With the International Mobility Service, Urssaf supports you in your procedures during business trips abroad
For whom?
All Urssaf audiences
This service is available to all Urssaf audiences.
What situation?
This service is aimed at anyone wishing to work abroad as part of their activity, or at employers whose employee is going to work abroad.
You or your employee can benefit from this service when you are in a situation of secondment or multiple employment.
Why use it?
This service simplifies your procedures if you or your employee reside in France and are in a situation of professional mobility abroad. It certifies that you are covered by the French Social Security system or determines which country you should be affiliated with.
The International Mobility service enables workers and businesses to:
certify and continue to benefit from French social security protection when working abroad, under certain conditions;
or determine which social security system they fall under (France or another country), especially during predictable and alternating activity in several countries at once.
It is possible to benefit from this service when the worker is:
In a situation of secondment: temporarily carrying out their usual activity abroad under certain conditions;
In a situation of multiple employment: working predictably as well as alternately or simultaneously between France and one or more other countries, within the European Union or in Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
How to determine if you fall under the French Social Security system or that of another country?
The International Mobility Service, in collaboration with its international partners, determines which country's social security system you fall under based on your situation. When the worker resides in France, they must request a certificate from the Urssaf:
A1 for countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom,
bilateral for the 41 countries or territories that have signed a social security agreement with France,
for remaining under French Social Security for other countries.
International mobility: planning to work outside of France?
How to request an international mobility certificate?
If you are an employer and self-employed (craftsman, trader, freelance profession), medical practitioner or auxiliary
The request is made directly via your online space on urssaf.fr :
for employers : One Click Services” section, “Work Abroad” and to make a request: click on “Request a Certificate” ;
for self-employed individuals (craftsmen, traders, freelance professions, medical practitioners and auxiliaries) : “Documents & Procedures”, menu / “Work Abroad” and to make a request : click on “Request a Certificate”.
If your company is not registered in France, you do not have a Siret number and cannot create an online space on Urssaf.fr. You can request an international mobility certificate using the dedicated form.
Good to know
If you are a French company looking to post employees to the United Kingdom, we invite you to visit the government's Brexit website, brexit.gouv.fr, under the “you are a company” section. Here you will find the most frequently asked questions and answers.
Are you engaged in simultaneous or regular activities in multiple countries and wish to apply for international mobility on an individual basis? Whether you are not salaried (majority shareholder, etc.), employed by two or more employers, a temporary show business worker, or a job seeker on benefits, you can apply for an international mobility certificate by downloading this form, filling it out, and sending it to mobilite-internationale@urssaf.fr.
If you are a pensioner, inactive, or a student, you do not need to request an international mobility certificate as you must affiliate directly with the country in which you are conducting your professional activity. Therefore, you should approach the competent institution in the host country and then inform your primary health insurance fund and, if applicable, your Carsat.
Receipt and verification of your certificate
In most situations, your certificate is issued automatically if you meet all the conditions. Otherwise, you will receive a response after a more detailed analysis by our teams. If you have not made your request via your online space, it will be processed as soon as possible by a manager who will get back to you.
Urssaf provides an international mobility certificate verification tool, so that the contacts to whom you provide your certificate can verify its validity.
How to request an extension for an international mobility certificate?
To extend a certificate, you must submit an additional request following the same steps as for the initial application and specify the extension period.
How to request an exceptional derogation?
Vous pouvez faire une demande de dérogation exceptionnelle, par exemple quand une mission est supérieure à vingt-quatre mois en Union Européenne.
You can apply for an exceptional derogation, for example when a mission exceeds twenty-four months in the European Union.
When the worker's activity is carried out within the European Economic Area (EEA), download this form or, in the context of a bilateral agreement, download this other form. You must then fill it out and send it to the dedicated email address for derogations. After reviewing the information provided, your request will be forwarded to the competent foreign organization for review and decision (approval or refusal). To ensure a timely response, it is recommended that you submit your request at least three months before the start of the relevant period. This decision from the International Mobility Service will then be communicated to you.
Who do I contact in the event of professional mobility abroad?
The Urssaf is responsible for handling individual requests for international mobility of workers and for issuing the certificate of eligibility.
General information regarding the consequences of international mobility falls under the jurisdiction of the Cleiss. You can visit their website to learn more about the countries involved, the specifics of associated conventions, or the differences between secondment, multiple employment, and expatriation. To contact them, please fill out this contact form.
Choosing Between Multiple Employment and Successive Secondment?
In cases of regular work within the European Union, we recommend opting for multiple employment. Indeed, in situations involving successive secondments, provided there is some visibility about the countries involved over the coming 12 months, choosing multiple employment avoids the need for repeated entries for each mission. If necessary, you also have the option to request a secondment outside the European Union at the same time.
Remote work: what is the impact on the applicable legislation?
Under the special framework agreement of the European Union signed on July 1, cross-border employees (commuters) who have a remote working agreement can remain affiliated to the scheme of the company that employs them, provided that the remote work performed at home is less than 50% of their working time. For France, the employer must make the request by accessing the service via their online space under the “Remote Work” menu, which only concerns this special framework agreement. A request must be made for each of the countries of residence of your employees (provided that these countries have ratified the agreement). Beyond 50% of working time spent in the country of residence, or when the activity is carried out in a country that has not ratified the agreement, the employer must make a standard request for multiple employment online. Certificate requests for short missions abroad that include remote working fall under secondment. The employer must therefore make a request under the “Make a request” tab.
How to cancel an international mobility request or report an early return?
Access the service on your online space: from your dashboard and under the “List of Requests” or “My Requests” section, you can cancel the mission if it has not started within 15 days following the certificate request or bring forward the end date of the mission if it is shortened. For more information, consult the guides corresponding to your situation, available on the “Working Abroad” page.
What do the errors “DSN too old” or “Employee unknown” mean at the time of declaration?
These are errors that may occur when the service cannot connect or does not retrieve information within the DSN.
Check that the employee concerned by your request is indeed listed under the Siret from which you logged in and check your entry. If everything seems correct but the error persists, the service asks you to enter all the data related to the employee in order to consider your request.