Proof of social security in the home country

An employee who is employed in another  need certain insurances during the stay in Ghent. In some countries, the employer must foresee these; in other cases it is the employee who needs to check to obtain the required certificates for insurance.

An agreement on social security between countries will cover the employee for several social security topics; including health and sickness during the stay abroad. The agreements can be agreed multilateral (between the countries of the European Union; including Belgium) or bilateral (between two countries).

The possible certificates A1 certificates or COC certificates:

A1 certificate

An A1 certificate : for movement between the EU member states (all nationalities) or EU/EEA nationals, following out the European coordination treaty 883/2004

COC certificate

A Certificate of Coverage: in case of bilateral social security agreement with Belgium is concluded for persons with the nationality of one of those countries. The list of countries that have concluded a bilateral social security agreement with Belgian can be found here.

The delivered certificate must be valid for the period of stay in Belgium. In case of renewing your single permit, a new A1 or COC might be required.

How to apply for a COC or A1 in your home country?

You can request these so-called 'certificates of applicable law' at the local social security offices in the particular country from your home.

• The list of national institutes to obtain an A1 certificate
• The list of national institutes to obtain an COC

If it is unclear which national institution must be contacted to obtain the COC, your employer in the home country might be able to help you further. The COC is always required in case of secondment.

If you expire problems to obtain the document as the local authorities refuse to issue the document because of your local employee/student/scholar/ … status; please inform us on this dispute.

Proof of request received

If an A1 certificate or the certificate of coverage is not delivered within a reasonable period, a proof of requesting and proof that the application was received and is under process may also be uploaded to start the Single Permit application. The definite document can be provided later through the process or showed when collecting the visa. The visa will only be delivered in that case upon presentation of the missing document.

The official documents

The documents are issued in a format that is foreseen for A1 or COC certificates. As from the moment it is obtained, it is important to provide this document us to complete your file.