You have worked in France and then in Andorra—or vice versa—and you’re wondering how these two careers will be taken into account when you retire. This is a legitimate question, and one that often causes concern: Will you lose some of your accrued benefits by moving to another country? How are your years of contributions combined? What steps do you need to take in advance, and with whom?
The France-Andorra Retirement Agreement specifically addresses these questions. This bilateral agreement, which coordinates the social security systems of both countries, protects your rights and establishes the rules for calculating your pensions. In this guide, we explain how it actually works, including details that are often oversimplified elsewhere: eligibility requirements, the steps you need to take on both the French and Andorran sides, and the official resources you can turn to.
What is the Franco-Andorran Social Security Agreement?
The Franco-Andorran Social Security Agreement was signed on December 12, 2000, in Andorra la Vella. Contrary to what is sometimes reported, it did not enter into force immediately after its signing. It was not until its ratification and the publication of Decree No. 2003-489 of June 4, 2003, that it took effect on June 1, 2003. Prior to that date, relations between the two social security systems were governed by older administrative arrangements—the first of which dates back to 1970—that became obsolete following the adoption of the Andorran Constitution in 1993.
This agreement covers virtually all branches of social security—old-age insurance, health and maternity insurance, disability insurance, workers’ compensation, and family benefits—with the notable exception of unemployment insurance, which remains outside its scope.
Its most tangible benefit for future retirees lies in a simple yet essential provision: the elimination of residency requirements. Specifically, neither French nor Andorran law can require you to reside within their territory in order to grant, calculate, or pay you an old-age pension. You can therefore apply for your pension and continue to receive it, regardless of which country you live in afterward.
How are your periods of employment in France and Andorra taken into account?
The Principle of Aggregating Periods
The agreement is based on a mechanism known as the aggregation of insurance periods. If you have not paid contributions for a long enough period in a single country to be eligible for a pension, the competent institution may take into account the periods completed in the other country to verify that the minimum required duration has been met.
Let’s take a simple example. If you worked for 8 years in France and then 20 years in Andorra, your 8 years in France alone might not be enough to qualify for a pension under certain systems. In such cases, the aggregation process allows you to combine your 28 years of total work history to determine your eligibility, with each country then remaining responsible for paying the portion corresponding to its own contribution periods.
The calculation method
This is where an important nuance comes into play—one that is rarely explained correctly. One might think that the agreement systematically requires a calculation based on aggregation and pro-rata adjustment—that is, that each country calculates a theoretical pension based on your entire career and then reduces it in proportion to the periods spent in that country. This method of calculation does indeed exist and is applied in many bilateral agreements signed by France.
But for Andorra, the situation is different. The Franco-Andorran agreement is one of several that allow the applicant to choose between two methods of calculation: aggregation and pro-rata calculation, or separate calculation. In the latter case, each country determines the amount of your pension based solely on its own regulations and only on the periods during which you paid contributions on its territory, without taking the other country’s contribution history into account.
In practice, the competent authority performs both calculations and selects the one that is most favorable to you. This comparison process is a game-changer for many individuals, particularly those whose career in a single country is already long enough to qualify for full benefits without needing to combine their service periods. It is therefore advisable, before submitting any application, to have a simulation prepared that takes both scenarios into account rather than relying on a simplified estimate.
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The Special Case of Special Pension Plans and Civil Servants
Another point: the aggregation of service periods does not apply to all pension plans in the same way. The pension plans of the three French civil service sectors—the national civil service, local government, and the hospital system—as well as the plan for workers at state-owned industrial facilities, are excluded from this aggregation mechanism, even when the service periods were completed under the corresponding Andorran civil service plan.
If you have spent part of your career as a civil servant—whether on the French or Andorran side—it is therefore essential to verify on a case-by-case basis how your entitlements will be handled, rather than assuming that they will be automatically combined with your other periods of employment.
What are the eligibility requirements for the Franco-Andorran pension?
The requirements regarding age and length of insurance coverage are still determined by each country’s own legislation; the agreement does not alter these national thresholds. In France, the legal retirement age depends on your year of birth, with 64 being the benchmark for the most recent generations. In Andorra, the legal retirement age is set at 65.
The required period of insurance coverage to qualify for a full pension also differs between the two systems. It is precisely when your work history spans both countries that the aggregation of coverage—or the separate calculation based on whichever option is most favorable to you—becomes particularly important for meeting this reference period.
The Trap of Deferred Liquidation
One point deserves special attention, as it may have long-term financial consequences. If you decide to claim your pension in one country while deferring your claim in the other—whether by personal choice or because the law requires you to do so due to differences in the legal retirement age—the calculation of the first pension you claim will take into account the periods of service completed in the other country at the time of your claim, but this calculation becomes final.
This means that no recalculation will be possible later when you apply for your second pension, even if a new assessment would be more favorable to you at that time.
Here is an example: A 60-year-old employee who has contributed the equivalent of 100 quarters in France and 40 in Andorra and who applies to receive his French pension while deferring his Andorran pension will have his French pension calculated based on this combined total, with no possibility of a later adjustment, even if it does not allow him to reach the full rate. Before submitting any application, it is therefore advisable to consider the order in which to claim your two pensions rather than rushing into a decision.
How do you apply for retirement benefits in France or Andorra?
Steps to be taken on the French side
For your basic pension, the contact is your pension fund under the general scheme, CARSAT, or CNAV if you are living abroad at the time of your application. You can view and reconstruct your employment history on the info-retraite.fr website, which allows you to verify that all of your periods of employment in France have been properly recorded before submitting your application.
If you were an employee, your supplementary pension benefits are administered by Agirc-Arrco, which you must also contact at the same time you apply to the basic pension system. You can now apply for your pension directly online through your personal account on the Pension Insurance website.
Procedures on the Andorran side
In Andorra, the pension division of the Caixa Andorrana de Seguretat Social (CASS) handles all matters related to old-age and widow’s pensions. You will need to contact this agency directly to claim the benefits you have earned in Andorra.
Timeline and Required Documents
Processing times between the two administrations can take several months, due to the necessary exchanges between French and Andorran institutions to verify your respective periods of insurance. It is therefore recommended that you begin the process several months before your desired departure date, gathering the following documents in advance:
- your pay stubs from both countries
- your successive employment contracts
- Your French employment history statement, available at info-retraite.fr
- your successive proofs of residence
- a valid form of identification
- proof of civil status, such as a family register or birth certificate
- bank account information for the payment of pensions
An incomplete application, or periods of employment that have not been reported—whether short-term contracts or equivalent periods such as periods of unemployment with benefits or sick leave—may delay the processing of your application or reduce the amount of your pension. Under certain conditions, these periods for which contributions were not directly paid may, in fact, be taken into account and included in the overall calculation of your benefits.
How will this affect the amount of your pension?
As explained above, the final amount of your pension will depend on the calculation method used—aggregation and pro-rata adjustment or separate calculation—with the agency applying the method that is most favorable to you when you have a choice. If you have spent a significant portion of your career in both countries, you will, in practice, receive two separate pensions: a French portion paid by your pension fund and an Andorran portion paid by the CASS.
The agreement also protects your loved ones. In the event of your death, your spouse may be eligible for a survivor’s pension calculated according to the rules specific to each pension plan, in proportion to the benefits you have accrued in each country.
Finally, if you wish to live in Andorra while continuing to work part-time, or conversely, to remain in France after having paid social security contributions in Andorra, there are rules governing the combination of employment and retirement under certain conditions; it is advisable to check with your social security office before resuming work.
Retirement in France and Andorra and Taxation: What You Need to Know
The issue of taxation is inextricably linked to that of Franco-Andorran retirement. Which country can tax your pensions depends on the rules set forth in the tax treaty between France and Andorra, which is separate from the social security agreement discussed in this article. A misunderstanding of these rules may expose you to the risk of double taxation. We explain this entire tax framework in detail in our article dedicated to the France-Andorra tax treaty.
