NPS- Foreigners and Lump-sum Refund- Details information

NPS- Foreigners and Lump-sum Refund- Details information
* Please read every details*

Foreigners residing in Korea are subject to the compulsory coverage of the National Pension Scheme, just like Korean nationals. So, if a foreigner aged between 18 and 59 is working at a workplace covered under the scheme, he/she shall be a Workplace-based Insured Person, or an Individually Insured Person compulsorily.

Exclusions from the National Pension Coverage

• 1. Any national whose country’s pension system does not mandatorily cover Korean citizens.(The Republic of South Africa, Nepal, Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Tonga, Pakistan, Fiji, Cambodia, Singapore, Belarus, East Timor, and Georgia, Nigeria and Malaysia do not mandatorily cover Korean citizens under their pension schemes)
• 2. Foreigners who are not registered according to the Immigration Act, or to whom a forced deportation order has been issued under the same Act, or who are staying in Korea without being permitted to extend their terms of sojourn.
• 3. Foreigners whose stay status is applicable to any of the following: D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, D-6, F-1, F-3, or G-1
• 4. Foreigners who is excluded from the National Pension Coverage By the Social Security Agreement.

Aquisition & Loss of Insured Status has to be reported

• Who should submit reports regarding acquisition & loss of insured status?

  For Workplace-based Insured Foreigners : The employer.

  For Individually Insured Foreigners : The foreigner.

• - Reporting Due Date :

  By the 15th of the next month of the date of acquisition & loss of insured status. For example, if an employee starts working in February, the employer has to make a report by March 15.

Add caption

Foreign insured persons are treated equally as Korean insured persons under the National Pension Scheme. If a foreign insured person fulfills eligibility to receive an Old-age, Survivor or Disability pension, he/she can be paid any of the pension benefits on the basis of the Korean National Pension Act.
There is no discrimination in terms of benefit amounts and remitting benefits abroad, etc. But there is a certain distinction regarding a Lump-sum Refund. In principle, a Lump-sum Refund is not paid to foreigners leaving Korea after having been covered under the scheme.
But, to foreigners falling under any of the following conditions, a Lump-sum Refund will be paid.

• 1.In cases where a foreigner whose home country grants Koreans benefits in compliance with a Lump-sum Refund under the National Pension Scheme. (Article 126 of the National Pension Act and Article 113 of the Enforcement Decree of the National Pension Act) ※as of June 2015 : 24 countries(Belize, Grenada, Jordan, Saint Vincent and Grenadine, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Thailand, Bhutan, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Bermuda, Malaysia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Trinidad and Tobago, Sudan, Columbia, Vanuatu, Philippines, Tunisia and Uganda)
• 2.In cases where a foreigner whose home country has concluded a social security agreement with Korea regarding the payment of the Lump-sum Refund ※As of June 2015: 16 countries (Canada, United States, Germany, Hungary, France, Australia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Austria, India, Turkey, Swizerland)
• 3.Regardless of the nationality, in cases where a foreigner, who has been covered under the National Pension Scheme with the status of sojourn of E-8 (Employment for Training), E-9 (Non-professional Employment), or H-2 (Visiting Employment), returns to his/her home country

Effective from May 11, 2007

If a person had stayed in Korea with 2 or more types of status of sojourn, only the contributions paid during the insured period with those status (E-8, E-9, H-2) are returned.

If a foreigner applies for a Lump-sum Refund because he/she is going to return to his/her home country, the Lump-sum Refund will be paid as long as NPS is able to verify that the person has left Korea. However, if he/she submits the required materials, such as an airplane ticket verifying his/her departure within one month, he/she will be able to apply for the refund before leaving Korea.
The amount of a Lump-sum Refund is the sum of the contributions paid and interest gradually increased. The interest rate is the rate from the involved period of a time deposit with a maturity of three years.

                           

① Applying before departing from Korea (for applicants in Korea)

The insured person has to visit one of our local offices with the following documents:

<Required documents>

• An application for Lump-sum Refund (This form is available at any local office.)
• Passport of the insured person
• Alien registration card of the insured person
• Proof materials of the insured person’s bank account (such as a bank statement, voided check, or bankbook showing the applicant’s name and account number, etc.)
• Flight (or ship) ticket (the date of departure has to be within a month from the date of application)

② Applying after departing from Korea (for applicants outside of Korea)

An application can be made by an agent or mail.

(1) Application by mail from abroad

The applicant has to fill out the forms and send them with the required documents. Before mailing the application, the applicant needs to have the whole application notarized by a notary public and then apostilled (or attested by the local Korean consulate).

<Required documents>

An application for a Lump-sum Refund
A copy of the passport of the insured person
Proof of the insured person’s bank account (such as a bank statement, voided check, or bankbook showing the applicant’s name and account number, etc.)
In the case of overseas remittance: application for overseas remittance is additionally required.

(2) Application from abroad by an agent in Korea

An agent in Korea may visit one of our local offices with the required documents and apply for the benefit in place of the beneficiary who is staying abroad. In this case, the benefit is transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account.

<Required documents>

An application for a Lump-sum Refund: the beneficiary has to fill out the "Application by Agent" section of the application form and have the application notarized by a notary public in his/her country and then apostilled (or attested by the local Korean consulate).
Instead of filling out the "Application by Agent" section, the beneficiary may send a letter of attorney which indicates the agent’s information: full name and address. The letter of attorney has to be authenticated by a notary public in the country where the beneficiary lives and then apostilled (or attested by the local Korean consulate). The agent living in Korea who has received the letter of attorney may have to attest the letter after translating it into Korean so the letter's contents can be generally recognized.
A copy of the beneficiary's ID card (issued by the government of the beneficiary's home country, such as a passport, or other forms of identification)
ID of the agent
Proof of the beneficiary’s bank account (such as a bank statement, voided check, or bankbook showing the beneficiary’s name and account number, etc.)
In the case of overseas remittance: application for overseas remittance is additionally required.
If any government administrative agency of a foreign country certifies that the "Application by Agent" part of the application (or the letter of attorney) is written by the beneficiary, and the Embassy of the foreign country in Korea attests it, then the notarization and apostillation (attestation) of the application (letter of attorney) and the proof of the beneficiary’s bank account is not required.

(3) Application through MOU

A foreign national who has returned to his/her home country may submit an application for a Lump-sum Refund, Lump-sum Death Payment or unpaid benefits of the two, at the social insurance institution of his/her home country that has concluded an MOU on benefit applications with NPS. The social insurance institution will send the applications to NPS. Then NPS pays the benefit and sends a notice of payment to the applicant directly.

                             Countries that have concluded MOUs with Korea

Countries which have concluded MOUs with Korea

MOU with	Date of entry into force	Local Social Insurance Institution
Mongolia	November 26, 2007	THE STATE SOCIAL INSURANCE GENERAL OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MONGOLIA(몽골국가사회보험청) 976-11-328030
Uzbekistan	May 26, 2008	The Agency for Foreign Labor Migration Affairs (근로자해외이주청) 998-71-214-5203
Thailand	August 27, 2010	Bureau of International Cooperation, Ministry of Labour (태국노동부) 66-2-232-1239
Sri Lanka	November 22, 2011	The Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare (해외고용촉진복지부) 94112864124 / 94714553433
the Kyrgyz Republic	July 30, 2015 singed*	the Social Fund of the Kyrgyz Republic (키르기스스탄 사회기금) 996-312-545200

* not effective(need to agreed with Kyrgyz Government via government order).

                        

NPS is providing payment service for foreigners who leave Korea through the Incheon Airport

• 1. Payment at the airport is appropriate only when the beneficiary leaves on a flight from 11:00 to 24:00, Mon to Fri. (not available on official holidays) and the ex-employer of the insured person makes a disqualification report to NPS at least one day before the departure date. The insured person has to visit one of the local offices within a month of departure and apply for a Lump-sum Refund. The insured person can choose the airport payment as the method of payment.
• 2. Payment Procedure at the airport
  · Application at the local offices (Office hours 09:00~18:00)
  • ① Visit one of our local offices and apply for a Lump-sum Refund
  • ② Select [Airport Payment] as the method of payment
    Required Documents: passport and alien registration card of the insured person, flight ticket with a departure date within a month, and proof of the beneficiary’s bank account (in case there is an additional payment or failure of airport payment)
  • ③ Receive a ‘Filing Receipt’

· Receipt at Incheon Airport

• ① At Incheon Airport Office (Office hours 09:00~17:00), on the departure date, hand in the filing receipt, passport, alien registration card and flight ticket, and receive the "Direction for Payment of a Lump-Sum Refund"
• ② At ACE Foreign Exchange Booth of Shinhan Bank (Office hours 09:00~17:30) Hand in the "Direction for Payment of Lump-sum Refund" and passport, and receive the “Receipt of Currency Exchange.”
• ③ At Dojeon Foreign Exchange Booth of Shinhan Bank (in front of the 43th boarding gate; office hours 09:00~21:00) Hand in “Direction for Payment of a Lump-Sum Refund,” "Receipt of Currency Exchange" and passport, and withdraw the exchanged money

SOURCE: www.nps.go.kr