Prisoners can still pay voluntary social insurance to receive pensions after being released from prison

Reader N.H. H in Bac Ninh reflected that his relative was previously a state official, is 50 years old this year and has participated in compulsory social insurance for 10 years.

However, this person is about to serve a 5-year prison sentence. Mr. H wonders whether his relative can continue to pay social insurance to receive a pension later.

Answering the above question, lawyer Nguyen Thu Trang - Deputy Director of He Va Law Company Limited said that the 2019 Law on Criminal Judgment Enforcement stipulates at point h, clause 1, Article 27 as follows: Prisoners have the right to participate in voluntary social insurance, and are entitled to regimes and policies on social insurance according to the provisions of law.

This regulation continues to be inherited in the new Law on Criminal Judgment Enforcement, effective from July 1, 2026.

According to lawyer Trang, people serving prison sentences have the full right to participate in voluntary social insurance to ensure the conditions for receiving pensions later.

Because they cannot directly carry out social insurance payment procedures, judgment creditors can authorize relatives to pay on their behalf.

Regarding the conditions for enjoying pensions, Vietnam Social Security said that one of the important new points of the 2024 Law on Social Insurance is to reduce the minimum number of years of social insurance contribution to be entitled to pensions from 20 years to 15 years.

This change opens up opportunities for many late social insurance participants, such as those who start working from the age of 45 - 50 or have a non-continuous contribution process, to still be eligible for retirement benefits.

Instead of receiving one-time social insurance and facing the risk of not having a stable income when they get old, workers now have more options to continue participating to receive monthly pensions, and at the same time be issued health insurance cards with a higher benefit level.

Lawyer Nguyen Thu Trang advised that, according to current regulations, people serving prison sentences are still fully guaranteed social insurance benefits, including retirement benefits.

In case they do not yet meet the conditions to receive a pension for judgment enforcement, employees can choose to receive one-time social insurance or authorize relatives to continue to pay voluntary social insurance until they meet the conditions to receive a pension.

“Continuing to participate in voluntary social insurance will help workers have a stable source of income after serving their prison sentences. In case the time to receive a pension has come but the person serving their sentence has not yet been released from prison, the pension will still be fully paid, without interruption,” lawyer Nguyen Thu Trang further analyzed.

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