Unemployed

If you move to another country when you are unemployed, you are covered by the social insurance in the country where you are resident according to the population register.

If you become unemployed after you have worked in a Nordic country, you are normally entitled to unemployment benefits from the country where you last worked. A criterion is that you make yourself available for work in the country from which you seek benefits. Unemployment benefits and the criteria for receiving such benefits are different in different countries.

Work in other Nordic countries is included

If it is required that you have been covered by unemployment insurance or have worked for a given period in order to receive unemployment benefits, this period is also counted when you have been insured or worked in another Nordic country or EU/EEA country.

According to the Nordic Convention on social security you are “entitled to return” which means that periods of work in other Nordic countries are immediately taken into account without your having to work in the country to which you return. This presumes that over the last five years you

• have received unemployment benefits in the country to which you move or
• you have had unemployment insurance in the country to which you are moving (the requirement for how much you shall have worked is different in different countries)

Seeking work in another Nordic country

If you wish to apply for a job in another  Nordic country you are, as an unemployed person, entitled to unemployment benefits from the original country for a period of 3 months. If you return within the 3 months, you will continue to receive unemployment benefit without a break.

You need a certificate of your entitlement to unemployment benefit from an authority in your original country.

NOTE! You will not receive Finnish labour market subsidy (työmarkkinatuki) while you are looking for a job abroad.

Read more about the possibility of looking for work in a different country on the internet addresses on the right. You can also contact the employment office in your home town.

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