The IGSS retirement pension (pensión por riesgo de vejez) is paid by the IVS programme (Invalidez, Vejez y Sobrevivencia), funded by the contributions deducted from formal-sector pay. The rules sit in Acuerdo 1124, the Reglamento sobre Protección Relativa a Invalidez, Vejez y Sobrevivencia, which IGSS names as the normativa vigente for this benefit.

You need age 60 and 240 months of contribution. If you turn 60 short of 240, the regulation lets you complete the contributions up to the date you request the pension. The pension starts at 50% of the remuneración base (the average of your salaries in the 60 months of contribution before the request, capped at Q9,000) and grows by 0.5% of that base for each six months contributed beyond the first 120. The minimum is Q340 per month and IGSS publishes a maximum of Q7,200.

Quick summary: IGSS retirement requires age 60 and 240 months of contribution (20 years). The pension starts at 50% of the average salary of the 60 months of contribution before you apply (base capped at Q9,000), plus 0.5% per six months contributed beyond your first 120, plus 10% per dependant, capped at 80% of that base. Minimum Q340/month, maximum Q7,200/month. The application is free and personal — no tramitador or lawyer needed. Capital: appointment at CATAFI on 2412-1255; departments: no appointment needed.

Figures verified 1 October 2026 against the IGSS old-age pension page, the IGSS old-age pension FAQ, the requirements sheet updated August 2026 and the text of Acuerdo 1124 with reforms to 13 September 2021.

Correction, 1 October 2026. An earlier version of this page said Acuerdo 1124 art. 15 splits applicants by affiliation date (before or after 1 January 2011). That was the text written by Acuerdo 1257 (2010). Acuerdo 1492, published in the Diario Oficial on 13 September 2021, rewrote art. 15: the scale now applies according to the date the person turned 60, and contributions may be completed up to the date the benefit is requested. The page also said the remuneración base uses the 60 months before “the right is acquired”; since the same reform it is the 60 months before the date the benefit is requested, and the base is capped at Q9,000 (Acuerdo 1432, 2018). It also said voluntary contributions do not exist and that the pensioner must have left the job that generated the contributions; both are corrected below. See our corrections policy.

Contribution Requirements

Today: 240 months of contribution plus age 60. A month of contribution equals a calendar month (art. 28), contributions from every employer you had add up, and months in which you drew an IGSS daily subsidy (sick or maternity leave, for example) count as contribution periods (art. 28). What counts is what employers reported on the social security payroll, including contributions recognised through a debt-acknowledgement agreement an employer signed with IGSS (art. 40 bis).

If you turned 60 before 1 June 2014, art. 15 as reformed by Acuerdo 1492 applies the requirement according to the date you reached the minimum age:

Turned 60Contributions required
Up to 31 December 2010180 (15 years)
1 January 2011 to 31 December 2012192 (16 years)
1 January to 31 May 2013204 (17 years)
1 June to 31 December 2013216 (18 years)
1 January to 31 May 2014228 (19 years)
From 1 June 2014240 (20 years)

The 204-contribution row follows Acuerdo 1492 as published (ending 31 May 2013); the consolidated text IGSS posts prints it as ending 31 December 2013, which overlaps the next row.

Short of the requirement at 60? Art. 15 closes: the corresponding contributions may be completed up to the date the benefits are requested. You can keep contributing through an employer. If you have left formal employment with at least 12 contributions in the last 36 calendar months, you can apply in writing for voluntary contribution during the calendar year after your last month of contribution (art. 35), paying the worker and employer IVS contribution monthly on your last salary; three consecutive months in arrears ends that right (art. 36).

How Your Pension Is Calculated

Acuerdo 1124 art. 16 builds the pension from three parts, on top of a base:

  • Base rate: 50% of your remuneración base
  • Seniority increment: +0.5% of the remuneración base for each six months of contribution beyond your first 120 months — the counter starts at 120, not at 240. Someone retiring on exactly 240 months carries 120 excess months, i.e. 20 six-month blocks, worth +10 percentage points
  • Asignación familiar: +10% of the amount produced by the two lines above, per qualifying family member (wife or legalised unión de hecho partner, compañera, a husband who is totally unable to work, unmarried children under 18 or older children unable to work, and a mother — or a totally incapacitated father — who is financially dependent and not a pensioner in her or his own right)
  • Ceiling: the total for Invalidez Total, Vejez and Gran Invalidez cannot exceed 80% of the remuneración base. Above that limit the family allowances are cut back proportionally
  • Remuneración base: the average of the salaries and subsidies of the 60 months of contribution before the date the benefit is requested (art. 29), capped at Q9,000 (Acuerdo 1432, 2018). Invalidez and sobrevivencia use a 36-month window instead
  • Minimum pension: Q340/month for Vejez or Invalidez Total including the family allowance (art. 30). Survivor pensions have their own floors in the same article: Q170 for a widow or compañera (and for an orphan of both parents) and Q85 for an orphan of one parent
  • Maximum pension: IGSS publishes Q7,200/month — 80% of the Q9,000 base cap

Worked example (our arithmetic with the art. 16 and 29 formula; the official amount is the one in IGSS’s resolution): 300 months of contribution and a Q6,000 average gives 50% + 15% = 65% = Q3,900, plus 10% (Q390) for a qualifying spouse = Q4,290, under the 80% ceiling of Q4,800. With a Q12,000 average and 240 months, the base is capped at Q9,000 and the pension is 60% of it, Q5,400.

Requirements

From IGSS’s requirements sheet (updated August 2026):

  • Original DPI of the applicant
  • Original Historial Laboral form (IVS-102), listing every employer and date from March 1977 to the date of application, complete
  • If you worked for IGSS itself: a certificate of all time served, issued by its Human Resources Subdirectorate
  • To add family members (asignación familiar): a declaración jurada on form IVS-108 plus the RENAP and DPI documents for each dependant
  • Before filing, update your data (including your NIT) with the Departamento de Registro de Patronos y Trabajadores — without it the application is not accepted
  • RENAP documents must be current and match your names exactly; CATAFI says RENAP certificates are valid for 6 months from issue

Step-by-Step Process

  1. Check your contributions in the IGSS Portal del Afiliado and reconstruct your full employment history; see checking your contributions
  2. Get the requirement sheet and forms — the declaración jurada, the historial laboral form and the hoja de requisitos are published on the IGSS old-age pension page
  3. Complete the forms by computer or legibly by hand, with no crossings-out or correction fluid (CATAFI will not accept them otherwise)
  4. Call to be processed — in the capital, phone 2412-1255 for an appointment at CATAFI in Oficinas Centrales (CATAFI says an agent will call back with a date within at most 5 business days); from the departments go to the nearest Delegación or Caja Departamental, where no appointment is needed (Mon-Fri 08:00-16:00). The FAQ also lists PBX 1522, option 3
  5. Bring the documents on the day of the appointment
  6. IGSS reviews your contribution history and issues a resolution with your pension amount

The right to the pension starts on the date you meet the conditions; if a year passes without applying, art. 18 treats enjoyment of the pension as deferred.

From the US (Diaspora Info)

  • Only IGSS contributions count toward the 240 months — the ones your employers reported on Guatemala’s social security payroll (art. 40 bis)
  • Filing through someone in Guatemala: IGSS’s requirements sheet says a third person filing for you must present an original DPI and a document accrediting them as your legal representative
  • Verify your contributions before applying — the Portal del Afiliado only shows what employers reported through the Planilla Electrónica
  • The process is free. IGSS’s requirements sheet says the procedure is personal and free and needs neither a tramitador nor a lawyer

Tips & Common Mistakes

  • Verify your contributions BEFORE retirement. Check your contribution record years in advance.
  • Do not pay intermediaries. IGSS states the process is personal and free.
  • The 60-month average matters. Your pension is based on the average of the 60 months of contribution before you apply, capped at Q9,000.
  • Keep records of all your employment. The IVS-102 form asks for every employer and date since March 1977; pay stubs and contracts help you fill it in.
  • You can have contributions from multiple employers. All of them count toward the 240-month requirement.
Details
  • Salary under-reporting hurts you. The base is the average of the salaries reported in the 60 months of contribution before you apply. Check your contribution history to verify reported salaries match your actual pay.
  • Salary above Q9,000 does not raise the pension. The remuneración base is capped at Q9,000 (art. 29).
  • Voluntary contribution exists, with conditions. If you leave formal employment with at least 12 contributions in the last 36 calendar months, you can keep paying into IVS as a voluntary contributor (art. 35) — see voluntary contribution.
  • Months beyond 120 raise the pension. Each six months of contribution beyond the first 120 adds 0.5% of the base, up to the 80% ceiling.
  • Timing your application: You do not have to apply on your 60th birthday, but art. 18 treats the pension as deferred if a year passes after you qualify without applying.
Details
  • Close to 240 but not quite there: You do not get a pension, but Acuerdo 1124 art. 19 gives you an asignación única — a single payment equal to 70% of the worker’s own contributions (cuotas laborales) effectively paid — provided you have reached the minimum age, your employment has ended, and you have at least 12 months of contribution. Taking it extinguishes every other right under the programme, and if you later rejoin you are treated as a first-time entrant.
  • Contributions from decades ago: All reported contributions count. The IVS-102 form asks for your history from March 1977.
  • No early retirement option: Art. 15 sets age 60 as the minimum age for the old-age pension.
  • Working after the pension begins: Art. 31 covers pensioners in paid employment: the employer must put them on the social security payroll and pay the contributions for IGSS’s health programmes.
  • Pension for widowed retirees: If a retiree dies, their spouse and eligible dependents can apply for a survivor pension.