Form PD U2 (E 303) - Confirmation of continued entitlement to unemployment benefits

Compared to the PD U1 (E 301) form, if you have already claimed unemployment benefit and plan to move to another EU country while you are receiving unemployment benefit, you will need the PD U2 (E 303) form. What to do with the benefit you are currently receiving?

What is the PD U2 (E 303) form?

The portable PD U2 form (formerly E 303 form), or Certificate of Continuing Entitlement to Unemployment Benefits, is the entitlement to continue receiving unemployment benefits while you are looking for work in another EU country. That is, if you have left your job and are receiving unemployment benefit but want to use this period to look for work in another country, you can do so by applying for a transfer of your benefit to another country. There are two situations where you can apply for transfer of unemployment benefit to another EU country:

Situation No. 1
Maria worked in Austria and applied for unemployment benefit from the Austrian unemployment office after her employment ended. While receiving the benefit, she decided to return to her home country to look for a job. She therefore applied for a transfer of the unemployment benefit to her home country.

Situation No. 2
Miroslav was working in his home country and claimed unemployment benefit when his employment ended. Subsequently, while receiving the benefit, Miroslav decided to go to Germany to look for a new job. He therefore applied for a transfer of the benefit to Germany.

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Where and how do I apply for transfer of unemployment benefit?

The earliest you can apply for a transfer to another EU country is 4 weeks after you have been registered as unemployed. You have to apply for a transfer of your benefit at the relevant branch of the social insurance office of the country in which you are entitled to unemployment benefit or in which you are receiving unemployment benefit. The social insurance institution will then issue you with a PD U2 form (E 303) authorising the transfer of your benefit to another EU country. The form will contain the following information:

• the date on which you cease to be available to the authority,
• the deadline for registering in the country you are leaving for,
• the period during which your entitlement to unemployment benefit will be maintained,
• information which may affect the entitlement to unemployment benefit.

When you arrive in the country where you want to look for work, you must register as a jobseeker with the relevant employment office and submit a PD U2 form (E 303) to the social security office. The branch of the social security office will then inform the initial institution (the institution in the country where you started receiving benefits) of your inclusion in the register via form U009. Once the U009 form has been received, the institution that started paying the benefit will continue to pay the benefit at the same rate. To put it simply, the initial institution will send your benefit to the country where you want to look for work. In order to be able to draw the full transfer of a benefit, you must be available to the employment service (in the country where you want to look for a job) and fulfil the obligations set by it.