Social Security Agreement between Hungary and Republic of North Macedonia

Anyone who has paid contributions in both Hungary and North Macedonia can claim pension benefits under the Agreement, regardless of nationality. In the case of survivors' pensions, the deceased insured person had to pay contributions in both countries.

RULES ON THE PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS

The obligation to pay contributions applies, as a general rule, in the country where the person concerned earns the income, irrespective of the country of domicile or the country where the employer is established.

In the case of concurrent employment in Hungary and in North Macedonia, contributions are payable in the country of residence of the worker or, failing that, in the country where the employer is established. If the place where the obligation to pay contributions cannot be determined in this way, contributions must be paid in the country where the main activity is pursued.

For posted workers, the country in which the posting employer is established is the country where contributions are payable.

Special rules apply to self-employed persons, persons employed in air, road and rail transport and on ships, and members of diplomatic missions and consular posts.

In order to determine the existence of insurance, i.e. the obligation to pay contributions, the request must be submitted to the government office acting as the competent health insurance administration body for the place of business of the employer in Hungary.

SUBMITTING A CLAIM FOR PENSION BENEFITS

In the case of residence in Hungary you should complete the following documents:

for a claim for old age pension benefit, the form called “In the case of a claim for international old-age pension and other benefits in own right for service periods acquired in a contracting party of the agreement”
for a claim for work accident annuity, the form called “Claim for benefit work accident annuity under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement”
for a claim for survivor’s pension, depending on the type of claim, the following forms are relevant:

for widow(er)’s pension or an work accident-related widow(er)’s pension “Claim for widow(er)'s pension or work accident-related widow(er)'s pension under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement” or
for orphan's allowance or a work accident-related orphan's allowance the so called „Claim for orphan's allowance or work accident-related orphan's allowance under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement” or
for parental pension or work accident-related parental pension „Claim for parential pension or work accident-related parential pension under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement”

In addition to the form indicated above, a form called “Tájékoztatás a biztosított személy biztosítási múltjáról” is also required when applying for a Macedonian pension.

The forms required for submitting a claim can be obtained from the pension insurance bodies or downloaded from the "Related forms" menu point next to the information tab.

The claim form must be accompanied by available documents relating to the insurance periods completed in North Macedonia.

The claim can be submitted in person or by post.

It may be submitted in person at the customer service of the government office of the capital or county according to the place of residence or stay.

If it is submitted by post, the envelope must be addressed to the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest and marked with the uniform postal address 1916 Budapest.

The claim may be submitted by the applicant's legal representative (guardian) or by their authorised representative, accompanied by a document proving the representation.

In the case of an application for a survivor's benefit, if a survivor's pension has already been established in relation to the deceased insured person or if the application is for the revival of a survivor's pension previously paid, the claim may also be submitted at the customer service of the Pension Payment Directorate of the Hungarian State Treasury (1139 Budapest Váci út 73.).

The date of submission of the claim in Northern Macedonia is also the date of submission of the claim to the Hungarian pension insurance body.

The application, the documents enclosed by the applicant and the certificate of the length of service recognised under Hungarian legislation will be forwarded by the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest to the foreign pension insurance body, responsible for the assessment of the North Macedonian pension.

In the case of residence in North Macedonia:

In the case of any questions regarding the way of applying for a pension in North Macedonia and the entitlement to a pension there, it is advisable to contact the pension administration body of the North Macedonian place of residence.

To apply for a Hungarian pension, you should also fill in form PM/XY-RM_HU 207.

The contact details of the Central Pension Body are:

Pension & Disability Insurance Fund

address: 23 Oktomvri bb, Skopje 1000, North Macedonia

e-mail: info@piom.com.mk

Tel: +389 (2) 3250-100,

Fax: + 389 (2) 3162-422,

website: www.piom.com.mk

The application submitted in North Macedonia will be forwarded by the Macedonian body to the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest, together with proof of the periods of insurance completed there.

ASSESSMENT OF PENSION CLAIMS

If the entitlement to the benefit applied for by the applicant exists on the basis of the Hungarian length of service periods, the insurance periods completed in North Macedonia are not taken into account for the establishment of the Hungarian pension.

The minimum periods required for a Hungarian pension are as follows:

15 years of service period for old age pension,
40 years of eligibility period for women's preferential pension,
in the case of a survivor's pension, the period of service required for the age of the deceased insured person.

If the entitlement for the benefit cannot be established solely on the basis of the Hungarian service period, the insurance periods certified by the North Macedonian pension administration body shall also be taken into account for the pension as if they had been completed under Hungarian legislation, provided that they do not fall within the same period.

The Agreement excludes double insurance, but service periods completed in Hungary and North Macedonia before the date of entry into force may overlap. These periods may be taken into account only once when applying the aggregation rule.

If, after the application of the above provisions, the applicant is still not entitled, periods of insurance completed in a third state with which both Hungary and North Macedonia concluded a social security agreement and which provisions cover the aggregation of insurance periods shall also be taken into account.

In this case, periods of insurance completed in the following countries may be taken into account for the purpose of determining entitlement to the benefit claimed:

Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Croatia, Canada, Poland, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Germany, Norway, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia,

However, for Hungarian nationals, periods of insurance completed in the following countries may be taken into account for the establishment of entitlement:

all EU Member States and EEA countries, the United Kingdom and Switzerland,
Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Kosovo, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Republic of Montenegro, Republic of Korea, Republic of Serbia, India, Japan, Russian Federation, Turkey, United States of America.

If the applicant has at least 15 years of service period required for a Hungarian pension only by adding up the insurance periods, the amount of the pension must be calculated on the basis of the Hungarian and Macedonian insurance periods. In the case of a survivor's pension, the period of insurance in Bosnia shall be taken into account if the deceased insured person does not have the period of service in Hungary corresponding to their age.

The pension to be determined is the proportion of the insurance periods completed under Hungarian legislation in relation to the total insurance periods. The amount of the Hungarian pension is determined solely on the basis of earnings and income in Hungary.

If the completed insurance period is less than one year and no benefit can be established on that basis in the country where the insurance period was completed, the period of less than one year certified by North Macedonia shall be taken into account as Hungarian insurance period, while the Hungarian period of less than one year shall be taken into account as North Macedonian insurance period.

PAYMENT OF PENSION BENEFITS

Pension benefits are paid directly to the beneficiary in accordance with the legislation of the country that established them. The amount of the established benefit shall remain unchanged for the beneficiary living in the territory of the other country.

The established Hungarian benefits are paid by the Pension Payment Directorate of the Hungarian State Treasury (1139 Budapest, Váci út 73., postal address: 1820 Budapest), detailed information on which can be found in the information "Payment options for beneficiaries living abroad".

For a person living in North Macedonia, Hungarian pensions are paid in euros into a bank account held in that country.

Hungarian State Treasury