Dear all,

my husband and I are both EU citizens, worked in the US for 10 years (payed Social Security taxes) before moving to Switzerland 6 months ago. I have a job, but my husband does not. He sent out +70 applications and nothing... he is taking care of our baby daughter in the meantime.

My question is, is he entitled for receiving any kind of unemployment benefit, given that there is some sort of agreement between Switzerland and US (and EU) in this matter.

Thank you!

No. Only EU benefits can transfer (for 3 months) not US benefits. I don't believe there are any agreements with the US for this.

ETA: actually having googled the topic, if you are from a state that allows it, he may be able to collect while he is abroad. But you need to do that through the relevant states department of labor.


I love google!

It's been a while (****ty years) since I applied for unemployment benefits in the US. Back then the process required that you had go into an unemployment office, meet a social worker, be evaluated for why you were unemployed, if you deserved benefits, and then you had to get cracking on your job hunt, right then and there in their office, starting with their job board.

Receiving benefits also meant that you had to file a weekly update with your social worker on your job hunt to let him or her know how many applications you submitted to employers and to which employers, how many interviews you went to, and any work you performed and how much money you earned, if any.

And to add insult to injury, you still had to go and physically meet with your social worker once a month to be re-evaluated to determine if your case still warranted the receipt of benefits.

Now that it's *****ty years later, I'm not sure what the process is like, if it's not all computerized or if physical presence is even a requirement. But I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some sort of micromanagement element to it.

That's pretty much like unemployment here. It's like a full time job!

Google says some states allow you to collect from abroad. Either way, there is no Swiss/US agreement that I know of unlike the one they have with the EU. And we all know that if Google says so, it has to be true!

OP´s husband can register at the RAV even if he is not entitled money. i.e. they may help with German courses. Good luck