ZUS EMP (Rp-1E) — Application for an old-age pension (Wniosek o emeryturę)

What is ZUS EMP / Rp-1E old-age pension claim?

EMP (Wniosek o emeryturę) is the ZUS application for an old-age pension. It used to be numbered ZUS Rp-1E, and many people still search for it under that name. When you file it, ZUS decides whether you are entitled to a pension, works out the amount and — if that hasn't been done already and it affects your pension — your initial capital (kapitał początkowy). If you were insured or lived in an EU or EFTA country or the United Kingdom, the same application also starts the claim for the pension from that country.

The six pages cover your details and addresses, which earnings should form the calculation basis if your pension is calculated under the old rules, whether your open pension fund (OFE) savings should be transferred, other benefits you claim or receive, whether you'll keep earning after retirement, periods of insurance abroad, and how you want the pension paid.

FileIt guides you through every question in plain English, pre-fills your name and date of birth from your People records, checks your PESEL (including the date of birth and sex it encodes) and your bank account number, and prints the answers in capitals into ZUS's own PDF. The finished application is saved in your FileIt vault. You print it, sign it and hand it in or post it yourself — FileIt never submits anything to ZUS.

Who needs to fill out ZUS EMP / Rp-1E old-age pension claim?

• People in Poland claiming their ZUS old-age pension, at the general retirement age or earlier under special rules.
• People who worked or lived in an EU or EFTA country or the UK and want the foreign pension claim started at the same time.
• People with work periods in countries with which Poland has a bilateral social security agreement, who also file that country's form.
• Teachers claiming the teacher's pension under art. 88a of the Teachers' Charter (Karta Nauczyciela).
• OFE members claiming an early pension, who must request the transfer of their OFE funds.
• Employers (payers of contributions) who prepare the application on an employee's behalf.

When to use ZUS EMP / Rp-1E old-age pension claim

• When you reach retirement age or otherwise become entitled to a pension and want ZUS to decide your claim.
• When you are claiming an early pension under special rules — for example a teacher's pension — and want the conditions assessed.
• When you want ZUS to use a particular set of earning years for a pension calculated under the old rules.
• When you also want the foreign pension claim started, or want to defer it for a particular country.

What you need before you start

• Your PESEL number (or an identity document), your family name at birth and any earlier surnames.
• Your home address, your last address in Poland if you now live abroad, and a separate correspondence address if you want one.
• If your pension is calculated under the old rules, which earning years you want ZUS to use.
• Details of other benefits you receive or have claimed, with the institution's address and case number.
• Whether you will keep working, and the names of all employers you still work for and when those jobs end.
• The countries where you were insured or lived abroad.
• Your 26-digit Polish bank account number, if you want the pension paid into it.
• The documents listed on ZUS's EMP Information sheet — typically ERP-6, employment certificates and the employer's pay certificate.

What’s on ZUS EMP / Rp-1E old-age pension claim

The 2026 edition has 6 pages. FileIt asks for it in 12 parts:

1. Prepared by the payer of contributions (Data sporządzenia wniosku przez płatnika składek)Payer of contributions
2. Applicant's details (Dane wnioskodawcy)Applicant
3. Home address (Adres zamieszkania)Applicant
4. Last address in Poland, or where you are staying (Adres ostatniego miejsca zamieszkania w Polsce / adres miejsca pobytu)Applicant
5. Correspondence address (Adres do korespondencji)Applicant
6. What you are asking for (Zakres wniosku)Applicant
7. Statements 1–2: other benefits (Oświadczenia wnioskodawcy)Applicant
8. Statements 3–4: nursing and other cash benefitsApplicant
9. Statements 5–6: earning after the pension is grantedApplicant
10. Statements 7–9: employment and periods abroadApplicant
11. Payment and foreign pension (items 10–11)Applicant
12. Attachments, reply and signature (Załączniki, Sposób odbioru odpowiedzi)Applicant

How to fill out ZUS EMP / Rp-1E old-age pension claim, step by step

1 Date prepared by the payer (Data sporządzenia wniosku przez płatnika składek)

Only if your employer prepares the application for you. It fills in the date and adds its stamp and an authorised person's signature by hand. If you file it yourself, leave this empty.

2 Applicant's details (Dane wnioskodawcy)

Your PESEL, first name, surname, date of birth and sex (K for a woman, M for a man). Your family name at birth, earlier surnames and father's first name are optional but help ZUS identify you and match your documents. FileIt checks that the date of birth and sex match your PESEL.

3 Addresses (Adres zamieszkania, adres ostatniego miejsca zamieszkania w Polsce, adres do korespondencji)

Your home address is required. If you live abroad but used to live in Poland, add your last Polish address; if you have no home address, the address where you are staying.

A correspondence address is only needed if letters should go elsewhere. It can be an ordinary address, poste restante or a post office box or compartment — for these, give the post office's postcode and name, and for a box put the box number in 'house number'. ZUS treats new address or payment details as a request to update what it holds.

4 What you are asking for (Zakres wniosku)

Item 1 — 'I apply for an old-age pension' — is printed. Item 2 chooses the earnings used as the calculation basis under the old rules; skip it if you were born after 31 December 1948 and your pension will be calculated only under the new rules. If you're unsure, tick the first variant and ZUS will use the most favourable earnings.

Item 3 asks for a calculation under the new rules, only for people born before 1949 who meet the conditions listed. Item 4 asks ZUS to transfer your OFE funds to the state budget — an OFE member claiming an early pension must answer YES.

5 Statements 1–4: other benefits (Oświadczenia wnioskodawcy)

Say whether you are claiming or receiving short-term benefits such as sickness, care or unemployment benefit (item 1), or pensions and long-term benefits from ZUS, KRUS or the uniformed services' pension offices (item 2), with the institution's address and case number. Item 3 asks about the nursing benefit (świadczenie pielęgnacyjne); item 4 about special cash benefits such as the energy allowance or compensatory supplement.

6 Statements 5–6: earning after retirement

Item 5 asks whether you intend to earn after the pension is granted, and at what level relative to the limits that reduce or suspend a pension. Skip it if you've reached the general retirement age and aren't entitled to a disability pension from an accident at work or an occupational disease. Teachers claiming under art. 88a answer item 6 instead.

7 Statements 7–9: employment and periods abroad

Item 7: whether you are still employed, and if so all your employers and when each job ends. Items 8 and 9: whether you have insurance or residence periods in EU/EFTA countries or the UK, or in countries with a bilateral agreement, and where you were last insured. The form warns that if you don't declare EU/EFTA/UK periods, the foreign pension claim isn't started.

8 Payment and foreign pension (items 10–11)

Choose payment into a Polish bank account you own or co-own, or to one of your Polish addresses. Item 11 lets you defer the foreign pension from a named country; you would then have to apply again later to receive it.

9 Attachments, reply and signature (Załączniki, Sposób odbioru odpowiedzi)

Enter how many documents you attach and how you want ZUS's reply: at a ZUS office, by post to your correspondence address, or on your PUE ZUS account. Date the form and sign it legibly by hand.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Filling in item 2 when you were born after 1948 and your pension is calculated only under the new rules.
• Choosing '10 consecutive years' but entering a range that isn't ten years, or years outside the last twenty before the application.
• As an OFE member claiming an early pension, not answering YES to item 4 — the form says ZUS can only grant that pension if you do.
• Not declaring work or residence in EU/EFTA countries or the UK, so the foreign pension claim isn't started.
• Forgetting to list every employer you still work for, and when each employment ends.
• Leaving the bank account out after choosing payment into an account, or giving an account you don't own or co-own.
• Forgetting attachments such as ERP-6 or E 207 PL, or not entering how many documents you enclosed.

After you fill it out

Print the application and sign it legibly by hand. ZUS's Information sheet says you can hand it in at any ZUS office, although the office for your place of residence decides it; post works too. ZUS also accepts the application electronically on its PUE/eZUS platform, but the documents you attach must then be delivered in original at a ZUS office or by post. FileIt never files it for you.

If you have periods abroad, add the forms the application mentions — E 207 PL and the EMZ annex for EU/EFTA/UK periods, or the application form for a country with a bilateral agreement, such as WZO-PL-1 for the USA.

Keep the copy FileIt saves in your vault. According to the Information sheet, you can withdraw the application in writing or orally before ZUS decides, or within a month of receiving the decision, and you must tell ZUS if your address changes.

ZUS EMP / Rp-1E old-age pension claim: frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Blank form (PDF), published by Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych — Social Insurance Institution of Poland (ZUS): https://www.zus.pl/documents/10182/18428/EMP_wype%C5%82nij+i+wydrukuj.pdf/415f7955-ccd9-d944-7410-4b7af8877b9a
• Official instructions and guidance: https://www.zus.pl/documents/10182/18428/EMP+Informacja.pdf/ef5ee842-dcb3-92e2-5336-9c7d6f0e81e7
• Edition shown on this page: EMP, ZUS file of January 2026 (printing order 3824/25) (checked 2026-09-26).

FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych — Social Insurance Institution of Poland (ZUS) or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-09-26.

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