Retirement

Steps

1. Find your basis for residence. EU Settlement Scheme status if you were already living in the United Kingdom before 31 December 2020; otherwise a family visa (joining a British or settled spouse or child), a work visa or another category. For a retiree with no family ties, no obvious route appears: get advice from an immigration professional.
2. Ask your country for your S1 if you receive a State pension from an EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland (or certain "exportable" benefits).
3. Register your S1 with the NHS: send it to the Overseas Healthcare team of the NHS Business Services Authority (ohsfaregistrations@nhsbsa.nhs.uk, 0191 218 1999). gov.uk asks you to send it directly to this team to register it; the refund of the health surcharge requires a registered S1.
4. Claim the refund of the Immigration Health Surcharge if your visa started on or after 1 January 2021 and your S1 comes from an EU country or Norway: full if the S1 covers the whole length of the visa, partial otherwise (different dates for Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein).
5. Register with a general practitioner (GP) (see UK-SANTE-TOUS-001).
6. Take stock of your British pension if you have already worked in the United Kingdom: statement and online estimate ("Check your State Pension forecast"), State Pension age with the gov.uk tool.
7. Check your tax residence and the treaty between the United Kingdom and your country: depending on the treaty, your public pension may remain taxed in your country of origin, and your private pension in the United Kingdom (see UK-IMPOTS-TOUS-001 and UK-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).

Documents

• Passport, eVisa or EU Settlement Scheme status.
• S1 form issued by your pension or health insurance body.
• Pension certificates (amounts, funds) for your tax return.
• Career statements from each country where you have worked, if you claim a British pension.

Costs and timelines

• New British State Pension: £241.30 per week at the full rate (amount displayed on gov.uk in October 2026, 2026-2027 year). It rises every year by the highest of three measures: earnings growth, inflation (CPI) or 2.5% (triple lock).
• Conditions: at least 10 years of contributions or credits to receive anything; generally 35 years for the full rate if your British career began after April 2016. Applies to men born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953.
• European years: if you have fewer than 10 British years, your contribution periods in the EEA and Switzerland may count towards the minimum 10 years, but the amount is then calculated only on your British years.
• State Pension age: 66; it rises by one month per month of birth for people born from 6 April 1960 to 5 March 1961 (from 66 years and 1 month to 66 years and 11 months), then 67 for the following generations (Pensions Act 2014; check your exact date with the gov.uk "Check your State Pension age" tool). A third review of the State Pension age has been under way since July 2025.
• Claim: at the earliest 4 months before State Pension age; the pension is not paid automatically.

Common pitfalls

• Believing a retirement income is enough to settle. Since Brexit, having enough to live on gives no right of residence: you need a visa category.
• Forgetting to register your S1. Without registration with the NHSBSA, you are not entitled to the refund of the health surcharge.
• Thinking your country's pension remains taxed at home. Once you are UK tax resident (183 days, or other tests), you in principle declare your foreign pensions; the tax treaty decides who taxes what. For the first 4 years, the regime for new arrivals (FIG regime) may exempt your foreign income, with trade-offs (see UK-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).
• Scotland: tax on your pension follows the Scottish bands (from 19% to 48%) if you live in Scotland.

What changes by country of origin

• Irish citizens: no visa (Common Travel Area); living in the United Kingdom, you have access to the NHS on the same terms as a British resident (gov.uk, "Healthcare for EU citizens living in or moving to the UK", updated on 22 February 2024), with no S1 or health surcharge to pay.
• EU retirees with an S1: your health care in the United Kingdom is paid for by your country; IHS refund possible.
• Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic and Liechtenstein citizens: same S1 logic, with different IHS refund dates for Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
• British citizens returning to live in the United Kingdom: no visa; your State Pension, if it was frozen in a country outside an agreement, returns to the rate in force on your return.