Social Security Agreement for Foreigners

Foreigners who are aged between 18 and 60 and who are residing and working in Korea, regardless of their nationalities, should be covered under the NPS. Foreigners whose countries do not include Korean nationals, however, are excluded from the coverage of NPS.

Despite the general rules above, if there are relevant provisions under the Social Security Agreement (SSA) between Korea and a foreign country, those provisions will be applied. A bilateral SSA is concluded to coordinate the social security program of one country with a comparable program of the other country, so that nationals of either country are able to enjoy their social security contributions while in the other country.

To protect the rights of foreigners, the SSA will publish articles about social security provisions for each of the 24 countries with which South Korea has an SSA. We begin this issue with Canada.

□ Canada

 ○ The SSA between Korea and Canada came into effect in May 1999.

 ○ Exemption from Dual Coverage

 ① In general, an employee is subject to the legislation of a contracting country in which he/she is employed.

② A self-employed person is subject to the legislation of a contracting country in which the person ordinarily resides.

③ When a person is considered to be self-employed under the laws of a contracting country but is considered to be employed under the laws of the other contracting country for the same activities, that person is subject to the laws of the contracting country where he/she resides.

④ A detached worker is exempt from coverage under the pension system of the contracting country which he/she is sent to work for fewer than five years, if he/she is covered under the pension scheme of his/her home country.

○ Benefits under this Agreement

Even though the period of coverage in one country is not sufficient to qualify for pension benefits, you may be eligible for benefits after this Agreement has been applied. This is possible due to the totalization of coverage in both countries.

① Korean National Pension Benefits under the SSA.

If you have more than 12 months of insured period in Korea but do not have enough periods of coverage (e.g., 20 years for Full Old-age pension) to qualify for pension benefits under the Korean pension system, you may be able to qualify for Korean benefits by totalizing periods of coverage under the Korean pension system and the Canadian pension system. However, those periods creditable under the Canadian pension system must not coincide with the periods under the legislation of Korea. Your benefit is calculated by dividing the Korean periods of coverage by the total periods of coverage and then being multiplied by the Theoretical Benefit. The Theoretical Benefit is calculated based on the totalized periods in both countries.

② Canadian Pension Benefits under the SSA

If you have more than 12 months as an insured period in the Canadian Old Age Security System (OAS) but do not have enough periods of coverage (e.g., 10 years for Old-age pension) to qualify for pension benefits under Canadian Old Age Security System (OAS), you may be able to qualify for Old Age Security pension by totalizing periods of coverage under the Korean pension system and the Canadian Old Age Security System (OAS). However, the period creditable under the Korean pension scheme must not coincide with the period of residence under the Canadian Old Age Security System (OAS).

If you do not have enough of a period of coverage to qualify for Canadian pension benefits under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), you may be able to qualify for Canadian pension benefits by totalizing periods of coverage under the Korean pension system and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). However, those periods creditable under the Korean pension scheme must not coincide with the periods the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

③ A person who is or has been subject to the laws of one contracting country and who resides within the territory of the other contracting country shall, together with his/her dependents, receive equal treatment with the nationals of the other contracting country in the application of the laws of the other contracting country.

④ A Korean Lump-sum refund is paid to Canadian nationals.

⑤ However, since there is no provision provided for a Lump-sum refund in the legislation of the Canadian Pension System, Korean people cannot be paid a Lump-sum refund from the Canadian Pension System. Instead, the contributions to the Canadian Pension System may be calculated toward pension payments, according to the legislation of the Canadian Pension System.