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Press Release
Convention between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Portuguese Republic on Social Security
Given the high mobility in the labour market today, at the international level, with many workers residing and working in foreign countries, it is essential to negotiate agreements between States, which aim to ensure the rights to decent work, with social protection, regardless of the country where the worker lives.
Timor-Leste currently has a high number of citizens living and working abroad, with remittances representing an important income for the budget of many Timorese families. However, because social security regimes differ from country to country and, in the case of contributory regimes, a guarantee period is required to access social benefits, many workers are not entitled to these benefits, even though they have contributed for some time both in the country of origin and eventually also in Timor-Leste.
Therefore, given the number of citizens involved and the excellent historical ties between the two countries, the Governments of Timor-Leste and Portugal decided to sign a Convention on Social Security, which was signed today, June 29th, 2022, by the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion of Timor-Leste and by the Secretary of State of Social Security of Portugal, representing their respective governments, with full powers granted for that purpose.
The said Convention covers all workers and nationals of the two countries, includes both the contributory and non-contributory social security regimes, and has two fundamental goals: on the one hand, the aggregation of the contributory periods completed in the two countries, allowing “summing up” the periods of work and the social security contributions in the two countries, for compliance with the guarantee periods for access to social benefits of the contributory regimes; on the other hand, to ensure equal treatment between the citizens of the two countries, allowing citizens of one country residing in the other country to benefit from the same rights and be subject to the same obligations as the nationals of that country of residence.
The Convention covers as of now all the benefits of the social security system approved in Timor-Leste, from the contributory and non-contributory regimes, and the equivalent benefits of the Portuguese social security system. In other words, it includes old age, disability and survival pensions and parental allowances of the contributory regime, as well as the old age and disability social pensions (SAII) of the non-contributory regime. It is also provided that new benefits, aimed at protecting other situations such as illness or unemployment, will be integrated when they are approved in Timor-Leste.
Thus, with the present Convention, and when it is ratified, Timorese citizens living in Portugal will be entitled to non-contributory benefits from the Portuguese social security system, while they are resident in that country, under the same conditions as a Portuguese citizen. On the other hand, Timorese workers exercising professional activity in Portugal and making social security contributions in that country will have this time of work and contribution counted in their contribution career, to fulfil the necessary period to be entitled to benefits under the contributory regime.
The Convention on Social Security signed today between Timor-Leste and Portugal represents, therefore, an important step, as it protects the citizens and workers of both countries, and allows labour mobility. ENDS