Notes on Individual Rules under the Japan-Austria Social Security Agreement

For elimination of dual coverage, the Japan-Austria Social Security Agreement covers following social security systems:
- For Japan: public pension systems, health insurance systems, and employment insurance system
- For Austria: pension insurance, sickness insurance, accident insurance, and unemployment insurance

(1) An employee who is detached temporarily from Japan to Austria
If you are an employee and the period of detachment from Japan to Austria is not expected to exceed five years, under certain conditions such as being covered by the Japanese public pension system, you will be exempted from coverage of the Austrian pension system and unemployment insurance from the first date of such detachment* to the last date of the detachment.
Regarding the health insurance system, you will be covered by the Austrian sickness insurance system in addition to the Japanese health insurance system due to the permission to stay in Austria. Furthermore, you will be also covered by the Austrian accident insurance system.
* From the date of entry into force of the Agreement, if you have already been detached before the entry into force of the Agreement.

(2) A self-employed person who is a resident of Japan and works in Austria as a self-employed person
If you would otherwise be covered under the legislation of both countries with respect to self-employment and who is a resident of Japan, you will be exempted from coverage of the Austrian pension system by the end of your Austrian working period. Regarding the health insurance system, you will be covered by the Austrian sickness insurance system in addition to the Japanese health insurance system due to the permission to stay in Austria. Furthermore, you will also be covered by the Austrian accident insurance system.

(3) An employee who is detached temporarily from Austria to Japan
If you are an employee and the period of detachment from Austria to Japan is not expected to exceed five years, under certain conditions such as being covered by the Austrian public pension system, you will be exempted from coverage of the Japanese pension system and unemployment insurance from the first date of such detachment* to the last date of the detachment. Furthermore, you will be covered by the Japanese health insurance system in addition to the Austrian sickness insurance system.
* From the date of entry into force of the Agreement, if you have already been detached before the entry into force of the Agreement.

(4) A self-employed person who is a resident of Austria and works in Japan as a self-employed person
If you would otherwise be covered under the legislation of both countries with respect to self-employment and who is a resident of Austria, you will be exempted from coverage of the Japanese pension system until the end of your Japanese working period. You will be also exempted from coverage of the Japanese health insurance system.

If you are (1) or (2), please proceed with the procedure for the issuance of the Certificate of Coverage. In the case that you have ever been covered by Austrian social security system before, please write down your Austrian social security number into the back of the issued Certificate of Coverage. After the issue of the Certificate of Coverage, you will complete the entrollment procedure for the Austrian systems including sickness insurance at the Austrian sickness insurance institutions. In addition to this, you will also complete the withdrawal procedure for the Austrian systems including pension insurance if you have already been detached before the entry into force of the Agreement.

If you are (3) or (4), please be issued a Certificate of Coverage from the Austrian competent institutions.

Where the legislation of both Contracting States would otherwise apply to you who work as an employee on board a sea-going vessel flying the flag of a Contracting State, you will be subject of that Contracting State. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you will be subject only to the legislation of the other Contracting State if you are employed by and an employer with a place of business in the territory of the other Contracting State, provided that you are not a resident of the first Contracting State.
The procedure to apply for your Certificate of Coverage is the same as that for employees.

If you work as an employee on an aircraft in international traffic, you will be subject only to the legislation of the Contracting State in whose territory your employer is located.
The procedure to apply for your Certificate of Coverage is the same as that for employees.

If you need to continue to work as a detached worker in Austria for more than 5 years, you can continuously be covered by the Japanese systems as far as the total detachment period (original detachment period and extension period) is not expected to be more than 8 years, if related institutions of both countries agree based on individual examination.

If you, a detached worker, have already been working in Austria before the date of entry into force of the Agreement, you will be exempted from the Austrian systems for 5 years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement, as long as such detachment is expected to end within 5 years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement. In this case, please ask your employer to apply for a Japanese Certificate of Coverage at the Japan Pension Service branch office and receive your Certificate after the entry into force of the Agreement. Then please present the Certificate to the Austrian institution and complete the procedure to end the coverage by the Austrian systems.

Under the Agreement with Austria, accompanying spouse and children of temporarily detached employees are exempted only from the Japanese pension system, and are not exempted from the Japanese national health insurance system and the medical care system for the elderly aged 75 and over.
Accompanying spouse and children of self-employed persons who reside in Austria, or accompanying spouse and children of public servants, are exempted from the Japanese pension system. Furthermore, the accompanying spouse and children of self-employed person or public servants are exempted from the Japanese national health insurance system and the medical care system for the elderly aged 75 and over only if they are covered from the Austrian sickness insurance system*.
If the above accompanying spouse and children request to enroll, they can do by applying.
* In order to be exempted from the Japanese national health insurance system and the medical care system for the elderly aged 75 and over, you must bring a paper-based co-insurance confirmation stating that you are subject to the Austrian sickness insurance system by the Austrian sickness insurance institution, together with the Certificate of Coverage (copy) issued by the Austrian side for the self-employed person or the public servants, and complete the procedure at the health insurance office of your local government in Japan. If you have a question and so on about the national health insurance system, please contact Planning and Law Section, National Health Insurance Division. In case of the accompanying spouse and children are aged 75 and over, if you have a question and so on about the medical care system for the elderly aged 75 and over, please contact Planning and Law Section, Elderly Medical Care Division Wide-area Joint Section: Health Insurance Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (telephone number: 03-5253-1111): If you have a question about the co-insurance confirmation issued by the Austrian sickness insurance institution, please contact the Austrian sickness insurance institution (for self-employed persons: SVS, for public servants: BVAEB).

If you do not have enough Austrian coverage periods alone to qualify for the Austrian benefits, your coverage periods under the Japanese pension systems* will be considered for the Austrian benefits as long as the coverage periods of both countries do not overlap.
For this purpose, however, your Austrian coverage periods need to be one year or more.
* Generally you are required 180 insurance (contribution) months of which at least 84 must be derived from gainful employment for the Austrian old age pension. For this gainful employment period, the periods of working as an employee and self-employed person in Japan can be counted. If you want to know the detail of these requirements, please ask the Austrian competent institutions.

If you do not have enough Japanese coverage periods alone to qualify for Japanese benefits, your coverage periods under the Austrian social security systems will be considered for Japanese benefits as long as the coverage periods of both countries do not overlap. If you meet the qualification requirements, you may receive Japanese benefits which correspond to the length of the coverage periods in Japan.

You can file a claim for old-age pension benefits 6 months prior to the date when you become eligible for it.
If you calim Austrian old-age pension benefits after you become eligible for them, Austrian old-age pension will not be paid retroactively. However, the amount will be increased based on the time you claim it.

If you reside in Japan, the Austrian pension benefits are paid by direct deposit to your bank account in Japan.

If you receive Japanese pension benefits in Austria, your Japanese benefits are subject to income tax in Austria and exempted from Japanese income tax. To be exempted from Japanese income tax under this rule, you must submit two completed "Application form for Income Tax Convention (Form 9)" to the Headquarters of the Japan Pension Service. You can download the form from the Japanese National Tax Agency website.（外部リンク）