In this regard, Vietnam Social Security replied as follows:

According to the provisions of the Law on Social Insurance 2014 and the Labor Code 2019, an employee is entitled to pension when fully meeting the following conditions:

- Full 20 years of paying social insurance premiums or more;

- Having reached the retirement age as prescribed in Article 169, Clause 1, Article 219 of the Labor Code 2019 and Decree No. 135/2020/ND-CP dated November 18, 2020 of the Government, specifically:

From 2021, the retirement age of employees had been increased according to the following schedule: The retirement age under normal conditions is full 60 years and 3 months for male employees and full 55 years and 4 months for female employees. After that, every year increase by 3 months for male employees and 4 months for female employees, until reaching 62 years of age for male employees in 2028 and reaching 60 years of age for female employees in 2035.

An employee may retire no more than 5 years younger than the retirement age of an employee working under normal working conditions if he has paid social insurance premiums for full 20 years or more and falls into one of the following cases:

- Having worked for full 15 years or more in hazardous or particularly heavy, hazardous jobs on the list promulgated by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

- Having worked for full 15 years or more in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions (including working time in places with regional allowance coefficient of 0.7 or more before January 1st 2021);

- Having a total period of working time in occupations, hazardous or particularly heavy, hazardous and dangerous jobs and working time in areas with extremely difficult socio-economic conditions (including working hours), working at a place with a regional allowance of 0.7 or more before January 1, 2021, for full 15 years or more;

- Having a working capacity decrease of 61% or more.

An employee may retire up to 10 years younger than the retirement age of an employee working in normal working conditions if he has paid social insurance premiums for full 20 years or more and adds one of the following conditions:

- Having full 15 years of working as coal mining in underground mines;

- Having a working capacity decrease of 81% or more.

An employee is not subject to age limit when he has had full 20 years of paying social insurance premiums and falls into one of the following cases:

- Being infected with HIV/AIDS due to occupational accidents;

- Having a working capacity decrease of 61% or more and having had full 15 years of working in a job or doing particularly heavy, hazardous and dangerous jobs on the list promulgated by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health. 

Comparing the above regulations, in case Mr. Chuong was born on September 8, 1962, he has reserved the period of social insurance payment of 16 years and 1 month, including 15 years of working in an area with a regional allowance coefficient of 0. 7 then he is old enough to enjoy the pension but not yet eligible for the minimum period of social insurance payment to enjoy the pension.

He can continue to participate in social insurance (compulsory social insurance or voluntary social insurance) to enjoy monthly pension when full 20 years of paying social insurance.