Working abroad

It is important that you are insured in the right country. If not, it may have consequences for your right to receive unemployment benefits, depending on the length of the insurance period.

Worst case, you may not be able to obtain unemployment benefits. In order to be eligible for benefits you need to fulfill an income criteria. This means that you have to have been a member for 1 year and you have to have earned a minumum of DKK 263,232 (2024) within a year. You can only get a maximum of DKK 21,936 per month (2024) in a membership period. This applies whether or not you have retained your membership with us. You can also lose your right to Danish early retirement benefits (efterløn). If you are in doubt, always consult Akademikernes A-kasse.

As an employed person under EEA rules, you can transfer both insurance and employment periods between EEA countries. This means that you need not start from scratch regarding unemployment insurance, when moving to another EEA country. It also means that you will be covered by that country’s unemployment insurance system. This transfer is also possible if you are self-employed.

PD U1 is a form which confirms your periods of employment and membership of an unemployment insurance fund (a-kasse) in Denmark.

If you need a PD U1 form as documentation in the country you are travelling to, you apply via our self-service portal.

Find the PD U1 form via Mit AKA

If you are travelling to a country outside the EEA, you will rarely be covered by unemployment insurance. In this case, you can keep your membership with Akademikernes A-kasse. If you lose your job in the other country, you can return to Denmark and receive unemployment benefits if you are eligible.

The Faroe Islands and your insurance

If you obtain work in the Faroe Islands, you must also be insured there. However, this does not apply if you expect your work stay to last for a maximum of 6 months. In this case, you should make an agreement with the Faroe Islands’ unemployment insurance authority regarding your continued membership of Akademikernes A-kasse.

If you cannot be insured in the Faroe Islands due to their regulations, you cannot continue being a member of Akademikernes A-kasse, even beyond the 6 month period.

Greenland, other countries and your insurance

You can continue being an member of Akademikernes A-kasse, if you work for a Danish employer in Greenland or elsewhere abroad.

If you are not already a member of a Danish unemployment insurance fund, you can gain a membership based on employment in Greenland or other countries. In this case, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must have been posted abroad by a Danish employer
• Your work in Greenland/elsewhere abroad must be temporary and for a few years only (in practice max. 6 years)
• You must apply for a membership of Akademikernes A-kasse within one year of moving to Greenland/other countries abroad
• You must have resided in Denmark prior to commencing employment in Greenland/elsewhere abroad.

If you are employed in one EEA country, but live in another EEA country and you return home at least once a week, you are a frontier worker. As a frontier worker, you must be insured in the EEA country where you work.

If you become partially unemployed, you will receive benefits from the country in which you work. If you become fully unemployed, you receive benefits from the country you reside in. If you do not return home at least once a week when working in another EEA country, you are “a worker other than a frontier worker”. As such, you can opt to make yourself available for the labour market in the country of employment and to have unemployment benefits paid there.

Additionally, as an unemployed frontier worker or “a worker other than a frontier worker”, you can opt to make yourself available for the labour market in both your country of residence and your last country of employment. However, you must comply with the rules of availability in the country from which you receive unemployment benefits.

If you are employed in public administration – either at central or local government level – you are covered by the Danish social security legislation while stationed in another EEA country. You can therefore retain your membership at Akademikernes A-kasse.

This also applies if you are stationed abroad by the Danish state and employed in an international organisation, such as EU, NATO and OECD.

Paid Ph.D. students stationed abroad by the Danish Research Academy (Forskerakademiet) or Universities Denmark (Rektorkollegiet) are also covered by Danish social security legislation.

When sent to another EEA country, you can opt to be covered by Danish social security legislation. You can also stay a member of Akademikernes A-kasse.

In order to be covered by Danish legislation while working abroad, you or your employer must seek permission from “Udbetaling Danmark”.

Read more at lifeindenmark.borger.dk

Call Udbetaling Danmark if you have any questions regarding postings abroad.

It is possible to be posted for up to 3 years.

If you know in advance that you will be stationed abroad for more than 2 years, you can only be covered by Danish legislation for up to 3 years, if a special agreement is made between “Udbetaling Danmark” and the country in which you are stationed. If such an agreement is established, your membership at Akademikernes A-kasse can be retained.

For more details, contact Udbetaling Danmark.

If you have been looking for work abroad

If you have been to another country to look for a job, while receiving unemployment benefits from us, you have to obtain a renewed right to benefits in Denmark.

Please note that you will only be eligible for membership – and therefore unemployment benefits – from the date that Akademikernes A-kasse receives your written membership application. If you wish to receive unemployment benefits, you must also remember to register as an unemployed at the job centre or jobnet.dk.

You have been a member within the past 5 years

In order to transfer your insurance and employment periods from another EEA country, you must apply for a membership renewal at Akademikernes A-kasse within 8 weeks of terminating your unemployment insurance in the other EEA country. You will then be eligible for unemployment benefits if you fulfil the general entitlement criteria.

You have not been a member – or were a member more than 5 years ago

If you have not previously been a member of a Danish unemployment insurance fund, or if you were last a member more than 5 years ago, you must fulfil 2 requirements before you can become a member of Akademikernes A-kasse:

1. Within 8 weeks of terminating your unemployment insurance in the other EEA country, you must start work of at least 8 weeks duration – corresponding to 296 hours – inside a period of 12 weeks/3 months
2. You must fill in our application form for becomong a member.

Become a member

Get your documentation for work and insurance

To document your unemployment insurance from another EEA country, use the form called PDU1.

You get this form from the unemployment insurance authority in the EEA country where you have worked. If you are unemployed, it is a good idea to apply for the form before your return to Denmark. On the PDU1 form, the unemployment insurance authority in the EEA country is supposed to confirm which insurance or employment periods you have had.