Your Seguridad Social if you live or work abroad: international pension, special emigrant agreement and expense reimbursement

Yes, provided there is an international rule coordinating both systems. Within the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland, Regulations (EC) 883/2004 and 987/2009 apply: periods contributed in any of those countries are added (totalisation) to meet the Spanish qualifying period of 15 years contributed, with 2 within the last 15. With the United Kingdom, coordination is maintained after Brexit by the Protocol on Social Security Coordination of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Outside that scope, Spain has bilateral agreements with 28 countries (the United States, Argentina, Mexico, Morocco, Japan or Australia, among others) and the Multilateral Ibero-American Social Security Agreement. Each agreement has its own scope: most allow adding periods for the pension, but some are limited to avoiding double contribution, so it is advisable to review the text applicable to your country.

Important: adding periods does not mean that Spain pays the entire pension. Each country pays the part proportional to the time contributed in it (pro rata temporis) and you may end up receiving 2 or more pensions at the same time, 1 per country.

If you worked in a country without an agreement with Spain, those years are not added. To avoid losing your contribution career in those cases, there is the special emigrant agreement, which we explain below.

A single application is submitted in the country where you reside. If you live in Spain, before the INSS with the retirement pension form under international rules; the INSS acts as the investigating institution and officially requests the certificate of your insurance periods from each country, through the European Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) system or the corresponding liaison body. You do not have to obtain those certificates on your own. If you reside in another EU State, the application is submitted to the institution of that country, which forwards it to Spain. With bilateral agreement countries, the application is channelled through the liaison body set by the agreement.

The Spanish calculation compares 2 amounts and pays you the higher one: the national pension (only with Spanish contributions, if they are enough) and the theoretical pro rata pension, which is calculated as if your entire working life had been in Spain and is multiplied by the proportion of time actually contributed here.

Since 17 June 2023, article 50 bis of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social (the Spanish General Social Security Act) obliges the INSS to recognise the pension provisionally when you already meet the requirements counting only what you contributed in Spain, without waiting for the foreign country to certify your data. This way you are not left without income while the coordination between administrations lasts, which is the slowest phase of the file.

The Spanish pension is received even if you reside abroad: regulations and agreements remove residence clauses. As a pensioner outside Spain, you must periodically prove you are alive (fe de vida) to the INSS.

Through the special agreement for emigrants and children of emigrants, regulated by Real Decreto 996/1986 and article 15 of Orden TAS/2865/2003. It can be subscribed by Spanish emigrants and their children with Spanish nationality, regardless of the country they work in, whether or not that country has an agreement with Spain, and even if they have never contributed to the Spanish Seguridad Social before. It can also be subscribed upon returning to Spain as long as they are not included in any public scheme, as well as by missionaries, aid workers and participants in remunerated training or research programmes abroad.

It covers retirement, permanent disability, and death and survival. It does not cover temporary disability, unemployment or healthcare. It is the tool to avoid breaking your contribution career when you work in a country without an agreement with Spain, or to strengthen it even if there is one.

The application can be made at any time (article 15.2 of Orden TAS/2865/2003) with form TA-0040 and its additional emigrant sheet before the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social, also via electronic registry. The agreement takes effect from the first day of the month following submission and, residing abroad, the quotas are paid by expired quarters within the month following each calendar quarter.

There is also a separate modality (article 16 of the same order) that provides healthcare in Spain to returned emigrants who are pensioners of a foreign system without the right to healthcare at the expense of that country, and to their family members.

Subscribing to it is free: there is no tasa (official fee). The only cost is the monthly quota, which you pay directly to the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social.

The contribution base is always the minimum base of the General Scheme (article 15.4 of Orden TAS/2865/2003), set for 2026 at €1,424.40 per month by Orden PJC/297/2026, of 30 March. A rate of 28.30% is applied to that base with a reduction coefficient of 0.77, plus the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (0.9% in 2026).

The result is around €323 per month in 2026 (see the calculated example below). The exact figure is confirmed by the TGSS when resolving the registration and can be checked on its Importass portal. The Administration must resolve within 3 months and, if it does not reply, the application is understood to be approved.

It depends on the country and how you received the care. In the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the European Health Insurance Card (or its Provisional Replacement Certificate) covers public healthcare that is medically necessary during the stay. If you did not carry the EHIC, the centre did not accept it or you were wrongly charged, you can request a reimbursement from the INSS via Regulations (EC) 883/2004 and 987/2009: it is refunded according to the public rates of the country where you were treated, so the co-payments assumed by any local insured person are not reimbursed. This route is subject to the general limitation period for the right to the recognition of Seguridad Social benefits, of 5 years from the payment of the care (article 53 of the Ley General de la Seguridad Social).

There is a second route, that of cross-border healthcare (Directive 2011/24/EU, transposed by Real Decreto 81/2014): it allows claiming healthcare expenses in another EU country, including scheduled care, but the reimbursement is limited to Spanish public rates, without exceeding what was actually paid, and hospital or specialised care in annex II requires prior authorisation. In this route, the application must be submitted within a maximum period of 3 months from the payment (article 14).

For scheduled treatment in the EU via the regulations, you need prior authorisation from the INSS (S2 document) before travelling; without it, reimbursement for scheduled treatment is not guaranteed.

Outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, there is only coverage if the bilateral agreement with that country includes healthcare, which is rare: in most third countries the cost is borne by the traveller or their travel insurance. Managora studies your specific case before submitting the application to choose the route with the best chances of collection.

Always prepare: original invoices from the provider, medical reports, proof of payment and, if the country is not in the EU, translation and apostille when applicable.

The retirement pension has no application deadline, but the economic effects only go back 3 months from when you request it: it is advisable to start it about 3 months before the planned retirement date, and earlier if foreign countries are involved, because coordination lengthens the file. The special emigrant agreement can be requested at any time. Healthcare reimbursement via RD 81/2014 expires 3 months after payment; via the Regulations, the deadline is the general limitation period of 5 years from payment (article 53 LGSS), although it is advisable not to exhaust it.

If the INSS denies the pension or reimbursement, or does not reply on time (in those routes silence is negative), the path is the prior claim and, if dismissed, the social judicial route. Managora drafts and submits the prior claim for you.

Managora prepares and submits all 3 procedures in this guide: we review your documentation and your working life, identify the applicable international rule, fill in the forms and submit the file to the INSS or the TGSS on your behalf, and we follow up until the resolution. The certificates of periods contributed abroad are officially requested by the INSS from the body of the other country (via EESSI or liaison body); our job is to ensure the application is complete and well-fitted so that this phase does not get stuck. You can see the updated amount of each service on the corresponding procedure's page.