To prove that you are alive please submit a life certificate certified by the competent authority in your country of residence. The competent authority is any authority where a person is identified when they go to an appointment (authority paying pensions, local authority, the police, notary public and so on).
N.B. Your life certificate must definitely be signed by the competent authority; your own signature on the life certificate is not enough.
- If you have already presented to us your certificate of residence from another country, you need not additionally submit a life certificate. The certificate of residence is also valid for one year and you must submit it again each year.
- Proof of life is valid for one year from the date of issue. For example, if you submitted a certificate issued in August, it is valid until August of the following year. A new certificate must be submitted during August of the following year.
The certificate can be submitted to us:
- Via mail to the address Paldiski mnt 80, 15092 Tallinn
- Via e-mail to the address [email protected]
- By fax: +372 640 8155
- You yourself can prove that you are alive only by personally going to the Social Insurance Board with your identity document! You can go to the Social Insurance Board’s customer service office of your choice
Proof of life can now be provided through video consultation. You can book a suitable time via the Social Insurance Board's self-service portal under the "My Appointments" section. Access to the self-service portal is available using an ID card, Smart-ID, or Mobile-ID. Once your video consultation booking is confirmed, you will receive a confirmation email with detailed instructions. Look closer, how to book time for consultation in self service from video.
Booking an appointment for a video consultation can also be done here.
By way of an exception
pensioners residing in Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine need not present proof of life. We get that information from these countries through automatic data exchange on the basis of agreements with those countries. Starting from 1 May 2026, Estonian citizens living in Finland and receiving an Estonian pension, are no longer required to proovide proof of life.
If the validity of the proof of existence has expired
and a new certificate has not been submitted, we will suspend the payment of the pension from the following month.
We will resume the payment of pension when we have received the certificate. In case of belated submission of the certificate we will resume the payment of pension retroactively as of the time the payment of pension was suspended.
Last updated: 13.05.2026
