Íæż½ã½ã

@jeanmandredeix

You are correct. Bulgaria is reluctant to accept a business type of pension such as a 401(k). You can obtain a D visa, assuming your government pension meets the minimum income requirement for Bulgaria, which is around 700 USD. After you have your D visa you can apply for a D visa for you husband under the family reunification option. I strongly suggest that you pay the small fee that an immigration attorney will charge to ensure that you and your husband achieve your goal of immigration to Bulgaria.

@jeanmandredeix

I would be surprised if they would not accept a company pension, so I encourage you to apply. Even if they didn't, it's not a huge issue as you can then apply under Family Reunification, as suggested by @Sleep Near.

The D visa is an interesting thing: given that Two-tier Starmer seems determined to punish UK pensioners for their temerity in living so long, one wonders if a time will come when a UK state pension will no longer be sufficient to qualify for BG residency... 😯

@JimJ

Yes, I agree. It concerns me how he is treating everyone but they certainly don’t like pensioners and seem to want to ensure they won’t receive a pension. I read yesterday that they are saying about 80 for retirement! I take it that they have no faith that young people will be working?

Jean, I get my OAP pension before hubby (he gets a small work pension but sadly took bad advice before we met so it's a fraction what it should have been and not enough to qualify), so we'll be doing what SleepNear suggested. I get the D visa first, then once I have applied for residency, we'll apply under family reunification before him.

They should accept a company pension if it's over the Bg minimum wage, but doing it as family reunification might be easier for your hubby, too.

I have the same concerns about pensions being stopped or frozen for UK pensioners who move out of the UK. It's already happened for pensioners in many Commonwealth countries, like Australia and New Zealand. What's stopping them at present for those of us moving to the EU is the Withdrawal Agreement, which specifies that the pension should be paid as if we were living in the UK (less add-ons like Winter Fuel Allowance, Pension Credit, etc).

Personally I think it would be a very foolish thing for any government to do. Freeze pensions so pensioners can't afford to live abroad, they return to get their full pension, they regain the right to use the NHS and get all the extras, it would cost the country far more than paying the full pension to us abroad and keeping oldies out of the UK!

There are reciprocal agreements in place with many countries regards to state pensions, don't think Australia, new Zealand and maybe even Canada have those agreements with uk.

Right. They used to, but don't now. My understanding is that anyone entitled to a UK pension who moves to those countries is likely to find their pension permanently frozen at the rate it was when they left the UK. And anyone who has spent part of their working life in one of those countries may discover they lose some of their pension when they leave the UK.

I worked and paid tax in Australia for the first 16 years of my working life. Those are recognised as contributing years for a UK OAP, because the reciprocal agreement was in force then. But only if I stay in the UK. When I move to Bulgaria, I will lose that portion of my pension.  To compensate for that, I've overpaid extra years of UK NICs for years when I wasn't working for the entire year or wasn't earning enough for it to count as a full year. I won't get any benefit from those extra payments if I stay in the UK, as I'd already be getting the maximum pension. But when I leave the UK, I hope those extra years will go a little way towards making up for the Aussie years I'll lose.

Could you be entitled to an aussie pension.

My father was entitled to uk pension as his work live mostly uk but also got small Irish pension having worked few years when younger.

I know it's not same situation, just don't seem fair to lose aussie years.

I think it's unfair, for sure, after I paid tax for so many years. Actually, it was 19 years, not 16 as I originally said, from 17 when I first started work to 36, when I moved to the UK. A lot of years to lose! But unfortunately getting anything from them doesn't seem to be an option. Australia has got really mean about pensions. I'm told they even stop someone's pension if they go overseas for longer than two weeks! They do have agreements with some countries but not Bulgaria.

I believe the UK and Ireland have a strong reciprocal agreement for pensions and benefits.

@JimJ
Yes, I agree. It concerns me how he is treating everyone but they certainly don’t like pensioners and seem to want to ensure they won’t receive a pension. I read yesterday that they are saying about 80 for retirement! I take it that they have no faith that young people will be working? - @jeanmandredeix

80? What rubbish did you see that on?

@JimJ
Yes, I agree. It concerns me how he is treating everyone but they certainly don’t like pensioners and seem to want to ensure they won’t receive a pension. I read yesterday that they are saying about 80 for retirement! I take it that they have no faith that young people will be working? - @jeanmandredeix
80? What rubbish did you see that on?
- @SimCityAT

Among others, here: 😎

I think it's unfair, for sure, after I paid tax for so many years. Actually, it was 19 years, not 16 as I originally said, from 17 when I first started work to 36, when I moved to the UK. A lot of years to lose! But unfortunately getting anything from them doesn't seem to be an option. Australia has got really mean about pensions. I'm told they even stop someone's pension if they go overseas for longer than two weeks! They do have agreements with some countries but not Bulgaria.
I believe the UK and Ireland have a strong reciprocal agreement for pensions and benefits. - @janemulberry

Britain has a somewhat chequered history when it comes to Oz - first Transportation and then Ten-Pound Poms....both lots whingeing, of course 😎

@JimJ

Tell me about it! My father was one -- a whinging pom, that is, not a convict or a ten-pound-tourist. Much as I loved the man, I did wish he'd stop the endless complaints and comparisons. His remembered Britain was like Boris's "sunny uplands" - completely mythical, stuck forever in an endless sunny summer afternoon of his youth.

Retirement age -- I haven't seen the age 80 mentioned anywhere serious, though 70 seems almost certain. I believe that won't kick in for some time yet. They say they should give people at least ten years notice. That sounds a lot, but isn't really enough. I spent most of my working life with the expectation I'd get my state pension at 60. If I'd known how things would change, I would have planned for my retirment very differently. But by the time the age went up to 65 and then 67, it seemed too late to start paying into a pension plan.

*rolls eyes at self* Another of my many stupid "If only I'd known" decisions!