Social Security and Health Agreements between Jersey and Portugal

If the above conditions apply, both you and your employer should keep paying Class 1 contributions as though you were working in Jersey. Contributions will not have to be paid to the Portuguese Scheme. To avoid getting a demand to pay in Portugal, your employer should ask us for a certificate which proves contributions are being paid into the Jersey Scheme. To apply for a certificate your employer must fill in an application form.

We will send 3 copies of the certificate to your employer. One of these copies should be given to you.

If your stay in Portugal is unexpectedly lengthened, this arrangement can carry on for another 12 months. Before the first 12 months are up, your employer must ask the Jersey and Portuguese authorities to agree to this. Your employer should apply to this Department and specify the new end date of your stay.

Special arrangements for certain groups

There are special arrangements covering insurance for:

Other employment in Portugal

If you do not remain insured under the Jersey Scheme and the special arrangements previously explained do not apply to you, you may have to pay contributions to the Portuguese Scheme. For information about the Portuguese Scheme you should contact the Portuguese Social Security authorities.

If you were employed and paying Class 1 contributions before going to Portugal, your Jersey employer should send the contribution schedule to us at the usual time. Please remember to tell us the date you left Jersey.

If you have been self-employed in Jersey and have been paying contributions by payment slip, you should tell us the date you left Jersey. Return your payment slip and payment for any contributions due.

Contributions for People Coming to Jersey

If you are coming to Jersey, for anything other than a holiday, make sure that you tell the Portuguese Social Security Authorities the date you are leaving Portugal.

Working in Jersey for your Portuguese employer

Contributions will not have to be paid into the Jersey Scheme if:

Your employer should get a certificate for you from the Portuguese Social Security authorities to show that you are still contributing to the Portuguese Scheme. This should be done as early as possible.

If your stay in Jersey is unexpectedly lengthened, this arrangement can carry on for another 12 months. The Jersey authorities must agree to this before the end of the first 12 month period.Your employer should apply on form UK/P2, giving the new date your employment in Jersey is expected to end. They can get copies of the form from the Portuguese authorities.

Other employment in Jersey

If you do not remain insured under the Portuguese Scheme, and the special arrangements previously explained do not apply to you, you will have to pay Jersey Class 1 contributions as soon as you start work as an employee.

Self-employment or non-employment in Jersey

You should ask us as soon as possible about whether you have to pay contributions. If you are:

You will have to pay contributions after six months, but it may be to your advantage to pay earlier. There are special provisions to excuse you from paying contributions if you have low earnings or are over pension age.

If you have worked or lived in Jersey before, you may have to pay contributions from the date you come to Jersey. Please come and talk to us as soon as possible.

Payment of voluntary contributions

You may be able to pay voluntary contributions to either Jersey or Portugal should you wish to safeguard your contribution record.

If you want information or advice on the payment of voluntary contributions please get in touch with the relevant Social Security Authority.

Benefits

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Benefits covered by the agreement

The Jersey benefits are:

The agreement also covers similar benefits in the Portuguese Social Insurance Scheme.

If you receive any of these benefits in Jersey and you intend to go to Portugal, please talk to us well before you leave. We will tell you how this will affect the payment of your benefit.

Whilst you are receiving benefit you must tell us every time you change your address or you leave the Island for any period of time.

Unemployment Benefit

There is no unemployment benefit in Jersey. Contributing to the Jersey Social Security Scheme does not allow you to claim unemployment benefit in Portugal.

Invalidity Benefit

If you receive Invalidity Benefit from one country, you may still get it if you go to the other country as long as you meet the necessary conditions.

If you go from one country to the other and claim Invalidity Benefit there, your insurance in the country you have left and any Sickness Benefit you receive there may be taken into account.

You cannot receive Sickness Benefit in one country and Invalidity Benefit in the other for the same illness and the same period. If you are entitled to both, you will receive benefit from the country in which your illness began and you last paid contributions.

Sickness Benefit and Maternity Allowance

People going from Jersey to Portugal

You can receive Jersey Sickness Benefit or Maternity Allowance in Portugal if you meet the usual conditions, and:

If a seasonal worker gets Sickness Benefit in Jersey and then returns to Portugal, that benefit can be received for no more than 13 weeks from the date of leaving Jersey.

If you are not entitled to Jersey Sickness Benefit or Maternity Allowance in Portugal, but you have become insured under the Portuguese Scheme, your Jersey insurance may help you qualify for Portuguese Sickness and Maternity Benefit.

People coming to Jersey from Portugal

If you remain insured under the Portuguese Scheme while working in Jersey or are temporarily in Jersey, you may be entitled to Portuguese Sickness Benefit or Maternity Allowance. The conditions are similar to those for people going from Jersey to Portugal.

If you are not entitled to Portuguese benefit and are paying contributions into the Jersey Scheme, your Portuguese insurance may help you qualify for Jersey Sickness Benefit or Maternity Allowance.

Entitlement to benefit from both countries

If you are entitled to both Jersey and Portuguese Sickness Benefit or Maternity Allowance for the same period, you will receive benefit only from the country in which you were last insured before you were entitled to claim.

Maternity Grant

Maternity grant is only payable for a confinement in Portugal if you or your husband have paid the relevant contributions in Jersey. Contributions paid in Portugal can not be taken into account.

Accident Benefit (Jersey) and Industrial Injuries Benefits (Portugal)

Payment of one country’s benefit in the other country

Jersey Injury Benefit andDisablement Benefit can be paid to you in Portugal, and Portuguese benefits for Industrial Injuries and diseases can be paid to you in Jersey.

Claims for Benefit

If you have an accident while working in Portugal, and you are insured under the Jersey Scheme you are treated as if you had the accident in Jersey. Your claim will be dealt with under the Jersey Scheme. If you are working in Jersey and are insured under the Portuguese Scheme, any claim for an industrial accident or disease will be decided under the Portuguese Scheme.

In other cases your claim will be decided by the country in which you are employed. There are special rules to cover people who have had an industrial accident or caught an industrial disease in Portugal, and then have another accident or their disability becomes worse in Jersey. The same rules apply to people who have had an accident in Jersey and then have an industrial accident or catch an industrial disease in Portugal.

If you meet the normal conditions for Injury Benefit, you will still receive it while you are temporarily living in Portugal. You may also keep getting it, if you:

There are similar rules for people coming from Portugal to stay in Jersey.

Old Age Pension and Widow’s/Survivor's Benefit

Payment of Jersey Old Age Pension and Widow’s/Survivor’s Benefit in Portugal

If you are living permanently in Portugal you will be paid the rate of pension or benefit you would get if you were living in Jersey. You will also receive any increases awarded to people living in Jersey.

If you live in Jersey and go to Portugal temporarily, your pension or benefit will continue to be paid at the rate you would get if you were in Jersey.

Payment of Portuguese Old Age Pension or Widow’s/Survivor’s Benefit in Jersey

If you visit Jersey or come to live here, and you are receiving a Portuguese Old Age Pension or Widow’s Benefit, that pension or benefit will be paid in Jersey at the rate you would get in Portugal.

Entitlement to Old Age Pension and Widow’s/Survivor’s Benefit

If you do not qualify for a Pension, Survivor’s Benefit or Widow’s Benefit under either country’s scheme, but you have been insured in both countries, your insurance under both schemes will be counted. This way, you may be entitled to a pension or benefit.

If you qualify from one country, that pension or benefit will be paid to you.

If you qualify for a pension or benefit from both countries, both pensions or benefits will be paid to you.

Benefit for dependents

An increase for any benefit covered by the agreement will be paid if the dependant is in either country.

Family Allowance

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General

Family Allowance in Jersey is a taxfree cash payment intended to benefit the family as a whole. It is paid to families who have at least one child under 16 and where the family income is below set amounts. Payment may continue after the 16th birthday if the child remains in full-time education in Jersey.

The rate of Family Allowance is directly linked to family income.

The top rate of allowance is paid for each child in the family if the family income is not above the‘ lower income level’. Where the family income is above this level the rate of the allowance falls as income rises. No allowance is paid if the family income is above the ‘upper income limit’. This limit changes according to the number of children in the family.

People coming to Jersey from Portugal

If you come to Jersey to live or have been here for two years, you will usually lose your right to Portuguese Family Allowance. Instead you may become entitled to Jersey Family Allowance. This will depend on your income in Jersey, and cannot be decided until 12 months after you arrive. For us to pay you any arrears due for your first 12 months in Jersey you must apply as soon as you arrive in Jersey.

Jersey Family Allowance is not paid if the child or children remain in Portugal.

If you come to Jersey to work temporarily for your Portuguese employer but still live in Portugal, you may still get Portuguese Family Allowance for up to 2 years.

If you are employed in Jersey and are in one of the special groups previously mentioned, you may still be paid Family Allowance under the Portuguese Scheme.

People going to Portugal from Jersey

If you go to Portugal to work temporarily for your Jersey employer, but still live in Jersey, you may get Jersey Family Allowance for up to 2 years. You will then be covered by the Portuguese Scheme.

If you go to live in Portugal you will be covered by the Portuguese Family Allowance Scheme. To help you meet the residence tests for Portuguese Family Allowance, your time living in Jersey will count as time living in Portugal. If you were born in Jersey you will be treated as if you had been born in Portugal.

If you are employed in Portugal and are in one of the special groups previously mentioned, you may still be paid Family Allowance under the Jersey Scheme.

Medical Services

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Medical treatment in Portugal

Under the agreement, treatment through the Portuguese national medical-social services is available to:

When going for treatment, British nationals should show a valid British or Jersey passport at the Centro de Saúde (Local Medical Center). If this is not possible they should take it to an official hospital.

Portuguese nationals should show proof that they are insured in Jersey at the local Centro de Saúde (Local Medical Center). If this is not possible, they should show it at an official hospital.

If a Portuguese national employed in Jersey has dependents in Portugal, they are entitled to medical treatment in Portugal as if the wageearner was employed and insured in Portugal. They should go to their Direcção Regional de Segurança Social (Regional Centre of Social Security), taking proof of the wageearner’s insurance in Jersey.

Portuguese nationals living in Portugal who are receiving a Jersey Social Security pension, are entitled, with their families, to medical treatment as if they were receiving a Portuguese Social Security pension. To receive treatment they should go to their local Centro de Saúde (Local Medical Centre), taking proof that they get a Jersey Social Security pension. Members of their families should go to their Centro Regional da Segurança Social, with proof that they are in the pensioner’s family.

In Madeira, medical care is provided through the Direcção Regional de Saúde (Regional Department of Health).

Medical treatment in Jersey

If you are in Jersey temporarily and need urgent medical attention, you will be able to receive it through the Hospital Service provided by the Health and Social Services Committee.

If you are a Portuguese national living in Jersey, you will also receive medical treatment through the Hospital Services.

Useful addresses

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For advice about the Jersey Social Security Scheme, and General Practitioner and Pharmaceutical services write to:

Social Security Department

Philip Le Feuvre House
La Motte Street
St Helier, Jersey JE4 8PE

For advice about medical treatment in Jersey, write to:

The Administrator

The General Hospital
Gloucester Street, St Helier,
Jersey JE2 3QS

For advice about the Portuguese Social Insurance Security Scheme, write to:

Departamento de Relações Internacionals de Segurança Social

Rue da Junqueira, 112
1300-343 Lisboa
Portugal

Further Information

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This leaflet gives general information and does not try to give full details on any particular matter. It cannot be treated as a statement of the Law.

Please contact us if you are in doubt or have any questions or suggestions about the information contained in this leaflet.

Our staff are here to help you, so please do not hesitate to telephone us on 445505 or call into our office.