It had been nagging at me for many years. I had a working history in three different countries, and I had absolutely no clue what that meant for my pension. And I really should find out. So many months ago, I had finally managed to get myself some sort of digital identity, with which I could sort out my official business in the Netherlands.
When I got back from my Christmas trip in that country, I figured I might as well see if I could indeed use that to access my pension. So I did. And I could! It was easier than I thought. And well worth the effort.
This means I have now solved the problem. The other problem is still there: my Norwegian pension. I think I will need to get a similar digital identity, but I suspect that will be difficult. The only thing I have is my "birth number" (a bit like a UK national insurance number) and I imagine that won't be enough for a smooth processing.
I remember that when I got into the country, I wanted to get my drivers license, and the problem was that in order to apply for one, you needed to show an identity document that has both your picture and your birth number on. The only identity document with picture that I had was Dutch, so that didn't have my Norwegian birth number on. I needed to ask help from an Norwegian colleague; she trawled through the legalese involved, and told me to point out to whoever didn't want to accept my separate passport and birth number that in section 6 paragraph 5C (or something) it is stated that picture and birth number do not necessarily have to be on the same document. And then it worked out. And then I got my drivers license. And that then was a document that has both my picture and my birth number on. I could imagine something similar will happen this time! Stay tuned…
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