Recognizing Contribution Time (Averbação): How to Combine Contribution Periods

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Averbação of contribution time (the formal recognition of time worked under another pension system) lets you combine periods worked under different systems to meet retirement requirements. Understanding the correct procedure helps you avoid losing time and benefits.

What Averbação of Contribution Time Is

The averbação of contribution time is the act by which the Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social (INSS), Brazil’s National Social Security Institute, formally recognizes periods worked or contributed under other pension systems and adds them to the insured person’s pension record. Through this procedure, you can combine periods of private-sector work (the Regime Geral de Previdência Social, or RGPS, Brazil’s general social security system) with periods served as a public employee under a Regime Próprio de Previdência Social (RPPS, a public-sector pension system) at the municipal, state, or federal level.

The legal basis is Article 201, paragraph 9, of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees reciprocal counting of contribution time among the systems. The implementing legislation is mainly Law 9.796/1999 and Law 8.213/1991.

The document used to prove the time to be recognized is the Certidão de Tempo de Contribuição (CTC, or Contribution Time Certificate), issued by the original system. Without it, INSS cannot enter the period in your record or include it in your benefit calculation.

Contribution Time Certificate: Who Issues It and How to Request It

The CTC is issued by the pension system into which you paid and which will transfer that time to another system. So if a state government employee wants to have years worked in the private sector, before joining the civil service, recognized by INSS, the employee needs the CTC issued by INSS to present to the state RPPS.

The CTC is the passport for your contribution time: without it, INSS does not recognize periods served under another pension system.

The reverse is also possible: a private-sector worker who once served as a public employee can request a CTC from the public pension agency and present it to INSS.

To request the CTC from INSS, you must:

• Log in to Meu INSS (meu.inss.gov.br), INSS’s online portal and app, or go to an INSS office;
• Request the “CTC Issuance” service;
• Submit identification documents and proof of your employment relationships (CTPS, pay stubs, CNIS);
• Wait for the review, which can take up to 30 days.

Before requesting the CTC, it is essential to check your Cadastro Nacional de Informações Sociais (CNIS, the National Social Information Registry), because all employment relationships and contributions must be correctly recorded. Any discrepancies must be corrected first so that the certificate reflects your actual contribution period.

Reciprocal Counting: Rules and Limitations

Reciprocal counting of contribution time among pension systems is a constitutionally guaranteed right, but it is subject to specific rules that must be followed.

The first basic rule is that time cannot be counted twice. In other words, the same period of work can be used for retirement purposes in only one system. If a public employee used a given period in the RPPS, that employee cannot use the same period in the RGPS, and vice versa.

Another important limitation concerns financial compensation between the systems. When reciprocal counting occurs, the system responsible for paying the benefit receives financial compensation from the original system, in proportion to the time each one administered the insured person’s contributions. This mechanism is provided for in Law 9.796/1999 and is meant to keep the systems involved in financial balance.

For you as the insured person, the practical implication is that the amount of your final benefit may depend on which system will actually pay the retirement, since each has its own calculation rules. That is why, when you have periods in different systems, it is advisable to simulate the benefit both ways before deciding where to apply for retirement.

It is worth noting that time contributed to the RGPS as a self-employed (individual) or voluntary contributor can also be used, as long as it is properly recorded in the CNIS and supported by payment slips (DARF or GPS).

Practical Steps to Have Time Recognized by INSS

Once you have gathered the necessary documents, the averbação process follows a fairly standard sequence:

Step one: Check your CNIS statement on Meu INSS and look for any gaps or inconsistencies in your contribution history. Periods of employment that are not recorded must be added through a process of proving contribution time before the averbação.

Step two: Obtain the CTC from the original system. If more than one system is involved, you will need a CTC from each of them.

Step three: File the averbação request with INSS, either online through Meu INSS or in person at an INSS office by appointment. Submit the original CTC and your personal documents.

Step four: Track the progress through the Meu INSS system itself. The legal deadline for reviewing requests is 45 days. After that, you may demand a response or take the agency to court.

Averbação of contribution time is closely tied to retirement planning. If you have worked under different systems, you should think carefully about when and how to use each period, especially given the transition rules created by Constitutional Amendment 103/2019. For a detailed analysis of retirement based on contribution time after the reform, we recommend reading our material on that topic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have rural work time recognized without prior contributions?

Yes, but under its own rules. A rural worker in a family-subsistence arrangement (regime de economia familiar) can have work time recognized regardless of contributions, with documentary proof. Documents such as a birth certificate listing the parents’ occupation, land lease contracts, and statements from the rural workers’ union are accepted. Time recognized this way can be used toward rural or hybrid retirement.

What is the difference between averbação and recognition of contribution time?

Recognition of time is the process by which INSS accepts and adds to your contribution history periods that are not recorded in the CNIS, based on documentary evidence. Averbação, by contrast, is the act of adding to your record time that has already been formalized and certified by another system, through the CTC. In short, recognition creates the record; averbação transfers it from one system to another.

Does time recognized from another system change the amount of my INSS retirement?

Yes. The recognized time is added to your RGPS time to determine whether you have met the minimum required for retirement. However, the benefit amount is calculated using only contributions made to the RGPS, not those made to other systems. Contributions to the original system are compensated financially between the systems, but they do not directly enter the calculation base for the salário de benefício (the benefit’s base salary) at INSS.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.