Foreign work experience will be considered for retirement: Ukrainians explained an important nuance

Ukrainians have received the opportunity to count foreign work experience for retirement in Ukraine. The new regulation allows accounting for work experience abroad along with Ukrainian experience to determine entitlement to a pension. This became possible due to the adopted law No. 3674 in April 2024, which was implemented on May 16, 2025, by Resolution No. 562.

“Insurance experience acquired outside Ukraine is considered only for determining the right to a pension. It does not affect the amount of payments,” notes expert Serhiy Korobkin.

According to the new rules, if a Ukrainian's total work experience meets the requirements, he or she can receive a pension on time. For example, if a person has 25 years of experience in Ukraine and 7 years abroad, they can apply for a pension at the age of 60.

How to obtain and legalize the necessary documents

To count foreign experience towards the Ukrainian pension, one must have an official document from the country of employment confirming work periods and social contributions. There are two ways to obtain such documents: to contact the pension authority of another state independently or to submit a request to the service center of the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

After obtaining the documents, they must be legalized to have legal force. The legalization procedure depends on international agreements between Ukraine and the country where you worked. It can be a simplified procedure, an apostille, or consular legalization of documents.

In summary: Ukrainians can now take foreign work experience into account along with Ukrainian experience for pension purposes. The new legislation provides the opportunity to receive a pension on time if the total experience meets all requirements. To do this, official documents from the country of employment must be obtained and the procedure for their legalization must be followed according to international agreements.