Social security agreements
Switzerland applies Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and 987/2009 with the EU and EFTA countries within the framework of the Agreement with the EU on the Free Movement of Persons and the EFTA Convention. Switzerland has also concluded bilateral social security agreements with more than 20 countries outside the EU/EFTA.
Agreement on the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the EU
On 1 June 2002 the Agreement with the EU on the Free Movement of Persons entered into force. Annex II of the agreement sets out the provisions governing the coordination of the social security systems of Switzerland and EU Member States. It refers to the coordination provisions which apply within the EU, i.e. the Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 and Regulation No. 987/2009 (implementing regulation).
Agreement with the EU on the free movement of persons
Regulations (EEC) No. 1408/71 and No. 574/72 applied until 31 March 2012 in relations between Switzerland and EU States.
Material scope
The agreement applies to all legislation on the following branches of social security: sickness, maternity and paternity, invalidity, old age, death (survivors' benefits), occupational accidents and diseases, unemployment, pre-retirement and family benefits.
Personal scope
The agreement covers Swiss nationals and citizens of EU Member States who are or were insured in the EU/Switzerland, as well as refugees and stateless persons. Their family members and survivors are also covered by the agreement.
Equal treatment principle
Anyone residing or working in one contracting State should be subject to the same obligations and enjoy the same benefits under the legislation of any contracting State as the nationals of that State.
Applicable legislation
The agreement determines in which country individuals must pay their social security contributions. They are in principle subject to the social security obligations of a single country only, even if they work in several countries. Special rules apply to certain workers, e.g. posted employees who temporarily work for a Swiss employer in a contracting State (Posted workers).
Special provisions applying to different categories of benefits
Old age, survivors' and disability insurance
On reaching retirement age or in the event of invalidity, individuals who have worked in several States receive a partial pension from each of these States when national legal requirements are met, insofar as they have paid social security contributions for at least one year in each State. In the event of their death, pensions are granted to their survivors. It should be noted that if the minimum period of insurance in one or several of these States has not been completed, periods completed in the other States are taken into account.
Pensions must be paid out in any country of residence.
Sickness insurance
All individuals with sickness insurance cover in one country are entitled to medical care in the event of illness or a non-occupational accident while residing or staying in another country.
Treatment is provided abroad as if the person were insured there. Cost participation depends on the regulations of the country where the treatment is dispensed.
The websites of the Federal Office of Public Health and the Common Institution KVG/LAMal provide information:
Information for private individuals | Gemeinsame Einrichtung KVG
Accident insurance
The victim of an occupational accident or an occupational disease receives benefits from the competent insurer. If the accident occurs in another State, the person receives treatment from the accident insurance of that country as if the person were insured there. The costs are charged to the competent insurer.
Family benefits
A person is entitled to benefits from his/her country of employment, even if (s)he lives with his/her children in a different country.
If his/her spouse is gainfully employed in the country of residence, primary responsibility for the payment of these benefits must be assumed by the country of residence. However, the country of employment pays a supplement, if its benefits are higher than those granted in the country of residence.
Unemployment insuranc
Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft/seco
EFTA Convention
The revised EFTA Convention (in force since 1 June 2002) provides for the same rules for nationals of Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as those in the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU. Coordination under this agreement is also based on Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and No 987/2009.
Certain exceptions apply to relations between Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The same coordination rules apply between Switzerland and the EU States on the one hand, and between Switzerland and the EFTA States on the other. However, Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 and 987/2009 do not apply to situations involving Switzerland, the EU and EFTA, as there is no ‘framework agreement’.The FMOPA and the EFTA Convention are not linked and their scope remains limited to nationals of the States party to each agreement. The rules of the AFMP do not therefore apply, for example, to a Liechtenstein national residing in Austria and working in Switzerland.
Regulations (EEC) No 1408/71 and No 574/72 applied until 31 December 2015 in relations between Switzerland and the EFTA States.
Agreements with a contracting State
Switzerland has concluded bilateral social security agreements with various countries outside the EU and EFTA. These agreements fall into two categories: “full” and “posting” agreements. The first coordinate social security benefits, while the second exclusively govern the posting of workers to another contracting State and the reimbursement of contributions.
Social security agreements (PDF, 582 kB, 01.01.2025)
Information about the social security agreements
Some old bilateral agreements with the EU and EFTA States continue to apply to third-country nationals who do not fall within the personal scope of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons concluded with the EU or the EFTA Convention.
Material scope
All social security agreements cover old-age insurance (Switzerland: OASI/IV), and in some cases other insurance branches.
Personal scope
All agreements cover nationals from the contracting States, as well as refugees and stateless persons. Certain specific provisions (e.g. posted workers, mutual health insurance benefits assistance in relation to Germany) also cover third-country nationals.
Equal treatment principle
The fundamental principle governing all these agreements is that of equal treatment. Under Swiss social insurances, nationals of contracting States are treated in the same way as Swiss nationals, and conversely, the insurance system of the contracting State treats Swiss nationals in the same way as its own nationals.
Applicable legislation
The agreements determine in which country individuals must pay their social security contributions. The purpose is to prevent a situation whereby a person who lives in one State but works in another State or in both States must pay contributions on the same income in both states. All of these agreements are based on the place-of-employment principle. Special rules, however, apply to certain types of worker, e.g. workers posted temporarily by their Swiss employer to another state (cf. Posted workers).
Pensions
When a contracting State makes the granting of an old-age and invalidity pension conditional on a minimum insurance period of several years, Swiss OASI contribution periods are also included in the calculation of the insurance period. This means that Swiss nationals who only recently began working in the other contracting State can also benefit from foreign pensions. Likewise, nationals of that contracting State may claim Swiss OASI pensions if they complete the Swiss minimum insurance period of one year and satisfy all other eligibility criteria.
The old-age pension is calculated based on the length of contributions in each country. A person insured in Switzerland and in the contracting State receives a partial pension from each of these countries.
The agreements allow pensions to be paid abroad (in the contracting State and generally also in a third country).
The website of the Central Compensation Office provides information: www.zas.admin.ch
Documents