you have no pension entitlement yet and the minimum contribution period is met.

An illustration. Not an official document, and none of the numbers are real.

And the pension fund (2nd pillar)?

This is where the rule catches almost everyone out - it is the exact opposite of what people expect. First, it is worth asking whether you even have a pension fund as a household worker.

If you move to an EU/EFTA country

The mandatory portion of your capital may NOT be paid out in cash. It moves to a vested benefits account and stays there until retirement age. Only the extra-mandatory portion can be paid out.

If you move outside the EU/EFTA

In that case a cash payout of the whole balance is in principle possible.

Many people plan for the opposite and count on that money. Check it before you give up your flat in Switzerland.

What undeclared years cost

Every year worked off the books is missing from this calculation. Not as a deduction - it simply does not exist. Work out what the missing years cost you in pension.

An example

Someone who worked twelve years in Swiss households but was only registered for four gets a pension for four years. The other eight never happened as far as the AHV is concerned - and after five years they can no longer be declared.

registerednot registered

Registering retroactively does work

The compensation office accepts declarations up to five years back. It is the only way to recover lost contribution years - and that window closes a little further every year.

Registering retroactively does work →

What you can do now

1
Order your AHV statement
Free, from the compensation office, even if you can no longer find your AHV number. It shows year by year what was paid in for you - and what is missing.
2
Check the gaps and raise them
Is a year missing where you know you worked? Then you were probably working without being registered. Talk to that employer. Up to five years back a declaration is still possible.
3
Report your departure and address
Report your departure to your canton's compensation office. It notifies the Central Compensation Office, which later transfers the pension abroad.
4
Clarify your vested benefits
Ask your pension fund in writing how much is mandatory and how much is extra-mandatory. That decides what may be paid out.

Common questions

Do I get a pension if I only contributed for a few years?

Yes. A single full contribution year already gives a claim to a partial pension. It will be small, because it is calculated in proportion to your contribution years - but it does not expire.

Is the pension really transferred abroad?

Yes, to EU/EFTA countries and to countries with a social security agreement. The Central Compensation Office in Geneva transfers monthly to an account in your country of residence.

Is the refund better than the pension?

Rarely. A refund is a one-off amount and ends every claim. A pension is paid for life. With many contribution years the pension is usually worth considerably more over time - work out both before deciding.

I worked cash-in-hand for years. Is it all lost?

Not necessarily. Up to five years back your employer can still declare the wages. Anything older is lost to the AHV. The sooner you raise it, the more can be saved. You can see whether everything is right today when you check the AHV line on your payslip.

So the next years count

If you keep working: registering you properly costs your employer CHF 19.90 a month - and secures every contribution year for you.

See how registration works

Sources

AHV/IV Information Centre (memo 880 «Leaving Switzerland»), Federal Social Insurance Office (agreement with Brazil, in force since 1.10.2019), BVG Guarantee Fund (cash payment after departure). As of August 2026.