Social security agreement Germany and Tunisia

What the 1984 agreement covers (health, accident, pension), who is the liaison office, what is not confirmed.

Germany and Tunisia signed a social security agreement on 16 April 1984, with a supplementary protocol and an implementing arrangement. The German approval act of 10 April 1986 (BGBl. 1986 II p. 582) is on gesetze-im-internet.de. It entered into force on 1 August 1986 (DGUV notice 1986).

What is confirmed

• The agreement covers health, accident and pension insurance (Bundestag document 10/4530); GTAI adds that unemployment and long-term care insurance are not covered (GTAI, labour law).
• German posted workers in Tunisia are exempt from Tunisian contributions (same document).
• Pension: insurance periods in both states are added up to meet the qualifying period (Wartezeit); partial pensions are paid from each state, and a pension can be paid to the other country.
• Pension: the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (DRV) pays German pensions to Tunisia if you live there; if you live in Germany it forwards Tunisian pension applications to the Tunisian insurer.

Who to ask

The liaison office for Tunisia is DRV Schwaben (Augsburg); DRV Bund and DRV Knappschaft-Bahn-See are also liaison offices, depending on your insurance number. Free line 0800 1000 4800 (Mon to Thu 8:00 to 19:00, Fri 8:00 to 15:30); French-speaking staff are available. The leaflet Travail et retraite en Allemagne et en Tunisie and the German version are on the DRV country page.

What we could not confirm

• Details of the crediting rules, partial-pension calculation and procedure: the DRV page does not explain them; ask DRV Schwaben.
• Child benefit: a separate German-Tunisian child benefit agreement of 20 September 1991 exists (BGBl. 1995 II p. 642; Bundestag document 13/664): Kindergeld for children living in Tunisia is paid at lower rates. Current amounts, who qualifies and the procedure at the Familienkasse: open; not checked.

Practical: keep proof of your insurance periods in Tunisia. For insurance in Berlin see After arrival.