List of topical issues
25.11.2019

You can now apply for the A1 certificate needed when working abroad online. You can also download a granted certificate via our online application service.

The online application service of the Finnish Centre for Pensions makes it easier and faster to apply for and handle A1 certificates.

“Some of the applications submitted online can be handled automatically. At best, our customers can get the A1 certificate on the same day as they applied for it,” explains Head of Department Maijaliisa Takanen of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

You can use our new online A1 certificate application service as of today (25 November). The service is offered in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Download the A1 certificate to your mobile device

In addition to employer companies, the self-employed, grant recipients and persons working for several employers can apply for the A1 certificate themselves via our eServices. The user instructions are available in the service.

In the new service, you can download the A1 certificate granted to you by the Finnish Centre for Pensions to your mobile device. That way, you always carry the certificate with you while you are posted abroad.

Suomi.fi Authorization required of company users

To use our electronic application service you must identify yourself with the Suomi.fi e-Authorization. In addition, if you are applying for a certificate on behalf of a company, you must be authorized to do so via e-Authorization in Suomi.fi.

Corporate users, note that the previously used Katso identifications are no longer in use.

In our online application service, you can report changes in your work abroad, for example, if the posting ends earlier than planned. Similarly, if your posting is extended, you can use the application form for an extension, pre-filled by the system.

In addition to the granted A1 certificate, you can also use the service to print out a certificate that attests that your application for a certificate is pending. You can also follow up on how your application progresses.

You can view all your applications that are under progress, valid, ended or drafted in the system for three years.

More information

Hanna Hyttinen, Senior Policy Adviser, phone +358 29 411 2177, hanna.hyttinen(at)etk.fi

Go to the service

A1 certificate application service

(login page in Finnish, the service is available also in English and Swedish)

Read more

A1 certificate – What is it and how is it used? (Etk.fi web service)

Suomi. fi e-Authorizations

What is an A1 Certificate?

  • If you are working abroad temporarily, you can be covered by Finnish social security. The condition is that, when going abroad, you are covered by Finnish social security and have been posted abroad by a Finnish employer.
  • In that case, when working abroad, you must have a certificate to attest that you are covered by Finnish social security. In EU countries, this certificate is called the A1 certificate. Apply for the certificate from the Finnish Centre for Pensions.
  • When the Finnish Centre for Pensions grants you an A1 certificate, you are covered by Finnish social security while working abroad. All your social security contributions are to be paid to Finland only during the validity period of your certificate.
  • The A1 certificate states which country’s social security legislation apply to you.
  • The A1 certificate shows to which country your social insurance contributions are to be paid.
  • The Finnish Centre for Pensions grants the certificate in the official languages of Finland (Finnish and Swedish).

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