Incapacity for work certified abroad

Table of contents

What applies in the case a foreign doctor certifies your incapacity for work?

There is a difference if incapacity for work is certified in the territory of EU Member State or in the territory of a State with which the Slovak Republic has not concluded a social security agreement.

If incapacity for work (due to illness, nursing, pregnancy and maternity) is certified by a foreign doctor in the territory of another EU Member State, Switzerland, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, Great Britain (hereinafter "EU State") or in the territory of the State, with which the Slovak Republic has concluded an agreement on social security (the subject of this agreement are also sickness benefits – e.g. Ukraine), the insuree exercises the right to sickness benefit directly in the relevant branch of the Social Insurance Agency through the certificate of the treating doctor issued in the EU State or in the contracting State.

It must be a certificate that, even in the country of issuance, is used for the purpose of claiming the sickness benefit. If the treating doctor in the EU State in which the incapacity for work was assessed does not issue such a certificate, it is necessary to apply for the issuance of the certificate for the purpose of claiming the right to sickness benefit at the relevant institution in whose territory the incapacity for work occurred. This institution will, without delay, provide the issuance of the relevant certificate (usually on SED S 055 or with the contracting States on the agreed form). A translation of the certificates submitted in this way is not required.

If incapacity for work is certified by a doctor in the territory of a State with which the Slovak Republic does not have a social security agreement and this State

• has acceded to the Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement of Higher Verification of Foreign Public Documents, the form issued by the treating doctor in such a country must be certified by an apostille - a certificate of the authenticity of the public document by the competent authority

• has not acceded to the Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement of Higher Verification of Foreign Public Documents, the form issued by the attending physician in such a country must be verified by super legalization

• in both cases, an official translation of the certificates is required.

Do I need to attach a request to the document from the foreign doctor?

Yes, an informal request for a sickness benefit must be attached to the foreign doctor's certificates issued in this way. In the informal application, the insuree states:

• their identification data,
• social security identification number in the Slovak Republic (i.e. birth number)
• the insurance relationship from which the insuree is claiming the sickness benefit,
• the address of residence in the Slovak Republic, to which the decision on entitlement to sickness benefit is to be sent,
• specific data for individual benefits (e.g. in the case of maternity, the date from which the insuree claims maternity benefit; in the case of nursing allowance, identification data of the person being treated and the period of treatment, etc.),
• date and signature of the insured.

At the same time, the insuree confirms the method of payment and the necessary payment data in the form here: Request for Payment of the Benefit Amount/change in the payment place of the benefit amount/repeated payment of the uncollected benefit amount.

If the birth certificate of the child/person being treated is attached to individual sickness benefits, translation of the birth certificate into the Slovak language is not required if it is a birth certificate issued in another EU Member State or on the territory of a State with which the Slovak Republic has concluded an agreement on social security.