Austria - Any insurance periods you have completed in other Member States will also be taken into account.

This chapter provides useful information about how your entitlement to social security benefits is affected if you move to live or work in another EU Member State (or Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or the United Kingdom*).

* Each case needs to be assessed individually to determine whether a person falls within the scope of Art 30 of the Withdrawal Agreement, and so the EU Coordination Regulations apply, or whether they fall within the scope of situations described in Art 32 of the Withdrawal Agreement and/or come under domestic legislation and the Protocol on Social Security Coordination attached to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

In what situation can I claim?

As a rule, if you work in another EU or EEA Member State, you are no longer entitled to Austrian social security benefits. The law of the state where you are gainfully employed is always the applicable one. If you are not gainfully employed, regulations of your new state of residence apply.

If you return to Austria after a period of work abroad during which you were registered with the social security system of that state, the insurance periods you have completed abroad may be taken into account while you await entitlement to Austrian social security benefits (the "agglomeration of insurance periods" principle).

What conditions do I need to meet?

For entitlement to all social security benefits, the periods of insurance you have completed abroad will be aggregated with your Austrian insurance periods. The principle, however, is that only your Austrian insurance periods are taken into account when calculating the amount of your Austrian benefits.

In addition to the entitlements gained in other EU Member States, insurance periods completed in the EEA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom*) can be aggregated with Austrian insurance periods.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

If you return to Austria after having worked in another EU Member State, you will need documentary proof of the insurance periods you have completed abroad.

You should obtain such documentary proof before returning to Austria. Seek advice from the local social insurance institution in the other country, so that you can obtain all necessary documents.

If you have claimed unemployment benefit in another EU-Member State (or Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or the United Kingdom) for at least 4 weeks, you can register as a jobseeker with the Labour Market Service for a period of 3 to 6 months and continue to receive Austrian unemployment benefit. To register, you will need Form U2 from the competent foreign institution. The same applies if you claim Austrian unemployment benefit and wish to register as a jobseeker in one of these countries.

If you claim Austrian social security benefits, you should always indicate whether or not you have completed insurance periods abroad.

The following information is required:

the country where you have worked;
the name and address of your employer in that country;
the start and end dates of your employment in that country, and
your social security number from that country.

Jargon busters

Social security number is the number of the account on which your social security data is held. However, having a ten-digit social security number does not necessarily presuppose entitlement to social security benefits. The terms ‘social security number’, ‘insurance number’, ‘SV number’ mean the same thing, as do the abbreviations SVNR, VSNR and VNR.
EEA means the European Economic Area. In 1992, the Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), excluding Switzerland, signed an enhanced agreement with the European Union which extended the European single market to 31 countries, including Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
Habitual residence - The terms ‘permanent residence’ and ‘habitual residence’ are defined under EU law. Please see the EU Regulation on the coordination of social security systems. In practice, it means the place where you have your centre of interests.

These are your rights

The links below set out your rights in law. However, they are not official European Commission sites and do not represent the view of the Commission:

EU information:

Social security systems in the EU

Who can I contact?

Please contact the following authorities if you would like to know how insurance periods completed in other EU Member States, EEA Member States, Switzerland or the United Kingdom affect Austrian social security benefits.

Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection
Stubenring 1
1010 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 1711000
E: post@sozialministerium.at
http://www.sozialministerium.at

Chancellor’s Office – Section VI - Family and Young People
Untere Donaustraße 13-15
1020 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 53115
http://www.bka.gv.at

Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy
Section III (Employment market)
Stubenring 1
1010 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 1711000
E: service.arbeit@bmaw.gv.at
http://www.bmaw.gv.at Umbrella Association of Social Security Institutions
Kundmanngasse 21
1030 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 1 71132-0
E: PosteingangAllgemein@sozialversicherung.at
https://www.sozialversicherung.at/cdscontent/?contentid=10007.845634&portal=svportal

Austrian Labour Market Service, Federal Office
Treustrasse 35-43
1200 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 133178
E: ams.oesterreich@ams.at
http://www.ams.at

Pension Insurance Institution, Main Office
Friedrich-Hillegeist-Straße 1
1021 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 50303
E: pva@pv.at
http://www.pensionsversicherung.at

Austrian Workers’ Compensation Board (AUVA)
Wienerbergstraße 11
1100 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 9393-20000
E: kontakt@auva.at
http://www.auva.at

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