Czech Social Security Administration (CSSA) is temporarily changing the proving of the conditions for the payment of a pension abroad due to restrictions related to the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease. The fulfillment of all conditions is now complicated by the measures in force in many countries. The conditions for entitlement to a pension are verified by the Certificate of Living Form.
As in the spring during the first wave of the pandemic, recipients of Czech pensions can send Confirmation of life form by post, even without official verification of the handwritten signature, or electronically (by e-mail) without a qualified electronic signature according to the eIDAS regulation.
You must justify why your signature is without official verification
However, the reason for sending the Life Certificate in these ways without a verified signature may only be the fact that you live abroad and you do not have the opportunity to have your signature officially verified or you cannot send the Life Certificate by post. If you are sending a Certificate of Life without an officially verified signature, you must always state the reason why your signature could not be officially verified. All you have to do is state on the Life Certificate the specific reasons related to the emergency situation that prevented you from sending the document with a verified signature.
These reasons may include closing or restricting the services of relevant institutions, authorities or the post office, but also recommending government and health authorities to reduce social contacts and isolate at-risk populations, mainly the elderly and individuals suffering from respiratory diseases. The handwritten signature of the pension recipient or his / her guardian must always be officially verified in exceptional circumstances. If you are currently in the Czech Republic, you can request signature verification at any OSSZ, where it is performed free of charge.
If you send the Certificate of Life by e-mail, you must print it out, fill it in, sign it by hand, then scan it, or take a photo, and send it in an e-mail attachment to the CSSA e-mail address: [email protected].
The pension is paid:
- directly to your account with a financial institution (bank) abroad,
- to your account (or the account of the spouse) in the Czech Republic kept in the Czech currency,
- by international postal order to the address of the recipient of the pension in Poland in Polish currency (in zlotys),
- to the account of the recipient of the pension to the Slovak Republic in euros,
- by bank check and to your address abroad (outside the Slovak Republic, Australia, Finland, Norway, Macedonia, Denmark, India, Syria, Sweden, Ukraine and Canada).
It is necessary to fill in, sign and send to the CSSA to arrange payment to the account Application of a person living outside the territory of the Czech Republic for the payment of a Czech pension.
The payment of pensions to Poland takes place on a monthly basis by international postal order via the Czech and Polish post offices in zlotys. Monthly pension payments are always delivered in the first half of the calendar month for which the pension payment is due. With the above method of payment of the pension, the Certificate of Living is not translated, because the money is paid directly to you. Payment of pensions to the Slovak Republic and with an account maintained in the Slovak Republic in euros is made every month. The conditions of entitlement to a pension are verified 4 times a year by the form Certificate of Living, which is sent to the CSSA in February, May, August and November of the calendar year to the address of the pension recipient.
During an emergency, you can send relatives for retirement
During the state of emergency, the conditions for the payment of pensions to Czech citizens living in the Czech Republic also change. Seniors and people with weakened immunities can be picked up a cash pension paid through an emergency during an emergency Czech Post their relatives or other close persons. All they need is a printed one form with a power of attorney, signed by the addressee of the pension and an authorized person.
Post office staff will verify the power of attorney according to the agent’s ID card. The signature of the agent confirming the receipt of the pension and the duration of the conditions for its payment will be compared with the specimen signature on the identity card. The power of attorney is always valid once for a specific payment of the pension and after the payment of the pension becomes part of the archived part of the payment document. In the case of pensions paid in this way, Česká pošta will, upon request, provide the Czech Social Security Administration, together with this document, with a power of attorney on the basis of which the pension was paid. So far, the state of emergency has been extended until 12 December 2020. However, it is possible that it will be extended again until the end of the year.
You should receive a contribution of 5,000 crowns by Christmas
At present, an extraordinary one-off contribution for pensioners in the amount of CZK 5,000 is already being paid. The CSSA pays it separately, except for the normal payment of the pension from 30 November to 8 December 2020, in the same way as the normal pension payment is paid to you (most often to a bank account or in cash). Furthermore, the contribution is paid through type B slips, which will be delivered according to the Czech Post regime by 15 December 2020.
Extraordinary one-time contribution, payment schedule. (Nov 30, 2020)
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Conditions for the payment of a one-off contribution:
- Everyone who received a pension in November or applied for payment in time from November is entitled to the allowance,
- the allowance is intended for old-age pensioners, invalidity pensioners, widows and widows and orphans,
- in case of concurrence of several types of pensions, it will be paid only once, the compensation will be paid automatically,
- it will not be necessary to apply for it and the amount will be paid in full at once, the contribution may not be confiscated by the executor, will not be subject to income tax or will not be counted as income for the purposes of determining entitlement to social benefits,
- for example, the housing allowance will not be reduced for anyone.
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