Retirement

Steps

1. Ask for your S1 form from the fund that pays your pension, if you do not have a Romanian pension.
2. Register your residence after 3 months at the General Inspectorate for Immigration (sheet RO-SEJOUR-TOUS-001), with your proof of resources and health insurance.
3. Register your S1 with the health insurance fund of your place of residence (sheet RO-SANTE-TOUS-001): you are treated like a Romanian insured person.
4. Check your tax position: when you become tax resident in Romania (sheet RO-IMPOTS-TOUS-001), look at what the treaty between Romania and your country provides for your pension; if the treaty lets Romania tax your pension, the threshold of 3,000 lei per month also applies: 10% on the gross pension for the year, minus 3,000 lei per month and any CASS, to be declared in the Declarația unică (Fiscal Code, art. 130 al. 21).
5. If you have worked in Romania, submit your application to the pension fund (casa teritorială de pensii) of your home or residence, with proof that you meet the retirement conditions. The National Public Pension Fund (CNPP) also handles European cases.
6. Choose the payment method: postal order or transfer to your current account.

Documents

• Form S1, ID, proof of resources.
• For a Romanian pension: old-age pension application, proof of contribution periods in Romania and abroad (and, where applicable, of equivalent periods: validated higher education, military service, parental leave).

Costs and timelines

• Legal age (at 01/01/2026): 65 (men); 62 years and 6 months (women), rising gradually to 65 in January 2035.
• Contribution period: at least 15 years; full period of 35 years for men, 33 years and 3 months for women in 2026 (35 years in January 2030).
• Calculation: points system; reference point value of 81 RON since January 2026.
• Early retirement: up to 5 years before the legal age with the full period (or more), with a reduction in the amount; it becomes an old-age pension at the legal age.
• Tax on pensions: 10% on the monthly part that exceeds 3,000 lei, after deduction where applicable of the health contribution (CASS); withheld at source by the payer (Fiscal Code, art. 100 and 101).
• Private pension fund: compulsory for people born after 1 July 1971 who contribute to the public system.

Common pitfalls

• Coming without an S1: the European card only covers temporary stays.
• Assuming your foreign pension is taxed like a Romanian pension: the withholding at source described here is aimed at payers; for a pension paid from abroad, check with ANAF how to declare it.
• Forgetting equivalent periods: validated studies and military service may count; keep the supporting documents.

What changes by country of origin

• EU, EEA, Switzerland: aggregation of periods and S1 under the European rules. For the EU, "Your Europe" indicates that you send your pension application to the pension body of your country of residence or of the country where you last worked; if you have never worked in your country of residence, it forwards your application. Each country pays you its share when you reach its legal retirement age.
• British citizens (Scots included): European rules for people covered by the Withdrawal Agreement; otherwise, the protocol of the EU–United Kingdom trade agreement and Romanian law.