Changes in the identification of pensioners: what you need to know in order not to lose payments in 2025

Whenever the government changes the rules in pension provision, it causes quite understandable concern. For some, it is due to the fear of not being able to do something in time or to prepare it incorrectly, for others, due to the feeling that the conditions have become more difficult or less transparent again. In 2025, new nuances appeared in the process of identification of persons, which are important to know in order not to lose payments or fall into a legal trap. Some of the innovations are explained by the Pension Fund, but many questions remain unanswered, especially when it comes to non-standard situations or controversial decisions.

The editors of IA “FAKT” turned to the lawyers of the “Repeshko and Partners” Bar Association, who commented on the pension legislation and explained what has changed in practice in 2025. In particular, it concerns the identification of persons who receive payments from the state.

Periodic identification of persons who receive payments from the state has become a common not only European, but also global practice. This mechanism allows both to save state funds and to help ensure that the designated payments are received by those persons in whose name they are designated. In Ukraine, the specified identification has been in operation for more than one year and concerns the payment of pensions to citizens and not only. This year, the procedure for passing identification has undergone changes.

From 03/20/2025, the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 02/11/2025 No. 299 “On some features of the payment of pensions (monthly lifetime stipend) and insurance payments under insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases that caused the loss of working capacity” came into force, which approved the Procedure for paying pensions (monthly lifetime stipend) and implementing insurance payments for insurance against an accident at work and an occupational disease that caused the loss of working capacity, to persons who temporarily live outside Ukraine, or live in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, or have left the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and live in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

The specified procedure regulates the mechanism of the following payments:

• pensions;
• monthly lifetime maintenance;
• making insurance payments under insurance against an accident at work and an occupational disease that caused the loss of working capacity.

Note that this mechanism does not apply to all citizens who receive the listed payments, but only to those persons who:

• temporarily live outside of Ukraine;
• live in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, included in the list of territories on which hostilities are (were) conducted or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, approved by the Ministry of Reintegration, for which the date of completion of the temporary occupation has not been determined;
• who left the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation and live in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

It is worth emphasizing that the effect of this Order does not apply to citizens of Ukraine who temporarily live outside of Ukraine and to whom pension or insurance benefits are paid under the terms of international treaties of Ukraine, the consent of which is binding by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

According to Clause 6 of the specified procedure, pension and other payments to 299 listed recipients are made on the condition that the person passes physical identification by December 31 of each calendar year. Previously, the specified term was 6 months. The term of identification this year is until December 31, 2025.

The following actions of a citizen are equated to physical identification:

• authorization in the personal electronic account on the web portal of electronic services of the Pension Fund of Ukraine using a remote qualified electronic signature “Diya. Signature” (“Diya ID”), created using the mobile application of the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services (Diya);
• identification of a person using a video conference call conducted by the territorial body of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in compliance with the requirements of the legislation in the field of electronic trust services, during the session of which documents certifying the person are presented, in accordance with the procedure established by the board of the Pension Fund of Ukraine with the approval of the Ministry of Social Policy and the Ministry of Digital Affairs;
• certificate in accordance with the established procedure for a pension recipient temporarily living abroad, by the relevant foreign diplomatic institution of Ukraine, of the fact that the person is alive.

The document certifying the fact that the natural person is alive, together with the written application of the person for the continuation of the payment of the pension and other payments, drawn up in an arbitrary form, is sent by registered mail or mail with declared value to the territorial body of the Pension Fund of Ukraine at the place of residence of the person on the record.

An application for continuation of pension payment or other payments together with a scanned copy of the document certifying the fact that the individual is alive, which corresponds to the original of the document and is suitable for perceiving its content (must contain a clear image of the full text of the document and its details), can be submitted through the web portal of electronic services of the Pension Fund of Ukraine using an electronic digital signature.

If you choose Video ID, you must:

1. Log in to the electronic services web portal of the Pension Fund of Ukraine.
2. Click on the “Identification in video conference mode” category.
3. Fill in the necessary fields of the form (personal data of the person), specify the e-mail address and phone number for contacting the PFU employee, choose the video communication platform (Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, Meet, Signal or Zoom) and indicate additional needs (sign language translation, assistant/assistant).
4. Give consent to the processing of personal data and click “Submit application”.
5. The waiting period for identification takes place no earlier than 10 working days and no later than 30 calendar days from the date of submission of the application. A PFU specialist will call you to agree on the time and method of video identification.

During a video conference call, an employee of the PFU checks the recipient’s identity with a photo that contains a document certifying the identity of the owner. At the same time, video recording is carried out in such a way that the video images make it possible to recognize the recipient and the details of the identification document (photo, data).

In order to pass identification in the specified case, the following documents must be submitted:

• a passport of a citizen of Ukraine or a foreign passport, or a birth certificate, if payments are received for a child;
• an open account in any Ukrainian bank or a card on which a pension is received;
• pension certificate.

However, another option for identification is a personal visit to the service center of the Pension Fund of Ukraine or the banking institution through which funds are received. The method is suitable for those who are in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

Thus, according to the current legislation, the payment of pension and other payments is terminated in two cases:

1. If the Pension Fund of Ukraine does not have information on physical identification as of December 31 of the calendar year, pension payments to recipients of benefits who temporarily live outside of Ukraine or who live in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation are suspended from January 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the person is required to undergo identification. Simply put, those persons who do not pass identification by December 31, 2025, will not receive pensions and other relevant payments from January 1, 2026.
2. In the event that the Pension Fund of Ukraine receives information from the institutions of authorized banks about the absence of expenditure transactions on the current accounts of payees living in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation for six months, and on the condition that no physical identification of the person was carried out during this period.

We are often approached with a question that worries many: what exactly will need to be done to resume payments in the event of their termination? It should be noted that the renewal of pension payments (monthly lifetime pecuniary maintenance) to persons whose pension (monthly lifetime pecuniary maintenance) has been suspended is carried out by the decision of the territorial body of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the event of the following actions:

1. After passing physical identification within a year from the date of termination of payment;
2. According to the applications for the renewal of pension and other payments received by the Pension Fund of Ukraine, in particular submitted by:

• using a remote qualified electronic signature “Diya.Signature” (“Diya ID”), created using the mobile application of the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services (Diya);
• through the web portal of electronic services of the Pension Fund of Ukraine, in the event that the bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine establish the identity of the recipient in the mode of video conferencing in compliance with the requirements of the law, during which documents certifying the identity are presented.

Pensions and other payments, the payment of which has been suspended until the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of February 11, 2025, enters into force. No. 299 – until March 20, 2025, in connection with the recipient’s failure to pass physical identification, the cancellation of the certificate of registration of IDPs, they are renewed based on applications for the renewal of payments received by the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the same manner as described above.

Recipients who temporarily live outside of Ukraine or who have received temporary protection or refugee status, an application for the renewal of pension payment can send by mail a document certifying the fact that the foreign diplomatic institution of Ukraine is alive with the corresponding application. After passing the identification, the payment will be renewed (from the date of its termination).

We also note that pensions are paid to persons who live in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation or who moved to the territory under the control of Ukraine from the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, provided that they do not receive a pension from the pension provision bodies of the Russian Federation. In connection with the current circumstances in the country, pension recipients should be reminded of one norm that almost no one knows, and therefore does not use – how to receive a pension in advance when moving abroad.

The fact is that in accordance with Article 51 of the Law of Ukraine “On Mandatory State Pension Insurance”, citizens who have decided to move to a permanent place of residence outside Ukraine are given the opportunity to receive a pension in advance for six months.  The specified pension payment can be issued after submitting the relevant application. Enrollment of funds begins with the month following the month of deregistration at the place of residence. To use the mentioned mechanism, a pensioner must contact the territorial administration of the Pension Fund of Ukraine at his place of residence.

In this case, the following documents must be provided to the representative of the Pension Fund:

• a statement drawn up according to the established model;
• a certificate of deregistration of the place of residence in the territory of Ukraine;
• a document confirming departure: a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for departure abroad with a corresponding note on permanent residence outside Ukraine, a passport of a foreigner or a document confirming a stateless person.

At the same time, the pension is paid by transferring the amount to the citizen’s current account in one of the authorized banks.

As you can see, the state carefully monitors the funds it pays out to Ukrainians. Taking this into account, we recommend that you always take care in advance of taking actions required by official authorities to continue regular payments and be interested in news in current legislation, because ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility.