Other residency abroad

Residency abroad without an acceptable reason referred to in the Unemployment Security Act shall always be compared to absence from the labour market without an acceptable reason in Finland. If you have been absent from the labour market for more than six months without a justifiable reason, you are not entitled to receive daily allowance until you have completely fulfilled the condition regarding employment again.

Thus e.g. in a situation in which married spouses move abroad together, and only one of them is employed there, the other spouse is not entitled to receive daily allowance after returning to Finland, if the residency abroad has lasted for more than six months without an acceptable reason. If the spouse has a personal acceptable reason for his/her absence from the labour market, such as e.g. care of a child under 3 years old or studying, the condition regarding employment need not be fulfilled again. To retain his/her condition regarding employment, the spouse needs to pay the membership fee of the unemployment fund to Finland during the aforementioned acceptable reason.

It is usually required for receiving unemployment benefit that you are available to the labour market in the country where you apply for the unemployment benefit. You need not reside in Finland all the time, however. So as a job-seeker you can travel abroad without losing your right to an unemployment benefit. It is, however, required that you seek employment in Finland also during your trip abroad, and you are continuously ready to take on a job in Finland.