SGK yurtdışı borçlanması: buying back years abroad

What you are buying and from whom

Law 3201 lets a Turkish citizen (and a former citizen who left with permission) count years spent abroad towards a Turkish pension by paying a lump sum to the Social Security Institution (SGK). Two kinds of period qualify: time in insured employment or self-employment abroad, and, for women, time spent living abroad outside insured work, the ev hanımı periods, which SGK defines as the years a woman resided abroad other than her insured periods, married or not. The UK has had a social security agreement with Türkiye since 1961, which SGK treats as an agreement country, and that decides which document proves your years.

The price is set each year as a percentage of a daily earnings figure you choose between the minimum and the ceiling. For 2026 SGK's page states the range in its own words: the lower limit for one day is 495.45 TL and the upper limit 4,459.05 TL, being 45 per cent of 1,101.00 TL and of 9,909.00 TL respectively. A year at the minimum is about 180,000 TL at 2026 rates, converted at the exchange rate on the day you pay. How many days to buy, and at what level, is a question for SGK or a pension adviser; we translate the file.

Proving the years: two routes

SGK's instruction, quoted below, distinguishes between countries. For an agreement country such as the UK, the applicant submits the original document issued by the foreign insurance institution showing the insured periods, together with a translation made by sworn translators in Türkiye or by translators accredited by the Turkish missions abroad. That original is, for most people, the National Insurance record from HMRC, which lists each tax year and whether it counts as a qualifying year; P60s and employer letters fill gaps. The alternative route, used where records are thin or for ev hanımı periods, is a service certificate (hizmet belgesi) or residence certificate (İkamet Belgesi) issued by the Labour and Social Security Counsellor's office (Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Müşavirliği) at the London embassy, which issues it in Turkish on sight of your passports, Turkish identity card and a utility bill.

Order of steps

1. Download your National Insurance record from your HMRC personal tax account, or request a letter by post; gather P60s and employer letters for years you want to prove in more detail, and passports showing entry and exit dates.
2. SGK's instruction asks for the original and a translation and does not mention an apostille; HMRC letters can be apostilled if a particular SGK office asks.
3. Send us scans. We translate the NI record year by year, and a translator sworn before an Ankara notary signs the translation, which the notary certifies. That satisfies the “yeminli tercümanlarca Türkiye'de” limb of SGK's rule; the consulate-accredited translator is the other limb.
4. Apply to the Social Security Provincial Directorate (SGİM) or through e-Devlet, which SGK's page names as a route, and pay within the deadline set in SGK's decision.

Documents you will need

• HMRC National Insurance record, the core document for the UK
• P60s and payslips and employer letters for years needing extra proof
• UK immigration status documents and passport pages showing residence dates
• İkamet Belgesi or hizmet belgesi from the Çalışma Müşavirliği in London for ev hanımı periods or gaps
• Turkish identity card and, for a former citizen, the permission to renounce
• SGK's application form (Yurt Dışı Borçlanma Talep Dilekçesi), filled in Turkish

Common pitfalls

• Sending a UK-certified translation; SGK's rule names two kinds of translator and a UK agency is neither.
• Translating a screenshot of the HMRC account; use the downloadable record or a posted letter with HMRC's header.
• Ignoring the 180-day rule after retiring: pensioners who stay abroad more than six months must file a yoklama form or the pension stops; see receiving a Turkish pension in the UK.
• Waiting for the new year when the daily rate rises; SGK bills at the rate in force when you pay, not when you apply.
• Ev hanımı periods claimed with a passport that has no entry stamps; the counsellor's office needs the travel history.

How we help and what it costs

A National Insurance record covering a working life is 2 to 4 pages of 1,000 characters, so £13 to £26 for the translation; adding P60s and an employer letter brings a typical file to £25 to £45. The Ankara notary tariff of about £13.50 per page plus £5 handling per document is passed through at cost. No UK VAT is charged. Scans arrive within 1 to 2 working days; the notarised original, which the SGİM keeps, goes by courier for £30 to you or to the relative in Türkiye who will file. We have no UK office and no collection. The step-by-step guide is at SGK: buying back your years abroad from the UK.