Exporting unemployment benefits as an EU citizen

As a general rule, a citizen of the European Union (EU) must be in the territory of domicile where the allowances will be received. Under certain conditions, however, you can move to another EU country to search for work and continue to receive your benefits.

Nationals of one of the member states of the European Economic Area EEA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and the Swiss Confederation are considered equal to citizens of the European Union.

 

People concerned

Subject to fulfilling the conditions for admission to unemployment benefit.

  • Unemployed persons receiving benefits and being nationals of an EU Member State or EEA or Switzerland and relocating to Luxembourg;
  • Unemployed persons compensated by ADEM and relocating to another EU Member State / EEA / Switzerland.

Preconditions

To be able to export unemployment benefits, you must:

  • already receive unemployment benefits and therefore be registered in an EU Member State / EEA / Switzerland and remain available to employment services of that state for at least 4 weeks since the start of receiving unemployment benefits;

Procedure

To be able to export unemployment benefit, you must,

  • before you move abroad, apply for a U2 form by the authority from the country in which you reside and from which you receive your unemployment benefit.
  • as soon as you arrive, you need to provide the U2 form to the employment service of your host country and register as a job seeker within 7 days following its issue date and remain at the disposal of the authorities of your host country. (This period may be extended subject to conditions).

Amount and duration of compensation

Subject to fulfilling requirements, you can continue to receive benefits up to the allowances received in your country of residence for a period of 3 months

You will have to return to your country of origin before the expiry of this period to continue obtaining your benefits.

Rights and obligations

Regarding your rights and obligations in your host country, gather information as soon as possible from the authorities in charge. These may vary from country to country.

Last update