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Pensions from several countries

jennifernil
Posts: 5,687 Forumite


Firstly, sorry for the long story, but I need to give some background........
My brother-in-law is 72, now living in USA married to an American citizen and has taken citizenship himself, has been living/working in USA for about 25-30 years. We are unsure of exact dates, but think he went to USA around 1985.
He is originally Norwegian, lived there and did National Service then worked till he was 22, then came to UK in September 1963 to study for 4 years, worked here from June 1967 till he returned to Norway in August 1969 and worked there. (for the same company)
He returned to work here in June 1970 (still for the same company, returning to Norway in mid 1976 to work there (still with the same company).
In 1977 he changed jobs, but returned to his original employer after a couple of years. Around 1982 he left them and started his own company, still in Norway. Then moved to USA.
So....he would like to retire, but apparently has very little pension payable in USA.
He has been told he has worked too few years in UK to be entitled to anything from here, and has now apparently been told by the Norwegian Pension people that the company he mainly worked for there "did not register him".
We don't know if this is correct as we only have it third hand. I find it VERY difficult to believe as everything is very controlled in Norway, you have to inform the state every time you move. They know where everyone is all the time!
With credits for while he was doing National Service and while studying, he should have at least 14 years of contributions in Norway and about 7 years in UK.
Would this entitle him to any sort of pension from UK? Or to have these years added to his Norwegian record......if they can find it?
Or can he transfer anything to USA to get a better pension there. I think he intends to stay there.
Any help appreciated.
My brother-in-law is 72, now living in USA married to an American citizen and has taken citizenship himself, has been living/working in USA for about 25-30 years. We are unsure of exact dates, but think he went to USA around 1985.
He is originally Norwegian, lived there and did National Service then worked till he was 22, then came to UK in September 1963 to study for 4 years, worked here from June 1967 till he returned to Norway in August 1969 and worked there. (for the same company)
He returned to work here in June 1970 (still for the same company, returning to Norway in mid 1976 to work there (still with the same company).
In 1977 he changed jobs, but returned to his original employer after a couple of years. Around 1982 he left them and started his own company, still in Norway. Then moved to USA.
So....he would like to retire, but apparently has very little pension payable in USA.
He has been told he has worked too few years in UK to be entitled to anything from here, and has now apparently been told by the Norwegian Pension people that the company he mainly worked for there "did not register him".
We don't know if this is correct as we only have it third hand. I find it VERY difficult to believe as everything is very controlled in Norway, you have to inform the state every time you move. They know where everyone is all the time!
With credits for while he was doing National Service and while studying, he should have at least 14 years of contributions in Norway and about 7 years in UK.
Would this entitle him to any sort of pension from UK? Or to have these years added to his Norwegian record......if they can find it?
Or can he transfer anything to USA to get a better pension there. I think he intends to stay there.
Any help appreciated.
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Comments
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There would be no 'credits' for a period spent studying in the UK back in the 1960s - and for that matter there still aren't. NI back in those days was still stamps stuck to a card weekly. On the basis you describe no more than 1 full year is likely to have been accrued. I think that at the time he would have reached retirement age 10 years of contributions were still needed for any pension to be payable. However, years of contributions made into the USA system would have counted towards this qualification requirement.0
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Sorry, probably confused things, the credits while studying are given by Norway.
He worked in UK for about 7 years in total.
Where can I find out about contributions made in USA counting towards qualifying here?
Edit: having spent some time "googling" I have read through the agreements between USA/UK and USA/Norway. The UK/Norway agreement I had already read as my husband has pensions from both countries.
Having read all this, I cannot figure out what the problem is.
Perhaps he no longer has a note of his NI number from here, is it possible for him to find out his number should that be the case?
And what is going on with his contribution records (or lack of records) in Norway is very strange. I think possibly we are not getting the full story!
As it seems likely he will remain in USA, I presume he should be applying there and getting them to track down anything due from UK and Norway?0 -
Call the National Insurance Registrations Helpline for help with a lost NINO: 0300 200 3502, Monday to Friday 8:30 to 17:00.
He seems to have been in the USA for over 20 years before retirement and therefore it normally there would be the expectation something more than 'very little' from the US system.
Incidentally, if he returned to live in Norway he would be entitled there to the lowest rate of state pension as citizenship is sufficient entitlement for this. However, he would need to live there for a minimum of 9 months in the year for this to be paid. (You were probably already aware of all this.)0 -
Thanks! If we manage to get hold of him we will pass on that number if he needs it.
He was told that if he returned to Norway and worked for one year, he would get a pension.
He was granted American citizenship in 1990, but can no doubt get his Norwegian citizenship re-instated. Unfortunately, he could not find a job there that would pay him enough to live on, it being a rather expensive place to live.
So actually just being a citizen and living there is enough? Mind you, the minimum pension would not be enough to live on there, so he really needs to track down his records there.
However, there is the complication of an American wife, who refuses to go to Norway, so I think what he really needs is to get his UK and Norwegian contributions sorted out and get the extra pension from them to boost his American one.
Part of the time he was in USA he would have been self employed, so that may be reducing his American entitlement, we are a bit in the dark over that, and I think he has just put off doing anything to sort out the mess he has got himself into!
Thank you again for your help.0
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