I received no form this summer. Do I have to do anything?

No. The Federal Foreign Office writes that if no life certificate was enclosed with the pension adjustment notice, none is required. Dispatch takes place, according to the pension insurance, "in June and July of each year".

Who may stamp it in the Canaries, and what does it cost?

According to the Federal Foreign Office, "any Spanish body that holds a seal" — municipal administrations, police, banks, parish offices, notaries. At the consulate it is free for German or EU/EEA statutory pensions and costs 36 euros for company or private pensions.

I cannot get it there by 25 September. What now?

Provide the proof as quickly as possible anyway: the pension will be paid again only "once the proof of life has been provided", the pension insurance writes. The Renten Service names the end of October 2026 as the point from which payment may stop. Whether months are paid retrospectively is not stated in the sources we checked.

Does 25 September also apply to my Austrian or Swiss pension?

No. Austria sends its form in January and expects the life certificate back "by mid-June at the latest". In Switzerland, Swiss nationals resident abroad have since 2022 generally received no further request, provided they are registered with the Swiss representation.

CANARY ISLANDS · MONEY

Proof of life due 25 September: in the Canaries the certificate costs nothing — and most people need do nothing at all

Ten days are left: "Ihr Lebensnachweis muss uns bis zum 25. September 2026 erreicht haben" — your proof of life must have reached us by 25 September 2026 — writes the Renten Service of Deutsche Post. It must arrive, not be posted, and from the Canaries that is the difference that counts. For most German pensioners on the islands the sentence is beside the point, because one prior question settles everything: did a form come with your pension adjustment notice in June or July? If not, there is nothing to do. If it did, the certificate costs nothing in Spain — and far more offices may stamp it than most people realise.

15 September 2026 · By Julia Roca Bethencourt · 4 min.

Arrecife town hall, Lanzarote — town halls are among the bodies that can stamp a Fe de Vida

Photo: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY 3.0 (illustrative image).

The key facts

Renten Service of Deutsche Post: the proof of life must have "reached us by 25 September 2026" — what counts is arrival, not the postmark.
Federal Foreign Office, Spain page dated 20 November 2025: "Wurde der Rentenanpassungsmitteilung keine Lebensbescheinigung beigefügt, so ist diese nicht erforderlich" — if no certificate was enclosed with the pension adjustment notice, none is required.
Federal Foreign Office, 20 November 2025: in Spain "any Spanish body that holds a seal" may certify it — town and municipal administrations, police, banks, parish offices, notaries. The Spanish term is "Fe de Vida".
Federal Foreign Office, 20 November 2025: at the Las Palmas consulate, attendance is possible "without an appointment … Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 12:00". Free of charge for German or EU/EEA statutory pensions, 36 euros for company or private pensions.
Deutsche Rentenversicherung, 2 June 2026: "more than 1.7 million pensions" are paid abroad, above all to Italy, Spain and Austria.
Deutsche Rentenversicherung, 31 July 2025: for "around 1.2 million of these pension payments" the proof is already supplied automatically through a data exchange between authorities.

The first question: was a form enclosed at all?

This is where most reports go wrong. The pension insurance does not send the papers to everyone, but "in June and July of each year" together with the pension adjustment notice. If nothing was enclosed, nothing needs doing. The reason is the automatic data exchange, which according to the fact check of 31 July 2025 already covers around 1.2 of the 1.7 million pensions paid abroad. The release of 2 June 2026 gives as examples "several EU member states or Australia" — Spain is not named there, and no official source allowed us to establish whether it is included. The reliable test is therefore not the country but your envelope from the summer.

25 September is an arrival date

Anyone holding a form has to do the arithmetic: the original must be received, and the Federal Foreign Office is explicit — transmission "by fax or e-mail is not possible", and German missions abroad may not forward it either. Anyone who misses the deadline must "expect that their pension can no longer continue to be paid", the pension insurance writes; it will be paid again only "once the proof of life has been provided". The Renten Service is more specific: "Die Rentenzahlung kann dann ab Ende Oktober 2026 nicht mehr gezahlt werden" — the pension can then no longer be paid from the end of October 2026. That "can" is the word used in the source. Whether withheld amounts are paid retrospectively is stated on none of the official pages we checked.

Free — and at more places than most people know

You need neither a consulate nor a notary. According to the page of the German missions in Spain, "any Spanish body that holds a seal" may certify it — the text names town or municipal administrations, police, banks, parish offices or notaries. In practice: the town hall, the National or Local Police, your own bank branch, the parish office. It is the German form itself that gets stamped. The term decides the outcome: what is needed is the "Fe de Vida", which the office says is "occasionally confused" with the "Fe de Vida y Estado" — the latter, it states, can be issued only to Spanish nationals, and marital status is "not required for the continued payment of the pension".

Those who prefer a German authority can go to the embassy, the career consulates or the honorary consuls. That normally requires an appointment — with one exception for the islands: "Without an appointment, attendance in Málaga and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is possible Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 12:00." The consulate is at Calle Albareda 3, 2nd floor, 35007 Las Palmas. In every case "personal attendance on production of a valid identity document" is required. Opening hours can change — a quick phone call before travelling is worth it.

Digital from home — and what follows for 2027

Since 2024 it can be done without a stamp or a postage stamp. The pension insurance described it on 2 June 2026 as follows: "With the QR code, a valid identity document and the POSTIDENT app, pensioners can submit the digital proof of life at any time and free of charge from home." Only the pensioner can do it in person. The digital route is open only "until 25 September"; "after that you can use the 'Lebensbescheinigung' form". The choice carries over: the option chosen in 2026 is taken over by the Renten Service "as standard for the year 2027". If the letter with the QR code never arrived, a new access can be ordered online there between 8 July and 9 October.

An Austrian or Swiss pension? Different rules

For those, 25 September does not apply. The Austrian pension insurance requires a life certificate once a year from pensioners resident abroad: the form arrives "every year in January" and must be back "by mid-June of the respective year at the latest", certified for instance by the competent Austrian consulate, an official body at the place of residence or a notary; otherwise the pension payment is "(temporarily) suspended". Only individual countries of residence such as Germany and Croatia are exempt — Spain is not among them. Switzerland is different: according to the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, since 1 January 2022 "Swiss nationals resident abroad generally no longer receive a request for a life certificate" — provided they are registered with the competent Swiss representation.

The shortest route in ten days. First: find the envelope from June or July — no form, nothing to do. Second: if a QR code came with it, it can still be done digitally today with the POSTIDENT app, free and without the post. Third: if it is paper, then first thing tomorrow to the town hall, the police, your bank branch or the parish office — take the form and your ID, get the stamp, post it immediately.

Four pitfalls. The wrong paper: the "Fe de Vida", not the "Fe de Vida y Estado" — the latter, according to the Federal Foreign Office, is issued only to Spanish nationals. The wrong route: fax and e-mail are ruled out, and German missions may not forward anything. The wrong date: 25 September is the day of arrival. The open question: the Renten Service writes that payment "can" cease from the end of October 2026; whether months are paid retrospectively is not settled in the sources we checked. This text is information, not legal or financial advice — the binding answer is the one from your pension body.

FAQ

I received no form this summer. Do I have to do anything?: No. The Federal Foreign Office writes that if no life certificate was enclosed with the pension adjustment notice, none is required. Dispatch takes place, according to the pension insurance, "in June and July of each year".
Who may stamp it in the Canaries, and what does it cost?: According to the Federal Foreign Office, "any Spanish body that holds a seal" — municipal administrations, police, banks, parish offices, notaries. At the consulate it is free for German or EU/EEA statutory pensions and costs 36 euros for company or private pensions.
I cannot get it there by 25 September. What now?: Provide the proof as quickly as possible anyway: the pension will be paid again only "once the proof of life has been provided", the pension insurance writes. The Renten Service names the end of October 2026 as the point from which payment may stop. Whether months are paid retrospectively is not stated in the sources we checked.
Will the "Fe de Vida y Estado" from the civil registry do?: No. According to the Federal Foreign Office it is issued only to Spanish nationals, and marital status is "not required for the continued payment of the pension". Ask for the "Fe de Vida" — or simply have the German form stamped.
Does 25 September also apply to my Austrian or Swiss pension?: No. Austria sends its form in January and expects the life certificate back "by mid-June at the latest". In Switzerland, Swiss nationals resident abroad have since 2022 generally received no further request, provided they are registered with the Swiss representation.

Read on

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