Starting from February 7, 2022, pensioners residing in the American continent, Scandinavian countries, Eastern European states and neighboring countries, Asia, the Middle and Far East, will receive from Citibank NA the application forms for proof of existence in life. .
The verification of the existence in life of pensioners who collect abroad is of particular importance for the Institute, as the difficulty of acquiring complete, updated and timely information on the death of pensioners exposes them to the real risk of making undue payments . The assessment is carried out by Citibank NA, the credit institution that makes payments outside the national territory on behalf of INPS.
Therefore, starting from 7 February 2022, Citibank will take care of the shipment of the forms to pensioners residing in the aforementioned geographical areas, to be returned to the bank by 7 June 2022. If the certificate is not produced, the payment of the July 2022 installment will take place in cash at the Western Union Agencies and, in the event of non-collection of personnel or failure to produce the certificate by 19 July 2022, the payment of the pension will be suspended starting from the next installment of August 2022.
The Institute has foreseen a period of four months to certify the existence in life, so it is not necessary that pensioners, as in the past, go immediately, as soon as they receive the letters, to the consular offices, patronages or authorities local, also in consideration of the need to avoid dangerous gatherings, given the current health emergency.
It should also be remembered that INPS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation have shared a project that provides the possibility for pensioners to interact with the consular offices through a video call service. The agreement provides that it is possible to certify existence in life also in the following manner:
- the pensioner who receives by ordinary mail from Citibank NA the standard application form for attestation of existence in life, containing, among other things, the personal details of the pensioner, the INPS number and the Citibank NA code identifying the pensioner, fill it in, indicating also the telephone number and e-mail address, affixing the same handwritten signature and the date of subscription;
- the pensioner sends a digital copy of this form, and an identity document, to the institutional e-mail address of the local consular office in the country of residence, which contacts the pensioner using the e-mail address, if present on the model, via video call , through the most popular applications such as Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex or WhatsApp, if the model has a telephone number;
- the consular office, through this method, verifies by direct vision the existence of the pensioner and the correspondence of the data contained in the form, already received by the consular office by email together with the digital copy of the identity document, with the data contained in the original identity document, which the pensioner will be invited to show in the video call;
- if enabled on the Agent Portal made available by Citibank NA, the officer of the consular office certifies existence in life through the same portal. In this case, the official of the authorized consular office in any case invites the pensioner to send the original form, dated and signed, by ordinary mail, to the consular office, for the purposes of keeping the documents;
- if not enabled for the Agent Portal, during the video call the official invites the pensioner to send the original attestation form, dated and signed, by ordinary mail, to the consular office, so that he can complete the validation of the form in the usual way ; subsequently the consular office sends, by ordinary mail, the original of the form to Citibank NA, to the address "PO Box 4873, Worthing BN99 3BG, United Kingdom".
Therefore, in order to make this video call service operational, retirees are asked to indicate their e-mail address and telephone number in the life certificate form to be sent to Citibank NA.
The modality of attestation of the existence in life through video call, which is added and does not replace the usual modalities that foresee the physical presence of the pensioner at a qualified subject so-called. acceptable witness, authorized to endorse the signing of the declaration of existence in life form, can also be used by patronage operators accredited as acceptable witnesses, enabled on the Agent Portal.
It should also be remembered that not only pensioners will have four months at their disposal to fulfill their obligations, but that there are many qualified persons who, pursuant to local legislation, are authorized to certify the existence of pensioners in life. In cases where the pensioner cannot produce the standard certificate, Citibank NA accepts the certification forms of existence in life issued by local authorities, as acceptable witnesses, whose lists, divided by geographical areas, can be consulted on the Citibank NA website. to the dedicated web page. Furthermore, with reference to the consular offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on the proposal of the Institute, has issued a circular in which the consular structures are invited to consider the formalities relating to the assessment of existence in life among the urgent, non-postponable and guaranteed services to pensioners residing abroad even in the event of closure due to a health emergency.
Finally, the timing relating to the second phase of the life assessment campaign, referring to the years 2022 and 2023, which will affect pensioners residing in Europe, Africa and the southern continent, with the exception of Scandinavian countries, was also shared with the bank. and the countries of Eastern Europe. Therefore, starting from 14 September 2022 Citibank will handle the dispatch of the requests for proof of existence in life to pensioners residing in the above geographical areas, which must be returned to the bank by 12 January 2023. If the verification process is not completed within this ordinary term, the payment of the February 2023 installment will be made in cash at the Western Union Agencies and, in the event of non-collection of personnel or non-production of the certificate of existence in life by 19 February 2023, the payment of the pension will be suspended by the bank starting from the next installment in March 2023.
A special dedicated page can be consulted on the Institute's internet portal, entitled Verification of the existence in life of pensioners who collect abroad, containing updated information on the verification campaign of the existence of pensioners who collect abroad.