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Agreement with Italy/Hado: Merging periods only when the citizen does not meet the conditions to receive a pension

2025-07-02 18:12:00, Aktualitet CNA

Agreement with Italy/Hado: Merging periods only when the citizen does not meet

Albania's agreement with Italy on the recognition of pensions entered into force yesterday. Albanian citizens will now not need to appear in person or receive written confirmations, as they can apply online on the official website that has been specially opened by the Social Security Institute in Albania, as well as IMSI in Italy.

Applications are made through e-Albania and from there all electronic documentation is forwarded between countries and institutions, shortening the time of procedures and saving citizens the trouble.

The head of the SSSI, Astrit Hado, explained today some of the procedures and guidance manuals for citizens, when they benefit, how to apply and whether or not pension periods in two countries will be merged.

"With Italy we will start exchanging forms electronically, so it will no longer be paper or documents, but electronically, which will shorten the time. We have started it before with Germany, and now with Italy, which speeds up the procedure. We have made explanations with guidelines and have published them on the ISSH website for our employees, but also for citizens, to follow the guidelines to apply for pensions. The Italian side has also published the manual or guide on its website and all Albanian and Italian citizens can follow these instructions," explained Hado.

According to him, this significantly shortens the time from the moment of application to the payment of the pension.

He also explained the cases of application for those who have not completed their working years, but have reached the age and have worked in two countries, Italy and Albania.

"All Albanian citizens who have reached the age of majority, but who do not have 15 years of work, must apply to e-Albania where a page has been opened there, where they can apply, and if they have years of work abroad, they can mark it there. The citizen does not need to come to the institution physically, but they can apply online and we also do it online with the documentation, we forward it to the Italian side and they to us. Now is also the summer period and we will have many Albanians who will come and apply for pensions, so I tell them that there is no need to come here physically, but they should follow the application path in Albania or Italy through the official online website, make the request where it is needed, because the same thing will be required of them in Italy, it will not be worth it if they go physically, since the application must only be done online and the actions, the responses are returned through this path", continued the head of the ISHS.

He was asked whether the merging of pension periods in two countries will be allowed, whether the merging of working years will be allowed and the explanation of when the citizen completes the years to retire. Hado said that the merging of periods is not allowed in cases where the working years are not completed, but a procedure is carried out for a separate pension, according to the years in Albania and Italy, so they are counted separately.

"If an Albanian has work experience in different countries with which we have agreements, there is no need to merge periods of an Albanian citizen for years of work, if he has 15 years, then it is enough to have these 15 years and he is its beneficiary. The merger works only for procedural effects. Because there may be cases when an Albanian has 14 years of work in Albania and 19 years, for example, in Italy. The calculation is done for Italy separately, because there the law has 20 years and here it has 15 years. So we calculate the 14 years of Albania for our country and Italy calculates the 19 years according to its laws. So the years are not merged here and there, but the pension is divided, it is taken separately in two parts, the calculation will simply be done according to the years there and the years here. But the merger as a procedure is necessary as a legal action, in this case the action serves to merge periods, but the pension is calculated separately", said Hado, among other things.

He emphasized the innovation that has greatly helped the procedures, the institution, and the citizens themselves, advising to follow the guidelines and not to physically wander aimlessly.

"We have shortened the application time with Italy through electronic communication, where mail is no longer necessary, as may be the case for other countries. This procedure reduces the waiting time from the moment of application to the payment of pensions," said the director of the ISSH.

Hado also gave instructions to Albanian citizens living in Italy who want to retire in Albania for legal purposes, on how they should act.

"All Albanian citizens who want their working years and pension in Albania, for legal purposes, must apply in Italy. There is no need to apply to us, but they apply to IMSI, they bring it to us and we carry out the actions. Because even if they do it to us, the same thing will happen, but for the procedure, if the Albanian is in Italy and wants to retire in Albania, they must apply there, to the Italian IMSI and they forward it to us," the official explained./oranews.tv