German pensioners abroad must submit proof of life or lose payments

Around 500,000 German retirees receiving pension payments outside Germany have been sent a notice by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung, delivered via Deutsche Post, requiring a yearly Lebensnachweis (proof of life). The deadline to submit the form – either on paper or digitally through a QR‑code with the PostIdent app – is 31 July 2026, with the completed proof due by mid‑August. If the documentation is not provided, pension payments will be halted on 30 November 2026 and will only resume after the proof is received.

The requirement applies to pensioners whose payments go to countries without an automatic data‑exchange system; Germany has such agreements with about 20 states (including Spain, Italy, Austria and Switzerland). For the remaining destinations, retirees must obtain an official stamp from a municipal office, bank, hospital, notary or German embassy. The rule also covers German residents who hold foreign bank accounts. The German pension system pays roughly 1.7 million pensions abroad, of which about 1.2 million are verified automatically, leaving the half‑million who must file the manual proof.

A statement from the pension service clarified: “Entgegen den Meldungen in den sozialen Medien müssen Rentnerinnen und Rentner in Deutschland grundsätzlich keine Lebensnachweise erbringen! Ausgenommen sind Rentnerinnen und Rentner, die zwar in Deutschland leben, aber ihr Bankkonto im Ausland haben.” The agency will send reminder letters in early September before the final cutoff.