Registration for voluntary participation in pension insurance

Main information about the service

Does this apply to me?

You are a person over 18 years of age and have submitted an application for voluntary participation in pension insurance, while your participation includes a period of time:

• you are registered as a jobseeker by a regional branch of the Labour Office, if not entitled to unemployment benefits or retraining benefits during the period of such registration,
• you are systematically preparing for a future profession by studying at a secondary, higher vocational or higher education institution in the Czech Republic or abroad, if, according to a decision by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, such study is equivalent to study at secondary and higher education institutions in the Czech Republic,
• you are engaged in gainful activity abroad after 31 December 1995, if you are a person in an employment relationship, a member of a cooperative if not in an employment relationship with that cooperative but performing work for the cooperative for which you are remunerated by it, or if you are self-employed,
• you are performing long-term voluntary service on the basis of a contract concluded with the posting organisation accredited by the Ministry of the Interior,
• you are performing activities in the Czech Republic for the benefit of a foreign employer whose registered office is in the territory of a state with which the Czech Republic has not concluded an international social security treaty,
• you are performing the duties of a Member of the European Parliament elected in the Czech Republic,
• you are staying abroad if you followed your spouse or registered partner who is a civil servant under the Civil Service Act or another employee of a branch of a state organisation to the place they have been posted to perform work abroad or to perform service abroad, with the consent of that branch of a state organisation, and you also do not have earned income or are not self-employed or engaged in similar activities under the law of the foreign state to which your spouse or registered partner has been posted to perform work or service abroad (in which case the employer of your spouse or registered partner may pay the insurance premiums). In addition, participation is also possible during the period of your stay abroad if you have followed your spouse serving in the diplomatic service of the Czech Republic abroad.

Persons over the age of 18 who have applied for voluntary participation in pension insurance without their participation being related to any of the above periods, i.e. voluntary pension insurance for a non-qualifying reason, may also participate. Since 1 February 2018 , a further condition for such participation is that the period of participation in Czech pension insurance based on gainful employment acquired before the date of submission of this application lasted at least 1 year.

Service outcome

The institution of voluntary participation in pension insurance enables participation in insurance in particular in cases where a person is not participating in mandatory pension insurance.

Service benefit

The benefit is an old-age pension.

When to address the service

You can only participate in voluntary pension insurance if you are over the age of 18. Other time-related conditions depend on the reasons for the voluntary pension insurance (see ‘This applies to you if’):

• registration as a jobseeker in the records of a regional branch of the Labour Office, participation has been possible only since 1 January 1996. The application can be submitted while you are registered as a jobseeker or at any time in the future. It is also possible to register for this type of insurance retrospectively and pay the premiums even after you have applied for a pension, where entitlement and the pension amount depend on additional periods being credited,
• if you are systematically preparing for a future profession by studying at a secondary, higher vocational or higher education institution in the Czech Republic or abroad, participation is possible only from 1 January 1996. Since 1 January 2010, you can apply to participate in voluntary pension insurance if you are systematically preparing for a future profession through such study after the age of 18. In the period until 31 December 2009, participation for this qualifying reason is only possible after the first 6 years of such study after reaching the age of 18, as studying up to that date is assessed as a substitute period of insurance directly under the Pension Insurance Act,
• if you are engaged in gainful activity abroad after 31 December 1995, for the period prior to the date of application, participation in the insurance is possible for a maximum of 2 years immediately prior to that date,
• if you are performing long-term voluntary service on the basis of a contract concluded with the posting organisation, participation is possible only from 1 January 2003, and the insurance can only last for the duration of such voluntary service. For the period prior to the date of application, participation in the insurance is possible for a maximum of 2 years immediately prior to that date,
• if you are working in the Czech Republic for a foreign employer, participation is possible only from 1 January 2009 and exclusively for the duration of such activity. For the period prior to the date of application, participation in the insurance is possible for a maximum of 2 years immediately prior to that date,
• if you are performing the duties of a Member of the European Parliament elected in the Czech Republic, participation is possible only from 1 September 2009.
• when staying abroad, if you have followed your spouse or registered partner to the place of posting for work or service abroad, participation is possible from 1 January 2015. In the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2014 , participation is also possible during a period of stay abroad, during which you followed your spouse serving abroad in the diplomatic service of the Czech Republic.

Persons who voluntarily participate in pension insurance for reasons other than the above, i.e. for a ‘non-qualifying’ reason, may participate in this insurance for a maximum of 15 years. For the period prior to the date of application, participation in the insurance is possible for a maximum of 1 year immediately prior to that date.

Participation in voluntary pension insurance is possible only until the day immediately preceding the date of entitlement to an old-agepension.

How to get the service

Responsible Public Authority

Additional information about the service

Communication language

All written submissions must be submitted to the social security authority in Czech. Written submissions in other languages must be accompanied by an official translation into Czech (the cost of the translation shall be borne by the applicant). This does not apply if the documents are in an official language of a Member State of the European Union or in an official language of a State with which the Czech Republic has concluded a bilateral social security treaty with a provision on the official language (the costs of any translation into Czech shall be borne by the district social security administration).

Last checked at 15.06.2021