UK State Pension

@Jackie53 Not quite the answer to your question but this might be of interest to you.

I am currently investigating the transfer of pension funds and have been advised that if you are a resident of Cyprus and you complete the required forms for HMRC you can transfer the whole value of your pension to Cyprus and as a tax free sum. There might be a small percentage to pay in Cyprus (2-3%) and I am waiting to finalise mine after the immigration completes. Doing this means only one hit on currency exchange and I will have the whole fund to work with.

Unless you continue to have a UK address, your bank might close your account in the UK. If you continue to have a bank in the UK, use the services like www.wise.com to transfer funds. Its cheaper than bank fees.

@phildraper

Thank you , I have received advice on my private pensions but not sure how to receive my state pension which cannot be transferred as a pot.

I was advised that Cyprus immigration like to see income coming in to your bank on a regular basis. It was suggested that my state pension was seen as a good source of income by immigration and will be a benefit when taking up residency. The DWP transfers the money in sterling to my Cypriot account who then do the currency conversion. The conversion rates are just OK but better than you would get from a UK bank, the difference between using someone like Wise is not significant in my experience.

It's your call really ... Bank rates are not great.... UK banks are cutting back on accounts once you relocate.. so far HSBC have no Intention of closing accounts for their customers who reside in europe as long as transactions continue regularly....

Personally I leave mine in UK and only move it when the rates are good via revolut or Starling.... They tend to be better exchange rates than the usual exchange platforms.

It may be a good idea to opt for the DTT dual taxation treaty and thus only get taxed once depending on income levels and sources..

DWP can do the transfer direct to your euros account and you will get the rate at the point of transfer.... sometimes you win sometimes you lose