After the signing of the agreement between the two countries Albania-Italy on the recognition of insurance periods, the question raised by hundreds of thousands of citizens who are directly affected is related to the benefits they will have.
The focus is on pensions, which are a long-standing and very important demand, but the range of benefits is wider, disability pensions, family pensions, sickness benefit and unemployment insurance.
Based on the agreement reached, everyone will receive the money they have paid into the social insurance scheme in both Italy and Albania. Each state will provide the corresponding funds to the citizens. The director of the Institute of Social Security, Astrit Hado, explained in a television interview how these benefits will be benefited and what facilities the Albanians will have.
THE THREE BENEFITS
The first and most important benefit that Albanian citizens have from this agreement is that they will not lose any contributory year due to not fulfilling the primary condition of the necessary years of work, which are 20 years in Italy and 15 years in Albania. “Due to the merging of the contribution periods defined in the agreement, they will meet the legal criteria to receive a pension both in Albania and in Italy.
We are taking as an example, an Albanian who has been in Albania for 14 years and in Italy for 19 years, without an agreement he does not earn a pension in either country. What will happen now? The collection of these years, 33 years, fulfills the conditions and enables him to apply for a pension in both countries”, explains Hado, further talking about the other two benefits that few people know about.
“The second benefit is related to the legal change that Italy has made regarding retirement. Italy has increased it to 67 years, but if the age of the person seeking to retire together with the years of insurance is 103, the individual receives a pension from that moment, despite the fact that they have not reached 67 years of age. This benefited the Albanians because they have been working in Albania for 10-20 years. The combination of these two periods leads to the fulfillment of the condition to receive pension even before time. This means that Albanians will not turn 67 years old, but 65, 64 or even earlier if they wish”, adds Hado.
The third benefit is related to bureaucratic and expensive procedures, but in this case they will not be such. At least, referring to what the director of ISSH says. “If pensioners think to spend their lives in Albania or Italy, through the agreement they have the right to export their pension.
If an Albanian lives in Italy, we are obliged, based on the agreement, to transfer it to his bank account where he lives. Another benefit is the fact that any type of documentation required for a pension in Italy will not be translated, notarized or provided with an apostille stamp. Practically, every Albanian national insurance office also turns into an Italian insurance office and vice versa.
So, a citizen living in Italy can come to the insurance office in Italy to make the request in Albanian and the Italian side will send it to us free of charge. Also, even an Italian makes a request to us, we neither translate nor notarize them, but just send them as they are”, explains Hado.
After 15 years of negotiations, on February 6, Albania and Italy signed the agreement on the recognition of social security contributions. The Pact comes as an obligation and right to Albanian, Italian and Italo-Albanian citizens, who have worked with dedication for 30 years and have contributed to the economy and social progress of the two countries.
We remind you that Albania and Italy completed the technical negotiation of the agreement on pensions on July 26, 2022. So far, Albania has signed agreements with 16 countries in the field of social insurance and is in the process with several other countries.
HOW PROFITABLE
According to a preliminary assessment, following the signing of the Agreement, the number of beneficiaries in Italy and the pension obligations arising from the possibility of fulfilling the conditions of the legislation in force, but also through the merging of the periods, will start with about 4 thousand pensions in year, and to continue growing year after year.
One of the main benefits is the joining of contributory periods: Insurance periods (voluntary and compulsory) completed under the legislation of each country are accumulated and joined with insurance periods (voluntary and compulsory) completed under the legislation of the other contracting state, provided that they do not overlap and according to the provisions provided by the legislation of each state.
Insurance periods completed under the legislation of one contracting state are combined, if necessary, with insurance periods under the laws of the other contracting state. The data available to Albanian institutions speak of about 500,000 Albanian citizens with regular residence in Italy and who pay social contributions.
