The first applications for Italian pensions are starting, be careful when filling out the form

Following the entry into force of the pension agreement with Italy, the first application has been submitted to the "e-Albania" portal by an Albanian citizen, requesting the unification of contribution periods.

The Director of the Social Security Institute, Astrit Hado, explained in a press conference the forms that must be filled out in relation to the social security agreement between Albania and Italy that has officially entered into force.

Forms between the two counterpart institutions will be exchanged electronically, significantly speeding up the process of obtaining pensions for citizens.

Hado emphasized that Albanians who have reached retirement age, if they do not have 15 years of insurance, must apply for an old-age pension in "eAlbania".

PENSION CONDITIONS

Hodo further added that if a citizen has 14 years in Albania and 19 years in Italy, he does not receive a pension in any country. According to him, the citizen in Albania does not meet the 15-year criterion and in Italy does not meet the 20-year criterion. He said that the merging of periods is done only to meet legal criteria, then each country calculates the pension according to its own law and based only on the years of insurance he has in that country.

"The agreement that has entered into force is ready. Which means that all the forms have been agreed with colleagues in Italy, they have been standardized and for the first time we will exchange the forms electronically. Which means that all communication between the two institutions will not be on paper, but will be electronic communication. So, the time for exchanging forms between the two institutions will be shortened. We have also drafted a guide that is both for employees how the agreement will be implemented, but also for citizens how they will apply depending on their case. I am telling you those Albanian citizens who have reached the retirement age, which is 65 years for men and 61 years and 10 months for women and do not have enough years of insurance, they do not have 15 years of insurance, we must apply for an old-age pension in 'e-Albania', there is a special section, which says if you have years of work in another country. There they will click that I have seniority in Italy and they will provide the data. Based on this data, we ask Italy", - explains the head of ISSI.

application

It is not necessary for citizens to submit the list of documentation manually, after having applied to the ISSH, because communication takes place institution by institution.

"It is not necessary to appear at the insurance to receive these documents in person, because this will only be valuable for their information. If they take these documents to Italy, the Italian colleagues will request them officially through the agreed form. So, it is a double and ineffective job. So they should apply in Albania or Italy, as the case may be, and for this, they should consult the guide that we have published on the official website and make the request where it is needed so that the service time is short and there are no complications," explains Hado.

In the case where an Albanian citizen, regardless of whether he lives in Albania or Italy and has experience in Italy, Germany, Turkey or in a country that has an agreement with the ISSH, there is no need to merge periods. With

"With the 15 years declared in Albania, we are able to connect the pension, so there is no need for unification. The unification of periods is done only to meet the legal criteria, then each country calculates the pension according to its own law and based only on the years of insurance it has in that country. If a citizen has 14 years in Albania and 19 years in Italy, he does not receive a pension in either country. In Albania he does not meet the 15-year criterion, in Italy he does not meet the 20-year criterion. Then the unification of these periods places him in the legal conditions in both countries. When it comes to the calculation, we will calculate the pension according to Albanian law, only for the 14 years that he has paid insurance, while Italy will calculate it according to its law only for 19 years", quotes Hado at the press conference, asking for the understanding of citizens, since the years of work will be used for calculations in both Albania and Italy.

Even the years they have in Albania will be merged with those in Italy and will be considered as if they were in Italy. But the pension amount as well as the criteria are different from one country to another.

"The contribution periods will be combined only to meet the legal criteria and each country will then calculate the pension according to its own law based on the years of insurance it has in each country. So, it will receive two pension parts, one in Albania for as many years as it has and in Italy for as many years as it has," he said.

Applications should only be made by those who have reached the old-age pension age of 67 for men and 65 for women.