If you have a UK pension scheme and plan (or are planning) to live overseas as an expatriate then you can transfer your existing pension into a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pensions Scheme or QROPS. There are some great financial advantages to doing so.

Changes to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) rules have meant that there are additional benefits to transferring UK pensions rights abroad into a QROPS.

Until April 2006 it was very difficult to legitimately move a UK pension outside of the UK. With the introduction of QROPS that has changed.

The tax free income and withdrawal benefits cannot be taken within 5 years of you being a UK resident (without a reporting requirement to HMRC) but there are ways to increase the investment options, minimise tax in the future and have better flexibility and access

QROPS are offshore pension arrangements which meet the rules of the jurisdiction in which they are located and authorised in that jurisdiction as pensions.