International staff

This section provides information for our staff who are not UK nationals and work for the University in the UK.

The University offers you membership of a pension scheme with contributions made by the University and members.

Your contract of employment confirms which pension scheme you may join, The The University of Manchester Pension Saver or the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

We also have a state pension arranged by the UK Government. The contribution towards this comes from some of the National Insurance (NI) contributions that will be deducted from your pay. However, as an international member of staff who is here on a Certificate of Sponsorship (work permit), it may be that you will not be able to claim the full UK Government pension when you retire. We advise that you contact the UK State Pensions Office or visit the Directgov website as below.

As an international member of staff you may have benefits from other countries, and whilst a possible transfer of these into your University scheme can be investigated, please note that some countries do not offer this as an option and so the benefits will have to remain with your old scheme.

If you leave the University, it may be possible to transfer your pension from the University scheme abroad. Whilst our schemes are prepared to offer this option to you, it will depend on the receiving scheme and country that you are resident in at the time. For more information, please contact the administrator of your new pension scheme.

If you decide to retire abroad, please note that schemes run by the University are prepared to pay pensions abroad. However it is strongly advised that you review the tax situation that may apply to both the payment in the UK and also receipt of the payment abroad.