drifterwayfarer

I lived and worked in Germany for an year, and then left permanently. I have now lived in North America for more than 2 years. While I worked in Germany, a monthly rentenversicherung amount was deducted from my paycheck automatically. I'd like to get my contributions back. So I went to Deutsche Versicherung website, and it says:   Compulsory and voluntary contributions will be repaid to half of the original amount, top-up insurance contributions will be repaid in full.    The website I went to is: http://www.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de/Allgemein/en/Navigation/03_leistungen/03_beitragserstattung/beitragserstattung_node.html   So looks like I am eligible;e to apply for a refund. But I was surprised by the statement above. Does this mean that I'll only be refunded half of what I paid in total in that year? If so, what's the reason behind not returning the full amount? And will I still get a pension later corresponding to that half amount that the government keeps?   Thanks for the help    

I am a Canadian citizen, working here in a company for 7 months and paying Arbeitsversicherung. I came here on a Blue Card, and I am assuming that this card is given to me specifically for this company. So if I lose my job, for whatever reason, I am assuming I cant just stick around in Germany indefinitely and look for another job and use the same Blue Card. I guess I would have to leave the country in a certain number of days (no idea what that number is), though Canadians are allowed to stay here for I believe 90 days, e.g if they are doing tourism etc.   If this is all true, how will I benefit from AV plan? If I must leave the country soon, how do I get unemployment benefit?   Thanks in advance.