Swiss AHV After Moving to Dubai: Contributions, Accrued Rights and How the Pension Is Actually Paid Out

You worked in Switzerland, you paid into the AHV (the Swiss state old-age and survivors' insurance), and now you are moving to Dubai. What happens to your Swiss AHV after moving to Dubai depends on three things: your passport, a one-year deadline, and a second pension pot most people forget. Swiss and EU citizens can usually keep what they built. Some other nationals lose the pension and get a refund instead. And the second pillar, your company pension fund, can often be paid out in full when you leave for the UAE.

This guide takes the questions in the order that protects your money. If you are still weighing the move, start with our comparison of how Swiss residents are taxed in Dubai, then come back here.

One note first. START sets up companies in Dubai; we are not Swiss pension advisers. Every figure below carries its official source and date. For your own case, ask the Swiss Compensation Office (Schweizerische Ausgleichskasse, SAK) in Geneva about the AHV, and your pension fund about the second pillar.

Swiss AHV after moving to Dubai: the short answer

The whole article in five lines:

1. The UAE has no social security agreement with Switzerland.
2. Your passport decides your outcome. Swiss, EU/EFTA, treaty-state and non-treaty citizens get different answers on the same facts.
3. Voluntary AHV has a one-year window. If you want to keep paying in from Dubai, you must apply within one year. After that, the door closes for good.
4. The second pillar is where most of the money is. Moving to a non-EU country like the UAE usually allows a full cash-out of your vested benefits.
5. The AHV pension itself can be paid to a UAE bank account. You choose the payment address.

Step 1: The UAE is not a Swiss social security treaty state

The plain answer: there is no agreement between Switzerland and the UAE on pensions. No treaty links the two systems, and your years in Switzerland and in Dubai are never added together.

You can check this yourself. The AHV information sheet for nationals of non-treaty states, Merkblatt 10.03 (as of 1 January 2025), prints the full list of states with an agreement: the EU and EFTA states, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and about 20 others. The UAE is not on it. The Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) keeps a shorter overview of all agreements, dated 1 January 2026. The UAE is absent there too.

What this means in practice:

• No treaty rule protects you in Dubai. Only Swiss law and, for EU citizens, the Swiss-EU free movement agreement apply.
• For nationals of non-treaty states, the same Merkblatt 10.03 says contributions paid to a foreign insurance cannot be transferred to the AHV or counted in any other way (section 16).
• It also says their Swiss AHV contributions cannot be transferred to the insurance of their home country (section 17).

So the question about your Swiss AHV after moving to Dubai is not "what does the treaty say". It is "what does Swiss law say about someone like me who lives in a non-treaty country". And that depends on your passport.

Step 2: Your passport decides what happens to your AHV

People with the same career can get opposite results here. The table sums up what the official sources say about living in Dubai.

Swiss citizens

You are in the simplest position. Merkblatt 10.02 says ordinary AHV pensions can be paid to any place of residence, by the SAK. You keep every year you contributed and can add more through voluntary AHV (see Step 3).

There is one duty. As a Swiss citizen living abroad who receives a pension, you must register in the register of Swiss abroad (Auslandschweizerregister) with the Swiss representation, or through the online counter of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. This applies even if you want the pension paid in Switzerland. If you are married, your spouse must register as well.

German, Austrian and other EU/EFTA citizens

Many of our readers are Germans or Austrians who worked in Zurich, Basel or Geneva before Dubai. Here is what the official pages say, and what they do not.

The Central Compensation Office (ZAS) sets out the rules on AHV pension payments outside Switzerland (in German). Swiss, EU, EFTA and treaty-state citizens who move abroad keep their entitlement to the pension, it says. It also says you can choose your payment address freely, in Switzerland or abroad. The BSV adds that under the free movement agreement, Switzerland must treat EU citizens like its own citizens.

What none of the pages we read does is state, in one clear sentence, the case of an EU citizen who lives in a non-treaty country like the UAE. We will not turn a line of reasoning into a promise about your pension. Before you rely on it, ask the SAK in Geneva in writing, with your AHV number, and keep the answer.

One thing is written plainly: EU and EFTA citizens can join voluntary AHV when they live outside the EU and EFTA. A German in Dubai can keep paying into the Swiss system on the same terms as a Swiss citizen.

Citizens of other treaty states

If you hold a passport from a full treaty state, such as the UK, the USA, Canada or Australia, the BSV says these agreements guarantee pension payments to the partner state and "mostly" also to third states. "Mostly" is not "always". Ask the SAK what your own treaty says about residence in the UAE.

China, India and South Korea are a special case. The BSV overview marks these agreements as covering only which country's insurance you belong to, not benefits. If you hold one of these passports, get the SAK's answer before you make plans.

Citizens of non-treaty states

This is the hard case. Merkblatt 10.03 says nationals of a non-treaty state receive an AHV pension if they live in Switzerland. The ZAS page says it directly: a pensioner from a non-treaty state who moves abroad loses the pension.

What you can get instead is a refund. If you live abroad, belong to a non-treaty state and have left Switzerland for good, you can apply to have your AHV contributions refunded. There are two conditions to know:

• You must have paid contributions for at least one full year.
• The refund carries no interest. If you already received pension payments, the ZAS says these are deducted from the refund.

The application goes to the SAK in Geneva.

Step 3: The one-year window for voluntary AHV

This is the deadline that cannot be fixed later. Voluntary AHV lets you keep paying into the Swiss system from Dubai, so missing years do not cut your pension. But you must apply within one year of leaving the compulsory insurance. After that, joining is no longer possible.

All figures in this section come from Merkblatt 10.02 on voluntary AHV/IV (as of 1 January 2025). That was still the edition the AHV information centre served in September 2026.

Who can join

You must meet all four conditions:

• You hold Swiss citizenship, or citizenship of an EU or EFTA state.
• You live outside the EU and EFTA. Dubai qualifies.
• You are no longer in the compulsory AHV.
• You were insured with the AHV for at least five consecutive years immediately before you left the compulsory insurance.

Each person applies alone; your spouse and children are not included. Apply to the SAK in Geneva, or through the Swiss embassy or consulate.

What voluntary AHV costs

You pay in Swiss francs, directly to the SAK. Late payment costs 5 percent interest a year. If you have not paid a year's contributions in full by 31 December of the following year, you are excluded. You can leave voluntary AHV at any time; the duty to pay runs to the end of that quarter.

Is it worth it?

That depends on your record, and it is a question for the SAK, not for us. The Merkblatt does make clear how the pension works. Monthly old-age pensions run from a minimum of CHF 1,260 to a maximum of CHF 2,520 (Merkblatt 10.02, as of 1 January 2025). If your contribution record is incomplete, the pension is reduced in proportion. Voluntary AHV is the way to keep closing those gaps from Dubai.

The reference age is 65 for men. For women it rises from 64 to 65 in steps of three months a year since 2025, and from 2028 it is 65 for everyone. You can draw the pension early from 63, with a reduction, or defer it by one to five years for a higher pension.

Step 4: The second pillar cash-out is where most of the money is

For most people who worked in Switzerland, the company pension fund (the second pillar, or BVG) holds far more than the AHV. When you leave your employer, that money becomes your vested benefits (Freizügigkeitsleistung). Normally it goes into a vested benefits account. But when you leave Switzerland for good, you can often take it as cash.

The BSV answers this directly in its FAQ on the BVG cash-out when leaving Switzerland. A cash payment is possible if you can prove that you are leaving Switzerland for good to settle abroad. If you are married, your spouse must agree in writing.

Your destination decides how much you can take, and for Dubai this second pillar cash-out works in your favour:

Sources: BSV FAQ on the BVG cash-out; Merkblatt 10.03, sections 22 and 23; Merkblatt 10.02, section 1.

How the second pillar cash-out works in practice

• Apply to the pension fund of your last employer. Merkblatt 10.03 says the request goes there. Keep every insurance statement the fund ever sent you.
• Prove the departure. The fund needs proof that you are leaving Switzerland for good to settle abroad. Your fund will tell you which documents it accepts.
• Get your spouse's written consent if you are married.
• Do not leave it hanging. If you leave without telling the fund where to pay, it must transfer the money to the substitute pension institution (Auffangeinrichtung) within two years. The Central Office 2nd Pillar (Zentralstelle 2. Säule) helps people trace forgotten money.

Two points to check. First, only people who were in the BVG have a second pillar at all. It is compulsory for employees earning more than CHF 22,680 a year (Merkblatt 10.03, as of 1 January 2025). Second, a lump sum from the second pillar is taxed in Switzerland. The rules and rates depend on the canton, so ask the tax office of the canton where your pension fund is based before you plan the amount.

Step 5: How the AHV pension is paid out to a UAE account

This is the part no one else explains from the Dubai end. For most readers, the last chapter of Swiss AHV after moving to Dubai is simple: when you reach the reference age and you are entitled to a pension abroad, the SAK in Geneva pays it.

According to the ZAS:

• If you already receive a pension in Switzerland and then move, tell your cantonal or association compensation office before you leave. It sends your pension file to the SAK, which takes over the payments.
• You choose the payment address. It can be an account in Switzerland or abroad.
• The currency follows the account. AHV payments to people abroad are generally made in the currency of the country of the payment address. For a UAE account, confirm with the SAK how it will be paid.

To receive the pension in Dubai you need a local account. Our step-by-step guide to opening a bank account in Dubai as an expat covers the documents banks ask for.

The 13th pension also reaches you

Switzerland adds a 13th old-age pension from December 2026. The BSV says everyone who is entitled to an old-age pension in December receives it automatically, together with the December pension. It equals one twelfth of your yearly old-age pension.

What does not travel

Supplementary benefits (Ergänzungsleistungen) and the helplessness allowance are only paid to people who live in Switzerland, as Merkblatt 10.03 and the ZAS both say. Plan your Dubai budget on the pension alone.

Your checklist before you leave Switzerland

The first two items have hard deadlines.

• Note the date your compulsory AHV cover ends. Your one-year window for voluntary AHV starts there.
• Decide on voluntary AHV and apply to the SAK in time, if you qualify.
• Ask your pension fund for the cash-out form and its list of proof documents.
• Get your spouse's written consent for the cash-out, if married.
• Ask the cantonal tax office about tax on the lump sum.
• If you are an EU or treaty-state citizen, ask the SAK in writing whether your AHV pension will be paid while you live in the UAE.
• If you are Swiss, register with the Swiss representation for the UAE.

If you also have ties left in Germany, work through our checklist for deregistering from Germany at the same time. And if part of your plan is your own company in Dubai, our company setup cost estimator shows what a licence, visa and office really cost before you commit any capital. For the wider picture of living on a pension here, see our look at whether retirement in Dubai works for Europeans.