Qualifying conditions for voluntary insurance

You can take out voluntary insurance if you were insured in the Netherlands under the AOW pension and Anw survivor benefit schemes for at least 1 entire year before you left the Netherlands. 

If you were insured under the national insurance system of another country of the European Union (EU ) for some months in the year before you left the Netherlands, that period will often count towards the 1-year requirement.

For your voluntary insurance, we look at the 50 year period before you reach your AOW pension age . You can take out voluntary AOW insurance if, during this 50-year period:

• you start living or working outside the Netherlands, and
• you apply for voluntary insurance within 1 year of the date on which you started living or working outside the Netherlands
• you had not yet reached your AOW pension age

You can take out voluntary Anw insurance if:

• you start living or working outside the Netherlands, and
• you apply for voluntary insurance within 1 year of the date on which you started living or working outside the Netherlands; and

We recommend that you apply for voluntary Anw insurance immediately after you start living or working outside the Netherlands. If you die without having applied for voluntary Anw insurance, your partner and children will neither be able to get an Anw survivor benefit or an orphan’s benefit.