Population - Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich

8.4.2.2 aggregating insurance periods from employment in the eu/eea states
and Switzerland
When verifying your unemployment benefit eligibility, insurance periods in the EU/EEA states or
Switzerland will also be considered if you had been employed in Austria with mandatory unemployment
insurance for at least one day directly before submitting the application (the so-called “one-day rule”).
In order to be able to have the foreign insurance periods recognised in Austria it is necessary to have
either the portable document U1 or the E 301 form filled in and confirmed by the competent public
employment service office in your country of origin. Often you can electronically apply for this form.
The furnishing of the two forms may accelerate the assessment of the entitlement when submitting
an application in Austria.
In the case of cross-border commuters the foreign insurance periods are considered immediately –
the aforesaid “one-day rule” does not apply to this group.
In order to receive unemployment benefits in Austria, you have to satisfy the prerequisites applicable
to eligibility for unemployment benefits in Austria.
Please refer to the AMS website for details regarding prerequisites to be satisfied in order to become
eligible for unemployment insurance benefits in Austria (section “Financial Benefits”).
Periods of self-employment covered by unemployment insurance are also taken in consideration
when calculating the unemployment benefits in Austria.
8.5 Means Tested Minimum Benefits
The means tested minimum benefits are foreseen for people having no reasonable funds to pay
for their living or of their family members. The amount of the means tested minimum benefits is
uniformly regulated throughout Austria and amounts to 773.25 Euros for single households in 2012.
The means tested minimum benefits are not a social security benefit but a reformed social welfare
of the federal provinces. The affected unemployed should in particular benefit from the introduction
of a uniform minimum benefit, the broad removal of recourse, introduction of an asset exemption
amount and advantageous procedural law. Persons receiving means tested minimum benefits and
able to work will be correspondingly noted at the Public Employment Service Austria as seeking
employment.
EU/EEA citizens with place of residence in Austria are – subject to satisfaction of certain prerequisites
– deemed fully eligible to receiving means tested minimum benefits.
Citizens of third countries are generally only eligible to receiving means tested minimum benefits
when have been legally residing in Austria for over five years.
Recognised refugees and individuals entitled to subsidiary protection are eligible for receiving means
tested minimum benefits from the point at which their status as a refugee respectively an individual
entitled to subsidiary protection has been approved.
The competent district administrative authority (district administrative authority (Bezirks hauptmannschaft),
municipal authority (Magistrat); social council offices in Vienna (Sozialzentrum))
decides whether the means tested minimum benefits will be granted. This authority also accepts the
applications and makes the corresponding payments.
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