INPS pension abroad: proof of life

In short

If you live in Albania and collect your INPS pension there, you receive it through a bank that INPS chooses by European tender: since 1 February 2012 that has been Citibank N.A. Each year the bank asks some pensioners abroad to prove they are alive. A letter arrives with a personalised form and a date. If the date passes without a reply, the way you are paid changes and, in the end, payment stops.

It is not a difficult task. It is one you cannot forget, it comes by post from another country, and it has a firm deadline. So it is worth knowing about before the letter arrives.

One point before we start: this guide is not about tax. Whether the pension is exempt in Italy and how Albania treats it is a different question, covered in the guide on whether your pension is exempt.

How the pension reaches you in Albania

INPS pays pensions in around 160 countries. For people living abroad there are two routes, according to the INPS page:

• payment into a current account, opened with a bank in Albania or in Italy, giving the details both to the INPS office that manages the pension and to the bank that makes the payment;
• cash collection from the bank's local partners, which in most countries are Western Union agencies.

Citibank's support service for INPS pensioners can be reached from the dedicated page on the Citi website, at inps.pensionati@citi.com or on the freephone number for your country of residence shown on the same site. Citi says that address changes are no longer accepted by email or phone: ask your INPS office or Citi's INPS pensioner support service. The same page asks people living outside Italy to be registered with AIRE, so that the forms reach them without trouble.

Proof of life: what it is and when it comes

INPS message no. 3863 of 19 December 2025 explains why: Citibank, as the payment provider, has to check each year that the beneficiaries of pensions paid outside Italy are alive, to reduce the risk of payments that are not due.

The check runs in two phases, by geographical area. The first, from March to July, covers pensioners living in the Americas, Asia, the Far East, the Scandinavian countries, Eastern European states and neighbouring countries. The second, from September to January, mainly covers people living in Europe, Africa and Oceania. The texts we have read do not say which phase Albania falls in: the Citibank letter is what counts, and it gives the return date.

To give a sense of the timing, the first phase of 2026 went like this: letters sent from 20 March, proof to arrive by 18 July. The 2026-2027 second phase, according to consular notices from October 2026, has letters sent from 18 September and proof due by 18 January 2027.

Some pensioners are left out of the check, for example those who collected an instalment in person at Western Union close to the start, because the agency has already checked their identity document. The Cassetto previdenziale on the INPS website shows whether you are included.

How to give the proof

The letter contains a form in your name. Use that one: blank forms are not valid. If it does not arrive or you lose it, ask Citibank's support service for another; patronati registered on the bank's portal can also generate it.

The form must be filled in, dated, signed and sent with a copy of an identity document with a photo, and it must be countersigned by an "acceptable witness": a representative of the Italian Embassy or Consulate, or an authorised local authority. The list of acceptable witnesses for each area is in the frequently asked questions on the Citibank website. Then the form goes to the post office box shown, in the United Kingdom, by the date in the letter.

There are routes other than the post, and they are the ones that reduce the risk of a form going astray. Patronati working abroad and registered on the Citibank portal can send the signed form electronically, and officials of diplomatic missions designated by the Foreign Ministry can attest directly on the portal. The INPS message also mentions a video call service with diplomatic missions, which adds to appearing in person before the witness and does not replace it. At the Italian Embassy in Tirana, the proof of life certificate for pensions can be requested without an appointment, in the time slot shown on the consular services page.

If you cannot travel because of illness, because you live in a care home or for other reasons, there is an alternative form: it is signed by the head of the care home, your doctor or the person holding your power of attorney or guardianship, with a statement on letterhead. Ask Citibank's support service or a patronato for it.

If the date passes

The INPS message describes what happens, using the dates of the first phase of 2026. Without proof by the deadline in the letter, the next instalment is paid in cash at Western Union, where possible. Collecting it in person counts as proof. If by the second deadline you neither collect it nor send the proof, payment is suspended from the following instalment. In the first phase of 2026 the three steps were: proof by 18 July, August instalment in cash, collection by 19 August, otherwise suspension from September.

Cash is not always possible: not in countries without Western Union agencies, not when the pension is paid to an attorney or legal representative, and not when the monthly instalment is above 6,300 euro. In those cases, without proof by the deadline, payment is suspended straight away.

After a suspension, unpaid instalments are requested from the INPS office that manages the pension, with a copy of an identity document. For anyone who lives on their pension, it is a step worth avoiding.

Who helps, for free

On pensions and social security, the place to go is a recognised patronato, which helps free of charge as the law on patronati provides (Law 152/2001, art. 8). INCA, ACLI and ITAL, according to their websites, have an office in Tirana. They can get the form for you, help you fill it in and, if registered, send it electronically.

We do not offer a service for this and we will not: it is work for the patronati, and rightly so.

Worth remembering

Addresses, post office boxes and deadlines can change from one campaign to the next: the letter you receive and the Citibank page are what count. The texts cited were read on 6 November 2026. If the address INPS holds for you in Albania is out of date, the letter may not reach you: that is the first thing to check, with your INPS office or a patronato, every time you move.