A Whole Life Review is Revision of INSS Benefits, which takes into account all salary contributions from the INSS life of the insured. This may increase the value of the benefit you already receive.
The review can be requested by all retirees who started receiving their benefits between November 29, 1999 and November 12, 2019, one day before the Pension Reform. Anyone who retired with rights acquired under the previous rules may also be entitled to review.
The deadline for requesting a lifetime review is 10 years, the famous expiry date. This time starts counting from the first day of the month following which you started receiving your benefit.
The calculation is made by including salaries prior to July 1994. The INSS insured needs to be aware of contributions made before 1982, because in the INSS extract, called CNIS (National Register of Social Information), only salaries appear from 1982 onwards.
The only way to request a review of your entire life is through the courts. The objective is to correct an illegality in Social Security, as many workers were harmed by exclusion from salaries before 1994. The STF brought justice to retirees and pensioners who were harmed by the INSS.
Generally speaking, these are the documents required to request a lifetime review at INSS: identity and CPF; updated proof of residence; CNIS – National Register of Social Information (obtained from the meu.inss.gov.br Portal); work card, if you had contributions prior to 1982; letter of attorney; declaration of hyposufficiency (if you are entitled to free justice); copy of the retirement grant letter, or administrative grant process; calculation of contribution time and initial monthly income calculation report, including contribution salaries prior to July/1994.
This point is very important, as two rules must be respected:
1st rule: your first INSS receipt cannot be more than 10 years old, as the decade-long period of review applies to your entire life (10-year period to request the review)
2nd rule: you must do calculations. Never file a review without making the calculation, as this is how you will know whether you really have the right to file the action, the amount your retirement will increase and how much you will ask for in arrears.
The whole life review is advantageous for many retirees and pensioners, but in some cases it can bring losses with a reduction in salary. It is essential to carry out calculations to check whether or not the review increases the value of the retirement or death pension.
Notes and References:
BRAZIL. Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988. Available in: . Accessed on: December 24th. 2022.
BRAZIL. National Register of Social Information. Available in: . Accessed on: December 24th. 2022.
BRAZIL. National Social Security Institute. Available in: . Accessed on: December 24th. 2022.