U2 Certificate for job search in an EEA country

U2 is a certificate of entitlement to unemployment benefits in a country within the EEA.

Individuals who have approved an application for unemployment benefits in Iceland can keep the benefits in another EEA country for up to three months.

Conditions are that:

• be a citizen of an EEA country,

• intend to actively seek employment in Europe,

• have applied for unemployment benefits in Iceland and have received the application approved. Have received unemployment benefits for 4 consecutive weeks before leaving.

• stay in Iceland until the date of departure set in the application for the certificate.

3 months

The U2 certificate is always issued for 3 months and this period cannot be extended.

Same rights as in Iceland

The certificate gives the same right to unemployment benefits as in Iceland. If an individual has less than three months left in his/her period of benefits, the person concerned will not be paid beyond the period of benefits.

Apply

Applications are made on the Directorate of Labour's My pages. Applications must be made about 3 weeks before departure.

Applicants will receive an e-mail when the certificate has been approved.

Canceled

If the use of certificates is stopped, the Directorate of Labour must be notified immediately.

• If the certificate has been issued, you must attend the nearest service office of the Directorate of Labor to confirm that you are in Iceland.

• If the certificate has not been issued, you must still notify the Directorate of Labour immediately. This is done by sending an e-mail to:

Renewal

Conditions for re-issue of U2 certificates:

• 6 months have passed since the end of the previous period

• the applicant has worked at least 25 % of the time on the Icelandic labour market

• for 3 months or more.

The job must not have been part of labour market measures, such as a worker's allowance, and otherwise complies with the provisions of Act No. 54/2006 on unemployment insurance.

After studying in another EEA country

If you are a student who is coming to Iceland after completing a course of study abroad, are unemployed and have the right to unemployment benefits in a country within the EEA, you can take with you a U2 certificate that gives you the right to keep unemployment benefits for up to three months while you are looking for work in Iceland.

After unemployment in another EEA country

Apply for unemployment benefits in the EEA State in question, obtain a U2 certificate from the EEA State and meet other conditions that the EEA State has for unemployment benefits in order to be entitled to payments of unemployment benefits under U2 while you are looking for a job in Iceland.

If you are unemployed and have the right to unemployment benefits in an EEA country, you can take a U2 certificate with you to Iceland, which gives you the right to keep unemployment benefits from the EEA country for up to three months while you are looking for work in Iceland.