The life certificate for a German pension

Anyone drawing a German statutory pension is asked once a year to prove they are alive. The request arrives with the annual pension adjustment letter, and since 2024 it can be answered without paper at all.

The digital route, which is the easy one

The letter comes with a QR code. You scan it and confirm from a phone or tablet, and the process is complete.

It is free, and it does not depend on opening hours or public holidays. The pension service recommends it over the paper form.

It also confirms receipt, which the paper route does not always do: some offices cannot issue a confirmation, so a posted form can leave you wondering.

If the mission does end up signing it, the appointment is the same one used for a signature certification, so it is worth combining with anything else you need certified.

Who can sign the paper form

A long list of local bodies can certify it, and the Federal Foreign Office names them: the police, city administrations, pension and health insurers, banks, the Red Cross, parish offices and rabbinates.

The German Society of the City of New York is named specifically, which helps in the north-east.

You do not have to go to a German mission or an honorary consul. If you prefer to, book an appointment and bring government-issued photo ID.

When there is a fee

For a statutory German pension the certificate is free, whoever issues it.

For a company or private pension there is a set form and the fee is 34.10 €.

If illness stops you attending in person, someone else can go on your behalf with a doctor's certificate no more than 48 hours old, attached under section C1 on the reverse.

Which route, and what it costs

Which case applies to you