While unemployment benefits are generally paid in the country of residence of a jobseeker, there are conditions under which the money can be sent abroad, with around 100 unemployed individuals from Luxembourg receiving the funds in Portugal last year, for example.
Unemployment benefits are usually paid in the country of residence of the jobless individual. For cross-border workers that means they have to apply with Belgian, French or German authorities, even if they lost their job in Luxembourg.
Sending the benefit from Luxembourg to another country is the exception to the rule. Still, around 100 people registered as unemployed received their Luxembourg benefit in Portugal, job centre Adem confirmed to Contacto.
The “export” of unemployment benefits is possible by law, but applies only under some conditions, including that the recipient registers with an employment office in their host country.
Six-month limit
“Yes, [a worker] can request the export of their entitlement using the U2 form and can continue to receive Luxembourg unemployment benefit for three months, with the possibility of extending it for a further three months,” an Adem spokesperson said. The amount stays the same as in Luxembourg.
For the 100 recipients in Portugal, this means they received the equivalent of 80% of their reference salary, an amount higher than the Portuguese benefit (65% of the reference salary, according to information available on the website of the Portuguese social security office).
In total, 247 people claimed Luxembourg unemployment benefits in another EU country last year. Behind Portugal (100), the recipients live in France (51), Belgium (11) and Germany (5). The remaining 80 recipients lived elsewhere in the EU.
The conditions
On its website, Adem explains that in order to be able to export the subsidy, the person concerned must come from an EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland.
In the example of a citizen who has lost their job in Luxembourg and intends to move to Portugal: in this case, they must be fully unemployed (not on reduced hours or another employment scheme), entitled to unemployment benefits in Luxembourg and registered with Adem for at least four months.
Once these conditions have been met, the unemployed person then has to ask Adem for the U2 form – the authorisation to transfer unemployment benefits to another country. On arriving in the new country, the beneficiary has seven days (after the U2 form has been issued) to hand in the form to the employment office in the host country and register as unemployed and looking for work.
The unemployment benefit from the country of origin – in this case, the benefit paid by Adem – is limited to three months, with the possibility, depending on the country, of it being extended to a further three months.
If the unemployed person doesn’t find a job in their new country, they will have to return to Luxembourg after three (or six months) or risk losing the benefit payment.
(This article was first published in Contacto. Translated using AI, edited by Cordula Schnuer.)