What is an A1 certificate
The A1 certificate shows which country’s social security a person who works abroad is covered by and in which country employers must pay the statutory social insurance contributions. An A1 certificate issued from Finland shows that a person is covered by Finnish social security while working in another country.
The A1 certificate is a legal document that covers all social security aspects of a person working abroad. This means that the certificate must always be applied for. In Finland, the Finnish Centre for Pensions issues these certificates. The certificate is free of charge and can be issued in Finnish or Swedish.
An A1 certificate is required for employees, self-employed persons, grant recipients and civil servants. In some cases, it is also needed by sailors and members of a flight crew. The A1 certificate is personal so it must be applied for separately for each person working abroad.
When is an A1 certificate needed?
When a person works temporarily in one EU country or in two or more EU countries and wants to be covered by Finnish social security while working abroad, they need an A1 certificate. The certificate must be applied for. For example, the A1 certificate is needed when
- an employer sends their employee abroad to work temporarily, that is, when the employee is a posted worker;
- an employee temporarily works remotely for a Finnish employer in another country;
- an employee regularly works in two or more countries and goes on, for example, business, installation, project and conference trips abroad, or
- a self-employed person temporarily works abroad, for example remotely, or goes on a business trip.
Frequently asked questions about the A1 certificate
The A1 certificate is needed to show that a person is covered by Finnish social security while working in an EU or a social security agreement country. Without an A1 certificate, it is not possible to be covered by Finnish social security while working abroad. If there is no A1 certificate, a foreign authority has the right to demand that the statutory social insurance contributions for the work are paid in the country where the work is done.
Based on an A1 certificate issued in Finland by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, the employer or the self-employed person will pay all the statutory social insurance contributions in Finland. While the A1 certificate is valid, these contributions are not to be paid anywhere else than in Finland.
Show the A1 certificate whenever necessary, for example, if an authority or employer in Finland or abroad asks for it. The A1 certificate may also be required to get onto the work site.
If the person working abroad falls ill or has an accident while working abroad, benefits and compensation are paid out faster if the person has an A1 certificate.
A person working in an EU or EEA country, Switzerland or the UK must have an A1 certificate. A person working in a social security agreement country needs a certificate that is the same as an A1 certificate. The certificates are applied for with the same electronic A1 application form.
‘EU countries’ refers to these countries:
- EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
- EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
- Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Social security countries include:
Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Israel, Japan, Quebec, South Korea, and the United States of America.
The certificates that are issued for work in the social security agreement countries are named as follows: Australia AUS/FI 1, Canada CAN/FI 1, Chile CL/FI 1, China CN/FI 1, India IN/FI 1, Israel ISR/FI 1, Japan JP/FI 1 or JP/FI 8, Quebec Q/FI 1, South Korea KR/FI 1, and the United States of America USA/FI 1A.
Other countries, so-called non-agreement countries:
Countries that Finland does not have a social security agreement with (also called non-agreement countries) include countries other than those listed above, for example, Thailand, Brazil and South Africa.
The Finnish Centre for Pensions does not issue A1 certificates for work in these countries. Work in a non-agreement country must be reported to Kela.
It is customary for employers to apply for the A1 certificate on behalf of their employees. Self-employed persons and grant recipients apply for the certificate themselves. If an employee has more than one employer, the employee applies for the A1 certificate themselves.
Apply for an A1 certificate from the Finnish Centre for Pensions via its eServices. It is better to apply for an A1 certificate before the work abroad begins so that the social security arrangements can be made on time. However, applying for the certificate is possible only six months in advance.
If necessary, the A1 certificate can be applied for later, if it has not been applied for before the working abroad begins. But remember that if the statutory social insurance contributions have already been paid to another country, the requirements for an A1 certificate may no longer be met.
Read more on Etk.fi:
The provisions relating to the A1 certificate do not set a minimum period for which an A1 certificate is needed. In certain sectors, such as construction, the A1 certificate may be needed from day one. For example, the construction site may be inaccessible without it.
There is no need to apply for an A1 certificate for single, short trips abroad (lasting for a few days) when the employer is Finnish, unless the country of work requires it. If you are unsure whether the country of work requires an A1 certificate, you can always apply for one, regardless of the length of the business trip.
For a person who frequently goes on business trips to two or more EU countries, it is possible to apply for an A1 certificate covering all the countries in which they work. In this case, there is no need to apply for a separate certificate for each short business trip.
The A1 certificate can also be applied for and issued afterwards, even if the work abroad has already been completed.
Example: A Finnish employee travels to different EU countries on a regular basis to work for a few days. In addition, the employee works remotely from their holiday home in Spain for two two-week periods during the year.
The employer applies for an A1 certificate for the employee from the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The certificate can be issued for a period of two years at a time, and during this period, the same certificate covers all business trips made by the employee to different EU countries, as well as periods of remote work. When applying for a certificate, the exact countries or periods of work do not need to be known. The countries that are known at the time are sufficient for the application.
Read more on Etk.fi:
The A1 certificate is always issued for a fixed period. How long the A1 certificate is valid depends on whether the work is done temporarily in one country or regularly in two or more EU countries. The A1 certificate is issued only if certain conditions are met.
When working in one country, the longest an A1 certificate can be valid for (and the employee covered by Finnish social security) is two to five years in each country, depending on the country of work. More detailed country-specific time limits are listed in the section called ‘Insurance for work abroad’.
If the employee works regularly in two or more EU countries, there is no maximum time limit for getting an A1 certificate. In this case, the A1 certificate may be issued for as long as work in two or more EU countries lasts, if the conditions for getting the certificate are met.
However, the A1 certificate is always issued for a specific period and is valid for a maximum of two years at a time. Apply for a new A1 certificate if the work abroad lasts for more than two years. A certificate for working in two or more EU countries applies to work in all EU countries while the certificate is valid.
The A1 certificate is usually issued to civil servants for a period of three years at a time. Apply for a new A1 certificate if the work continues after that.
For flight crew members and sailors, the A1 certificate is also issued for a specific period, that is, for a maximum of two years at a time. If the conditions are still met, it is possible for these groups of people to get an extension of the certificate for two years at a time.
If the work abroad is permanent or if the conditions for getting the certificate are otherwise not met, the A1 certificate cannot be issued.
Read more on Etk.fi:
If there is no A1 certificate,
- a foreign authority has the right to demand that the statutory social insurance contributions for the work are paid in the country where the work is carried out,
- the statutory social insurance contributions cannot be paid in Finland, and
- the person working abroad cannot be covered by Finnish social security.
Without an A1 certificate,
- no earnings-related pension accrues in Finland for the work done abroad,
- a person working abroad cannot receive Kela benefits or compensation from Finland (for example, if they fall ill or have an accident while they work abroad), and
- the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is not valid.
If there is no A1 certificate, the social security of the employee or self-employed person must be arranged in the country where they work. In this case, the employer or the self-employed person must pay all statutory statutory social insurance contributions to the country where the work is carried out, as required by that country.
For the European Health Insurance Card to be valid when a person works abroad, they must have the A1 certificate. Even if they have been issued a European Health Insurance Card by Kela in the past, for example for a holiday, they need the A1 certificate when they start working in another country. If they have the A1 certificate, they can get Kela benefits when they work abroad. Note that the European Health Insurance Card or travel insurance does not replace the A1 certificate.
Check out the A1 certificate
See what the A1 certificate looks like and what information it contains.