NIM33010 - Special Cases: International: People going to or coming from abroad: Introduction: What is a Reciprocal Agreement?
A Reciprocal Agreement country is:
A country outside the EEA, including Switzerland, with which the United Kingdom (UK) has a bi-lateral convention on Social Security matters.
The Social Security Conventions are more commonly referred to as Reciprocal Agreements (RAs) -
There are two types of Social Security Conventions:
- A full Social Security Agreement which may include some benefit and health care provisions; or
- A Double Contributions Convention (DCC) - these relate to contribution matters only and have no benefit or health care provisions.
The countries with which the UK has DCCs are:
- Canada
- Japan
- Republic of Korea
- Chile
Reciprocal Agreements are made between two countries to:
Give equality of treatment to people who are insured in one country and live or work in another country; and
Ensure that a person is not liable to pay Social Security Contributions in both countries for the same period.
Each agreement is different.
For a full list of all the countries with who the UK have agreements see NIM33012
The UK also has Reciprocal Agreements with some countries in the EEA. In situations where it is not possible to apply European legislation then the Reciprocal Agreements may apply.