Retired living abroad: When do you need to present a certificate of life?

Verified 03 March 2025 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If you are retired and live abroad, your French pension funds may ask you to provide a certificate of life to continue to pay your retirement pensions.

This is also the case if you live in Wallis and Futuna or New Caledonia.

Your French pension funds may ask you to provide proof of existence every year, regardless of your nationality.

One Certificate enough for all your pension funds.

There are several ways to justify your existence:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Biometric recognition

You can confirm your existence with biometric recognition on your phone with the secure application My certificate of life.

When you need to prove your existence, you will receive a QR code by post or email that allows you to settle the application free of charge My certificate of life on your phone.

You need to settle the application, photograph your ID, follow biometric recognition guidelines and validate your certificate of life.

Once the process begins, you have 4 days to complete it.

Once validated, your life certificate is automatically transmitted to your various pension funds.

If you wish, you can download your certificate of life.

If your pension funds ask you, the application can also allow you to certify your marital status.

If you do not wish to use the biometric option, you must do so via the Internet or by mail.

Other means of transmitting the certificate of life

Proof of existence may be furnished:

  • By an automatic exchange of data between your pension fund and a body or department responsible for civil registration in your country of residence
  • Or by an on-the-spot check by an agreed trusted third party
  • Or by providing a certificate of existence endorsed by the consular service of your country of residence.

In the latter case, the certificate of life is transmitted to you via the Internet in your retirement account of the Info Retirement site - section My pension payments / My retirement abroad.

Life certificate of the retiree residing abroad

Once completed, you can send it back over the internet after scanning or photographing it.

The certificate of life must be returned within one month from the day you receive the email notification that your certificate is available in your personal space.

If you do not meet this deadline, your pension payments may be suspended.