Yes, if the balance in your foreign retirement account along with balances in other foreign specified financial assets (if any) is $10,000 or more. Depending on the ratio of the employer-employee contributions and the de minimis balance in the account, this account may also be subject to PFIC rules. Tax treaty (if one exists)rules between the US and the country where the retirement account is will govern whether you can make tax-free contributions into the account while you are a US resident. Also check if there are any Totalization agreements between this person's country and the US and if this foreign government account will be affected by the Totalization agreement. Again these rules will affect the taxability of the distributions as well.