- The voluntary insurance must be taken out within one year of the cross-border worker starting work in the Netherlands.
- The partners must be married.
- The partner must not participate in a compulsory pension insurance scheme in Germany.
- The insurance can only be taken out for the period during which the cross-border worker is insured in the Netherlands.
- When the cross-border worker retires, the voluntary insurance of the partner ends.
Do you and your partner get married after you have started working as a cross-border commuter? Then your (spousal) partner can take out voluntary insurance within one year of the marriage. Your partner must also meet the above conditions.
In most cases, you can take out voluntary insurance for a maximum of 10 years. There are exceptions. Contact the SVB for information on this.
It is also possible to take out voluntary insurance for an Anw benefit (survivor benefit). This must be insured separately, also via the SVB. If the partner receives an Anw benefit in the Netherlands when the frontier worker dies, the voluntary AOW insurance can continue, even if the 10-year period has expired.
Costs of voluntary AOW insurance
Voluntary AOW insurance is not free of charge. You will have to pay a contribution. This contribution is based on your income. In 2022, the contribution will be a minimum of € 536 and a maximum of € 5,364. If your partner earns up to about € 9,000 gross per year, you have to pay the minimum contribution. If the partner has a significantly higher income, ask an adviser at the GrenzInfoPunkt to advise you on whether it makes sense to take out voluntary insurance.
Information and application for voluntary AOW insurance
You can find information about voluntary insurance and how to calculate your contribution on the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) website: www.svb.nl
You can find the application form for voluntary insurance here: Application for voluntary AOW insurance
Of course, you can also contact the advisers at the GrenzInfoPunkt.