Romania-U.S. pension agreement takes effect. How work years in both countries will count

A new pension agreement between Romania and the United States could help workers who spent parts of their careers in both countries, but it does not turn those years into one combined pension record.

The agreement, effective Sept. 1, allows contribution periods in Romania and the United States to be considered together in certain cases when authorities determine pension eligibility. Each country will still calculate and pay the pension for the period during which the person contributed to its own social-security system.

That means a worker who spent 15 years in Romania and 13 years in the United States would not receive a pension calculated as if they had completed 28 years in a single system. “If a person worked 15 years in Romania and 13 in the United States, that person’s pension will not be calculated on the basis of 28 total years of pension contributions from Romania and America,” lawyer Alexandru Crăciunescu, who is licensed in both countries, told TVR Info.

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If a person worked 15 years in Romania and 13 in the United States, that person’s pension will not be calculated on the basis of 28 total years of pension contributions from Romania and America.

The agreement’s totalization rules could matter most to people who do not independently meet the minimum requirements. Romania requires at least 15 years of contributions, while the relevant U.S. requirement is at least 10 years. A person with 12 years of work in Romania and eight in the United States would otherwise qualify for a pension in neither country. “This is where the totalization agreement comes in, helping the person receive a pension from both the United States and Romania,” Crăciunescu said.

The accord also covers social-security contributions. In some cases, employees temporarily sent to work in the other country may avoid paying contributions for the same work in both systems. For Romanians in the United States, its entry into force completes an effort that had been awaited for more than a decade.

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This is where the totalization agreement comes in, helping the person receive a pension from both the United States and Romania.