EU institutions have multiple ways to ease accommodation of new staff members in the new workplace and (usually) the new country. The Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) is one of these measures.
Who gets the daily subsistence allowance?
The Daily Subsistence Allowance is paid to everyone who has had to relocate and is still on the probation period. The DSA is higher if you are either married/in a registered partnership or have dependent children. For details read on.
Technically the DSA is paid out in order to compensate the fact that you have to upkeep two homes as you might be fired during the probation period. In practice, it helps to make the many up-front payments one usually when starting to live in a new city or even a new country (apartment safety deposits, kids’ school fees, loss of spousal income, etc.).
How much is the DSA?
- 1293.30 EUR per month for 10 months or 44.28 EUR per day as of 01.01.2021 if you a) have changed residence in the same country or moved a different country and b) are entitled to the Household Allowance, i.e., if you are married or in a recognized partnership, or/and have children. If your probation period is nine months, you’ll get and extra 12933.00 euros in your first year of employment, subject to the Correction Coefficient.
- 1042.80 EUR per month for 4 months or 35.71 EUR per day as of 01.01.2021 if you a) have changed residence in the same country or moved a different country, but b) are NOT entitled to the household allowance (if you are neither have a recognized spouse, nor have children). In this case you’ll get an extra 4171.20 euros in your first year of employment, also subject to the correction coefficient.
For employees in the lower grades it can be as much as an extra 1/4 or even 1/3 or your salary for either four or 10 months.
A few things to remember:
- The DSA ir subject to the ‘Correction Coefficient’. So, you’ll get way less money in the countries that are considered “cheaper” by the European Commission. Read the dedicated article on the European Commission Correction Coefficient.
- Don’t get used to the extra 1K euros a month as this will stop after either 4 or 10 months of employment. One of the better strategies is to save up this money as a safety cushion.
- You do not have to keep renting an apartment in your home country. The DSA is paid purely on the fact that you have relocated, as confirmed by your institution’s HR. If you spouse and children, you will get the higher DSA rate.
A mistake to avoid
Don’t make the mistake of moving all your stuff at the start of employment and claiming the relocation allowance (reimbursement of actual moving costs). As soon as you do this, the DSA payments will end.
Unless you have very refined (and expensive) taste for furniture and interior items, you are better off by spending part of the DSA in the nearest IKEA or a similar shop. Even if you spend a significant part of your DSA on furniture and similar things, you should still have several thousands of euros left over. Alternatively, just get a furnished apartment.
Excerpt from Staff Regulations
E. Daily subsistence allowance
Article 10
- Where an official furnishes evidence that a change in the place of residence is required in order to comply with Article 20 of the Staff Regulations, such official shall be entitled for a period specified in paragraph 2 of this Article to a subsistence allowance per calendar day as follows:
— EUR 44,28 for an official who is entitled to the household allowance,
— EUR 35,71 for an official who is not entitled to the household allowance.
The above scale shall be reviewed each time remuneration are revised pursuant to Article 65 of the Staff Regulations. - The period in respect of which the daily subsistence allowance is granted shall be as follows:
(a) in the case of an official who is not entitled to the household allowance: 120 days
(b) in the case of an official who is entitled to the household
allowance: 180 days or, if the official is a probationer, the period of probation plus one month.
In cases where a husband and wife who are officials or other servants of the European Union are both entitled to the basic subsistence allowance, the period in respect of which it is granted as laid down in (b)shall apply to the person whose basic salary is the higher. The period laid down in (a) shall apply to the other person.
In no case shall the daily subsistence allowance be granted beyond the date on which the official removes in order to satisfy the requirements of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations.
Article 20
An official shall reside either in the place where he is employed or at no greater distance there from as is compatible with the proper performance of his duties. The official shall notify the Appointing Authority of his address and inform it immediately of any change of address.
This article is based on the European Commission Staff Regulations and other publicly available information such as EU institutions’ vacancy announcements.
Do you have question or suggestion for this article? Please share in a comment below and let’s make this resource better for you and other readers!
99 responses to “Daily Subsistence Allowance”
Good evening! I need urgent help with the following issue: Is Daily Subsistence Allowance still paid to Temporarily Agents when the officer is on Certified Sick Leave outside the place of deployment? I only found that is not paid if hospitalized. I think my line manager is mistaking. The legal provisions don’t distinguish between being ill while inside or outside the Operational Area. They only provide that: “A staff member who is on sick leave DURING a mission will continue to receive daily subsistence allowance for the planned duration of the mission”.
Best regards, Mihai
Hi Ben, thank you for the good information and replies! My situation: I moved to Italy in order to take up duties as a contract agent. My children and husband joined. We arrived to Italy 2 weeks before the job started. I now received the message from PMO that if I moved with my entire family already before entry into service, I will loose the DAS. I have officially emigrated from my home country but did not claim any removal costs. I have some furniture at a friends house I would pick up later. I originally understood that unless one does not claim the removal costs (and one does move to another country to take up duties) one gets the DAS. Could you help me out? That would be very very helpful! I feel slightly lost.. Thank you very much!
Hi Ben, do you know if applying for special leave for moving to your new post in brussels would trigger the loss of DSA, or is it only applying for the expenses which leads to this?
Many thanks
To clarify I meant applying for the removal expenses.
Hi Ben,
So if I sign a long term lease contract for an apartment, will this DSA be suspended?
Kind Regards,
No. The DSA will only be suspended if you decide to carry out removal before end of the probation period.
No. DSA is only suspended if you carry out ‘removal’ before the probation period ends.
Hi Ben,
Thank you for the article.
Could you please specify what is meant exactly by place of residence? I have been offered a job in The Hague, but I am currently living in Brussels. I am going to rent an apartment in The Hague, but I am considering commuting to Brussels each weekend. Would I still be eligible for the DSA?
Thank you in advance!
First of all, nobody can prohibit you to commute to ‘place of origin’ over the weekends. You only formally have to be in the ‘place of employment’ during workdays from Monday morning to Friday afternoon.
A rental agreement in the ‘place of employment’ is not necessary (usually) to qualify for the DSA. It’s paid automatically if you’ve had to relocate.
However, you’d have to check your institution’s requirements about what proof is required that you’ve taken up residence in the city your institution is located in order to qualify for the Expatriate Allowance (16% of your salary). Some institutions require a rental agreement, however, I’ve heard about cases where people succesfully present a one or two-months AirBnB or Booking.com invoice and inform that they plan to do short term rentals instead of a long-term rental contract.
Let us know if you tried to go for a short-term rental solution and it worked.
Hello, I work as an interim and my contract ends soon, but they offered me a permanent contract 2 weeks of ending the interim contract. My rental agreement ends on the day of finishing the interim contract which results in me moving to my home country for this 2 week period time, am I still allowed to receive DSA as well as expatriation allowance? I am working in another country, but for the period of 2 weeks, I will be going back to my home country. What proof do I need to get those? Thanks
Hi! To receive the DSA, you don’t need proof of residence. However, proof of residence in ‘place of employment’ is necessary to qualify for the Expatriation of Foreign Residence Allowance. Practice differs by EU institution, hence, please check with your institution’s HR entity.
Hi Ben,
Thank you for this article.
I am a newcomer (started my FG3 contract last week) and have now been asked to fill in my “entry into service – determination of entitlements under the staff regulations” form.
In the same email they mention that “In the event that you recently moved and relocated to your place of employment to work for the Institution, please make sure to provide a copy of your rental contract and complete the installation form”.
So my question is: if I fill in and send the installation allowance form, will I lose the DSA allowance? I have moved to the country of employment with a rental contract of only 7 months.
Thank you!
Hello, Ben!
Thank you very much for the work done in building and updating this website – the next coffee is on me!
Would you be able to help out here – I am about to start as a TA in the EC. I came to Brussels in October 22 for a BBT, which ended in February. I started working in May 23 and have been employed under interimaire contracts for most of the time after. I have been registered in the commune as of February 23. Do you think I am eligible for the installation and DSA allowances? Are you able to point out to any source or have you heard of a similar case with positive resolution?
The Staff regulation rather give me the impression these are only for newly settled in Brussels.
Juliet, hi!
First of all, congrats on the TA contract and skipping the uncertainty that comes with CA contracts and the need to find something else after 6 years or sooner!
Turning to the question:
– The Blue Book Traineeship definitely doesn’t count as residence in Brussels. It’s less clear how your institution’s HR will interpret the interim contracts and the fact that you’ve registered with the commune before starting your TA contract. You could argue that even though you’re registered with the Commune, interim contracts shouldn’t be treated as ‘taking up residence’ in Brussels before the start of your contract as it’s a form of precarious employment with little job and social security. You can already get in touch with your institution’s HR department with a question about this.
In case the initial process of “rights’ establishment” by HR leaves you without this allowance, you can ask them to justify the decision instead. I would also use the opportunity to consult with one of the several EU officials labour unions in Brussels. It is important that you take this issue seriously as it might affect other allowances that are dependent on needing to ‘establish residence’ in Brussels, most importantly, the Expatriation allowance that’s 16% of your salary.
Apologies I can’t provide a clearer but too much depends on your particular situation and the interpretation your institution’s HR will choose.
– I have a short article on the installation allowance as well, but I already noticed I need to update it with more detail: https://euemployment.eu/european-commission-installation-allowance/ One of the things I should add is that if the initial contract is shorter than 3 years, but a staff member is “extended” to 3+ years, s/he can request a recalculation of the installation allowance and get the difference. But, as you are a TA, your initial contract is likely 5 years so you don’t have to worry about not getting the full installation allowance.
Thank you, Ben!
Would you advise me to get in touch with trade unions? – I think it should be easy in my case to get the expatriation allowance as I can easily prove that my family lives in my home country + I have property there as well.
On another note, I was assigned to AST 1, step 1, even though I have something like 4+ years of experience. Would you mind explaining how does (assignment in a grade and step) this work in the Institutions? Is it worth discussing/bringing that up with HR?
Regards,
Hi! I would definitely use any assistance I could get, particularly if it’s for free or reasonably priced.
Regarding placement in steps, unless it’s annouced in the vacancy noticed that you’ll be placed in step 2 due to a certain amount of years of work experience, everyone’s placed in step 1.
For AST 1 step 1 positions you are also probably not in a strong position to negotiate a higher placement, even though that’s theoretically possible (usually possible for grades AD7/AST7 and up).
Hello,
I am starting 1st of June and have registered already with Brussels municipality in the last week.
I have de-registered as well in my home country.
Will I receive the DSA or should I have waited with registering in Brussels until the 4 months have passed?
Hi! DSA is not affected by your local registration status. However, most EU institutions require you to register locally to get the Expatriation/Foreign Residence Allowance. The sooner you have proof of local registration, the sooner the allowance can be paid to you.
Hello,
I am starting 1st of June and have registered already with Brussels municipality in the last week.
I have de-registered as well in my home country.
Will I receive the DSA or should I have waited with registering in Brussels?
Hi Ben,
I used to work for the European Commission in Brussels for around 3-and-a-half years. I reveived both installation allowances and the dailly subsistence allowance at that time.
Over the last two years I work for a non-EU institution in Luxembourg.
GIven that I recently received an offer to return to Brussels and the European Commission, am I entitled to the installation and dailly subsistence allowance? According to the rules I will change country of residence to take up duties, but given I have already received the allowance when I first came to Brussels, would it be possible to receive it again? Your opinion would be more than appreciated!
Sokratis, hi! My understanding is that you should be entitled to the DSA as you’re moving from Lux to Bru. However, sometimes each DG’s HR has peculiar opinions. If you get a negative opinion from your institution’s HR, consider appealing the decision within the internal process.
Hi Ben,
Thank you for this great article!
I did a BB traineeship between October 2023 and February 2024, then an interimaire contract for March 2024. I am starting an FG3 contract at the Commission on 1st of April 2024. Am I entitled to the daily subsistence allowance?
Your BB status should not affect eligibilty for the DSA, even if you temporarily lived in the location of your EU institution during the BB internship in the same location where your Commission job is located.
If you’ll have to relocate, you’ll be entitled to the DSA. If you don’t have a spouse or/and dependants, you’ll receive the DSA for 4 months. If you have a spouse/dependants, you’ll get it for 10 months.
Don’t hesitate to ask all these questions to the dedicated HR email in your institution. Remember that your first salary and allowances might be delayed until your 2nd months. It’s possible that in the first month, at best, you’ll receive the basic salary while HR “establishes your rights”. This is very inconvenient as it’s the first month when most people have increased expenses due to finding a place to rent.
Hi Ben,
Here’s a situation that I cannot understand but maybe you can clear the confusion.
In the article you mention you get DSA for 10 months “if you are married or in a recognized partnership, or/and have children” but you don’t get DSA “if you are neither have a recognized spouse, nor have children”. Am I reading this right?
Also, I am national of the country, where an institution has its office, but I have not lived there for more than 10 years.
I am single, but have children.
Am I entitled to DSA for 4 months or 10 months? What about Household Allowance?
Thank you in advance for any feedback you might have on this matter.
Hi! If you have dependents, you will get the household allowance. If your kids are underage or in university until age of 24, you will also get a dependent child allowance for each child.
Regarding the DSA – both whether you will get it and whether it’s for 4 or 10 months – it really depends on nuances of your situation. While you might not have lived in your home country for 10+ years, it’s all about legal proof.
All I can advise is that if initially your institution’s HR declines your entitlement to the DSA, take it with a grain of salt and consider appealing to the authority mentioned by your HR. HR units of individual EU institutions have a mixed track record of solving complicated issues, and you might benefit from escalating to PMO or another EU entity that deals with “problematic” cases more often. There is definitively nothing to lose and such “contestation” will not count against you as long as you remain cordial in communication.
Hello, I read in your comments that when your move to another institution and you were entitled to the DSA in your previous post, you will receive it again. Where did you base this information on? I am trying to find it but unsuccessfully so far. Thanks!
The DSA is linked to the probation period. If you move to a new institution and have a probation period, the DSA period also resets.
Hello! I have been working as an AD official for ten years, and I’ve been receiving household allowance because I am married with kids. My husband is in the process of being recruited as an AST in a different institution. If I understand correctly, I will continue to get household and child allowances (because I’ll have bigger salary), but what does that mean for his DSA? Will he get it for 4 or 10 months? Tnx!
Hi! Married officials can choose which partner receives these allowances. Usually the one with the higher salary opts to get the allowances as some of them are calculated as a percentage of basic salary.
In a “regular” situation your partner should receive the 10mo DSA, but I do not know your particular circumstances.
Hi
I would have a question regarding the calculations of the DSA rates.
How are the DSA calculated considering that the DSA for Iceland (a country where the daily living costs are one of the highest) is lower than to comparable countries (i.e. Denmark, Sweden, Finland).
Will they be recalculated and when?
Thanks
Hi! The DSA is adjusted by the Correction Coefficient and should to some extent compensate higher cost of living. However, there are plenty of countries where the actual DSA amount, salary, allowances do not correspond to reality. This is very often due to the fact that inflation figures are used for the whole country, but living in the capital is 30-50% more expensive. There is nothing an individual person can do about this. Just hope that the Correction Coefficient improves.
Dear Ben,
I’m currently a Contract agent at the commission and I’m being recruited by a decentralised agency in another Member State. I have some questions related to the DSA and the removal expenses and another that I would really appreciate your opinion.
1. Just to confirm what I read in the comments section of this article, I understand that if I ask for removal expenses before my contract starts, I won’t receive DSA.
Additionally, I understand that if I don’t ask for removal expenses, I will receive after the end of my probational period 39,84 €(DSA for single person) x 120 days (around 4781€ in total).
Anyways, I remember that you can move your belongings and receive the reimbursement up to 1 year after the end of your probational period, can you confirm this last point? If not, do you know if there is a deadline to do your removal?
2. If I move from the Commission to an agency located in another Member State and there is no gap between both contracts, will I keep the place of origin established in the Commission or will the agency establish my place of origin in Brussels (I’m working currently in the commission in Belgium)?
Thank you very much for your replies and I really appreciate your opinion on my situation.
Hi!
1. As soon as you ask for removal costs, payment of DSA stops.
Yes, you have 1 year after the end of the probation period to carry out removal. So usually it is 1 year + 9 months, unless you agree on a special arrangement with your institution to extend it (not very likely).
2. Place of origin is established by each institution separately. If you want to change your place of origin, this is a good moment when to do it. If you want, you should easily be able to change your PoO to your home country, as the proof necessary for that is quite easy. Also – I assume you’ll want to travel to your family at least once a year, so it makes sense for most people to have their home country as place of origin, rather than location of last employment.
Hi Ben,
I have a question about DSA and Installation Allowance. So I understand you are entitled to both if you relocate for work. But what if you claim your Installation allowance (after you stop receiving DSA) and the removal date on the invoices you need to provide says that the removal was before your DSA ended? Do you loose the right for Installation Allowance or you need to repay the pro-rata amount of DSA that you received?
Thanks!!
Hi! If you relocate during your probation period, you’d stop receiving the DSA from the actual relocation day (you might have to repay it if you file the documents later).
Regarding installation allowance, I’d have to again read up on the rules, but generally it’s paid after it’s clear that you’ve passed your probation period and will work for an institution at least the initial contract period.
Hi Ben!
How would the relocation date be defined? The day you register at the commune? Or the day you sign the flat lease? In order to take up your duties you need to relocate, right?
Hi! I made a longer reply to your two questions under the “Installation allowance” article.
To reply to this particular question, the daily subsistence allowance might not be paid in the first few months if you don’t register locally. However, you will be reimbursed in full for all months where the payment was withheld once you provide all the necessary documentation to your institution’s HR.
Relocation is usually proven by several steps, in most cases, provision of a rental/lease contract for an apartment and registration as a resident (or at least getting a local Ministry of Foreign Affairs status that you are (semi)diplomatic staff). If you have a partner/family, the institution’s HR might ask for proof that the family has also relocated. The practice seems to differ slightly from one institution to another, so it’s best to ask your HR, and also clarify that in case it’s difficult to provide a certain document, what might be an alternative.
Just to give you one example, people often choose to stay in AirBNBs for 1-3 months to understand the city and look for good or reasonably priced long-term accomodation. In this case your institution shouldn’t wait for a lease contract as you have de facto relocated, but are just using short term accomodation. There usually are alternatives to documents to be provided.
Hi Ben,
Do you happen to know when the DSA is paid exactly? Is it with your first salary or earlier?
I was wondering if the Commission pays any amount in advance or is everything done retroactively, since the relocation is financially rather challenging.
Thank you!
Hi Ben,
If I accept a new job in a delegation that is a non-family duty station (i.e Afghanistan, etc), and therefore my wife and children cannot relocate with me, do I still get the DSA for 10 months or 4 months? I understand if they are not moving with me I am definitely not eligible for the household allowance (while I can still claim the dependent children allowance), but it is not clear to me about the DSA. Thanks!
Hi, Marco! Sorry, but I won’t be able to answer this as I know very little about how the EEAS functions.
Best to ask your institution’s HR. Even if you are not entitled to the DSA, as far as I know, your salary and allowances won’t be adjusted by the Correction Coefficient, you will get 100% JSIS reimbursement, and then there is also hardship pay (don’t remember the precise name of the allowance). All of this actually should be better than getting the DSA in case if you are not entitled to it.
If you have the time after you settle in, I would love to get a note about the benefits for EEAS staff working outside the EU. I know this would interest a lot of people, but I haven’t been able to get a good source on this.
Thanks. So DSA is indeed independent of spousal income then? Only need to be married and moving places for the job?
Best wishes
Yes, that’s how I understand the rules and what is my experience.
Spousal income as far as I know affects JSIS coverage. Don’t remember if it affects any other allowances.
Hello ! Firstly, Thanks for the helpful article!
I wanted to ask a couple of things related to DSA.
Do you need to claim the DSA when taking up duties and prove it by any means of proving residence? Asking as I am not a legal tenant in the flat I will be resident.
Also as seen in another comment can the Special ID card (or belgian ID card) be used as such proof instead of a contract?
And lastly can one issue both a local communal ID card and also the Special ID Card at the same time or has to choose one or the other?
Thanks in advance!
Evan, hi!
I had mistakenly indicated that you need a rent contract, the IDs or something similar to qualify for the Daily Subsistence Allowance. In fact, the institution’s HR will register the fact whether you have had to relocate and add the DSA amount to your salary based on that. HR calls this ‘place of origin’, and it’s used not only to ascertain the fact of relocation, but also the amount of the annual travel grant and removal costs.
Thanks for asking your question which allowed me to revise the article!
I’ve also now added the text of Article 20 at the end of the post. It appears that the concept of “no greater distance there from as is compatible with the proper performance of his duties” is interpreted differently in various institutions. It can mean not being outside a 50km radius of the HQ city, but there are EU agencies that treat this as being able to arrive in the office within a two-hour notice period.
If I do not have kids and the spouse is above the income threshold, do I still get the longer period of DSA?
Yes, you should if you have to move from your current place of origin.
Hi Ben,
My question is related to the EU unemployement benefit but I can only insert a comment under DSA. Sorry about that!
I have worked for six years in an EU agency in Brussels as FGIV. I have recently resigned to join a decentralized agency as AD6. This agency is offering me a two-year non-renewable contract.
My question is: at the end of the AD6 contract, will my unemployement benefit be based on the total years worked for both instituitions or only on these two last years?
Thank you!
Hi! I’m unable to answer this. Could you please approach PMO with your question? Would be excellent if you could also let us all know how rules are interpreted.
Hi there,
Thanks a lot for this website 🙂
Ive recently started a job in EU agency with AST contract and on 9 month probation period.
HR are telling me I am entities to 3 month Daily Subsistence Allowance for relocation as I’m not entitled to household allowance and single.
Do you know if agencies have any discretion over how they decide on this allowance? Or where I could find the legal basis for this? Or why mine would be a month less?
I also want to challenge the decision because if I was married I would get 6 months Daily Subsistence Allowance which I find really discriminatory given how expensive it is to be single.
Thanks for any help!
Neasa
Hi there,
I am unmarried and there is a probability to receive and sign a contract with an EU Agency.
Basically irrespectively to the above, I was planning to get married on a date which probably will be some days after or before the contract signing, as I do not know yet the exact date of receiving – signing the contract.
Therefore I would like to ask the following :
Am I entitled to the household allowance at the beggining of my employment ?
If I sign the contract as unmarried could I declare my wedding and expect the household allowance retrospectively ?
Thank you in advance.
Congrats on the happy occasion!
All allowances will be recalculated retroactively if you have the necessary proofs/documents. Also – if your circumstances change mid-way of the probation (e.g., you get married), after you submit the documents to your institution’s HR unit, they will do a recalculation. It is not necessary to do it ASAP, recalculations can be done months after a life event has taken place.
Hi Ben!
Great article, and much easier to understand than what I was able to find in other websites, so thanks! 🙂
I have a doubt, thought. If you do not have anything to take to the country of work from your home country, do you still get the DSA? Because, when it ends, you won’t have anything to submit as removal costs. Does this make sense?
Also, is the DSA only provided if you are living in temporary accommodations (hotels, etc) or do you get it even if you rent a house there?
Thanks!
I realize that some of the benefits are confusing for first-time employees of institutions and some of them seem to be too good to be true, however, no mistake in the article.
Do not confuse the DSA allowance with the removal costs. These are only linked in the way that if you carry out ‘removal’ before the end of the DSA payment period, DSA payment will stop. So – better to not carry out removal or transport things yourself. Also – you do not want to transport your items fully before the end of the probation period as there’s the minuscule chance that you do not pass it (for example, it might not be your fault if you land with a horrible boss, or realize that living in a particular country is just not for you).
If you have to relocate, you get DSA automatically. Only the payment period differs – 4 or 10 months. If you’ll read the legal excerpt it’s mentioned that “[if] an official furnishes evidence that a change in the place of residence is required [..], such official shall be entitled [..] to a subsistence allowance”. This is quite easy to prove without a rent contract. Quite many EU institutions’ staff rent apartments short-term for the first month or two before they find permanent accommodation. The easiest way to prove this in most cases is to get a special ID document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the host country. Talk to your institution’s HR unit about other ways to prove this (they should have plenty of suggestions from other cases).
Hello Ben!
I am starting my job as an FG IV in March but I have been working at the EC as an interimaire since Late October. Do I still have right to the DSA?
I registered in Brussels in January.
Many thanks for your answers and for all your great work!
F.
Please check with HR, but I believe that yes as this will be your first “real” Commission contract. As an interimaire you were probably employed by a service provider that “lent” you to the Commission.
Congrats on the job and the increased living standard!
Hi BEN! Thanks a lot for the article and hopefully you can help me on this one.
I´ve been selected as FG-IV and my contract has started on January 1st. I will have a training period of 12 months (probation period of 9 months).
The thing is I´m actually single, but will get married in February (1´5 months after signing the contract). Will I then qualify to receive the DSA for 10 months?
Since I will be married I understand they should extend the initial period of 4 months up to 10 (not 4+10, but 4+6). But just wanted to hear what you think about it…
Thanks again!
Dear Sara, first of all, congrats on the happy event.
This is such a rare edge case that I’m unable to answer.
Please consult HR and, if possible, please also let me know so that I can update the article.
I believe that you should become entitled to the 10 months DSA as your circumstances have changed. This is the case for most of the allowances – if circumstances change or a person presents evidence that is necessary for an entitlement, the allowances and any other benefit are recalculated.
Please also remember that marriage is one of the special leave cases for which you might get a few more extra days of annual leave.
Dear Sara and Ben,
Since I am in a similar situation (getting married 2 months after starting date of my contract, FG-IV), may I ask how this affected both DSA and installation allowance for you. As for the latter, did you have to prove that your husband moved with you, e.g. presenting his registration certificate or a newly signed rental agreement? I understand both DSA and Inst. allowance ultimately depend upon whether you receive household allowance or not, which you should have, once you got married. Belated Congratulations btw. 🙂
Many thanks,
Chris
Institutions usually recalculate entitlements if circumstances change. There is usually a delay, but you get your money in a few months retroactively.
Hi Ben,
Thanks a lot for the website, so useful.
I will be moving country for a new job with EU agency, and I wanted to check how do I claim this allowance? Do I have to show proof of a hotel/airbnb that Im using when I get there? I’m finding it really hard to find accommodation there and it may take some time. Also I am not sure when I will be able to move my stuff and claim the removal costs. Any help would be appreciated!
For the DSA you don’t have to have a proof of residence. It should be paid automatically.
If possible, only officially move your stuff and claim the “removal allowance” after the end of the probation period, otherwise, this will stop payment of the DSA.
Hi Ben!
Thanks for the awesome website. The DSA applies also to Contract Agents (FG II in my case) working at the European Parliament or this is only for the Comission?
And maybe this sounds silly but, what do you mean by ‘the Ministry of Foreignf Affairs ID Card’?
Thanks a lot!
Hi! Yes, the DSA applies to the European Parliament as well. In fact, it applies to all EU institutions: Commission, EP, the Council, the Court, Court of Auditors, agencies, executive agencies… The system is unified for all of the “EU system”.
Regarding the MFA card, if you’re not a national of the country where your institution is located, you get some kind of proof that you have semi-diplomatic status. For most EU agencies, the national Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues a card with which you can prove that you enjoy some diplomatic privileges. This also allows you, in most countries, not having to register as a resident, is useful in banks, etc. However, I think that for the Commission and the Parliament in Brussels there was some kind of another document. Once you get yours, please share what it was and I’ll update the article as there are quite many readers from Brussels.
Thanks for the compliment about the website, doing my best. If there’s something that you’d like to be covered in a new article, let me know.
Hello!
Thank you for your efforts and for compiling all these info together.
Quick question, hopefully not a too stupid one. To claim the DSA, is it a long procedure? And is it only upon an ID card (whenever it arrives, given that it takes some time for all the administrative steps to be completed) or a rental contract is in fact required? Since I have a probation period of 9 months but am entitled to only 4 months of DSA (and don’t want to be forced into a rental contract without knowing the market), I have made an informal deal with a hotel for a long stay of a few months, and I’ll be away during weekends, but was curious if I made the wrong choice.
Manu, hi! You do not have to present a rental contract to receive the DSA. Any definitive proof that you’ve relocated is sufficient. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ID card is one of the easiest ways how to prove this. Usually this doesn’t take long, but there might be national differences. In most countries this takes only weeks as the ministries want to treat “diplomatic” staff preferably.
If you don’t manage to get the ID or another proof or relocation in the first month, do not worry. You will be paid all funds you are entitled to retroactively once you present the necessary evidence.
Hi Ben,
thanks for this post.
I have a question, Do am I elegible for a “daily subsistence allowance” if I’m moving in the same country but more than 1.000 km away?
I have children and I’m not married or in a registrered partnership.
Thank you in advance!
Clara, I believe that in fact you are entitled to the DSA if you have to move from where you live currently. I doubt if you could claim the DSA if moving within the same city, but if the cities are 50+ km apart, you should be able to claim it.
By the way, thank you for the question, it made me look into what is meant by “change in place of residence” in the Staff Regulation. Turns out, it says nowhere that you have to change countries.
For this reason I’ve updated the article and also included the relevant excerpt from the Staff Regulation.
I am working in Brussels as SNE for more than two years.
Then I found a CA position in Brussels and I will terminate my secondment.
Am I eligible to get the DSA in my CA position during the probational period?
Thanks in advance.
Vasil, sorry but I have very little idea about SNEs. As you are currently an SNE, please ask the institution’s HR for a clarification. As you are already “in”, they should be happy to explain everything to you. There are sometimes incompetent colleagues in HR, so in that case just try to get access to a different person.
Dear Ben, very nice and useful article! I’m receiving the daily subsistance allowance (from may/2021) and we just moved to a furnished appart in Brussels. My son also got the acceptance to an EEB. (1) Do you know if my family and I could ask a certificate of residence (à la commune) to get a national Belgian number during this temporary situation, without getting stopped the DSA? (2) Do you know if missing this national number would be a problem for my son to get enrolled at the school or in another paperwork?
My general doubt is whether the residence permit, the CIS or other residence document would stop the DSA.
Thanks in advance for your reply!
Sorry about the delayed answer. I have never worked in Belgium and can’t answer anything related to the specifics of this part of your question.
About entitlement to the DSA – payment of the DSA is only stopped if you start the official relocation process and request a compensation of relocation (known as “removal”) costs from the PMO. This is why nobody initiates formal “removal” during the probation period. If you don’t do this, you will continue to receive your DSA.
Hey,
do you get the full 10 months DSA when you are married but the spouse is earning too much?
DSA is not linked to spousal income. Spouse’s income, as far as I’m aware, affects only coverage by JSIS. If too high, she/he will not be covered. Rates depend on each EU country.
Thanks Ben. In the staff regulations it says: “If the spouse of an official is gainfully employed, with an annual income, before deduction of tax, of more than ►M39 the basic annual salary of an official in ►M112 the second step of ►M131 grade AST 3 ◄ ◄ , weighted at the rate for the country where the spouse carries out his or her occupation ◄ , the official entitled to the household allowance shall not receive this allowance save by special decision of the appointing authority. The official shall, however, be entitled to the allowance where the married couple have one or more dependent children.”.
If I read correctly the means “entitled” but “shall not receive”. Does this in turn mean that the DSA, which depends on entitlement to the allowance is nevertheless payed? Even though one would not be receiving the allowance in case the spouse earns too much?
Tim, the ‘daily subsistence allowance’ and the ‘household allowance’ are two different things. For the household allowance, indeed, there are more requirements to qualify; I have separate article on that. For the DSA – everyone on probation period for either 4 or 10 months is entitled to it.
Thanks a lot for your help Ben. I fear I was not clear enough when wording my question. Let me rephrase my question:
The 10 months (not 4 months) DSA depends on household allowances. For an official to be eligible for the household allowance, they need i.e. to be married. However, if spousal income is too high, no household allowance is paid. My question: does that then ultimately lead to a situation where an official is married, but due to spousal income only receives the DSA for 4 months?
Thanks for your patience Ben
Ben, thanks a lot for a great article!
Do you know if SNE’s (Seconded National Experts) are eligible to get DSA?
Also, if both me and my wife get jobs at the EU institution at pretty much the same time, are both of us eligible for the DSA (or just one of us?)
Thanks
Hi, Paul! I can’t answer you right now if SNE’s are eligible for DSAs. I’m quite certain that SNE’s receive a daily allowance for the duration of their secondment, often in parallel to still receiving a salary from their home institution. I have to do a bit more research on this as I’ve never been an SNE.
Not related to the answer about SNEs – if you and your wife both start out work in EU institutions as either officials, temporary or contract agents, you both would be entitled to the DSA. For all other allowances one of you would choose to receive it.
Hi Ben, thanks for the great article. I was wondering if the employer expects from me to claim reallocation allowance at some point? My intention is to move my things very early with personal car and I don’t intent to seek any reimbursement costs. Does not claiming at some point removal costs represent a problem and will need to return the DSA? Thanks
Hi! The claiming (or not) of the Removal costs is not linked to the Daily Subsistence Allowance. The only link is that if you claim the Removal costs reimbursement during your probation period, the payout of the DSA stops. It’s around 1000 EUR a month so me and most folks I know just either get partially/fully furnished apartments and buy the basic stuff locally. Once the probation period ends, you can move non-essential belongings.
Nothing prohibits you to drive your car to your new place of employment and move your own things without claiming the Removal costs reimbursement. I have the feeling that most people actually don’t claim Removal costs, at least at the start of service because they are already settled in by the time the probation period ends and payment of the DSA stops.
I hope I answered your question.
Ben, great job you re doing here ! Congrats for that. There’s something that is unclear to me and I need some enlightenment. It is mentioned that if a probation period of nine months is applied and one moves form a different country, upon taking duties, the DSA would be payed for 10 months IF someone is entitled of the household allowance. So here is my quatsion: based on what I have read. someone is entitled to the household allowance only when she/he is married. Is that correct? Cause if so, I assume that for a single official, under probation period, moving from a different country, the DSA duration can not be 10 months.
Hi! Thanks for the comment and pointing this out. I finally manage to clarify and update the article! I hope it is clear now.
Second question. I have been informed of a possibly for me taking an AST5 concour end of november. If succesful, Ill change contract from Contract Agent to Ast. Will that have an effect on the DSA?
Hi! If you move to a different institution, you will get the DSA once over. However, if you get a different post/higher grade but remain at the same institution, you will not be entitled to the DSA again. Sorry for the delayed answer!
What qualifies you to have 10 months of DSA? I am currently a contract agent in FG 3 with a probation period of 9 month. According to my personal information in stream line, the DSA will be ceased after 4 month. When I read the rules on intranet, it is stated that if your probation period is longer(9month) in my case, it will be for the full duration+one month.
Hi! The article is clarified now. I hope that it answers the question. In short: 4 months if have moved, but have no spouse or kids. 10 months if you have moved and have either spouse or kids.
Hello,
First of all, thank you very much for your article.
I have a question please : if I end my current rent in the country of origin before starting the job in the country of employment without asking for the relocation allowance, do I still get the DSA ? Or must I keep my rent in the country of origin until I start the job in the country of employment ?
Thanks again
Hi! The DSA is paid irrespective of whether you continue renting a place in your home country. The only factors are relocation, usually proven by a Ministry of Foreign affairs issued card or something similar, and that you have a spouse or/and kids. No spouse or kids = 4 months DSA, with spouse/kids = 10 months.
What if you move from one agency to another? I was offered a position in another agency but as it will be for the same grade they considered as inter-agency movement so I they will consider the years already done and also the probation period. Therefore there I will have no probation but will still have to relocate.
This seems to be a rare case and I cannot comment on the interagency move.
However, please remember that you are entitled to the Removal allowance (costs of moving your personal belongings to another country) from either your last or your new institution.
Hello! I’m completely unaware of the practical conditions of the DSA, since I don’t belong in the EU institutions, therefore I would like to apologise in advance for my question!
If a Contract Agent relocates to Brussels from their home country (eg Italy) to take up duties on 1st August (for instance), but he/she decides to rent a furnished apartment and the move-in date is set on 15th July, does this mean that the DSA is not applicable? Are there any circumstances under which the DSA could be claimed?
Many thanks in advance and congratulations Ben for your help and guidance to those who need it!
Hi! The DSA will be paid as of the 1st day of the contract. Per your example, the contract starts on the 1st of August so the DSA will be paid out from August 1 as well. To receive the DSA, you do not have to prove that you have moved in an appartment. You receive it based on the contract. However, the length and the amount will depend on your situation (4 vs 10 months).
Ben, thank you very much for this, it is totally clear for me now.
Thank you very much for your reply. Actually I was planning to move my things on my own and deal directly with a logistics company. Even if that means that I have to advance the cost of moving. My plan was to ship some things first and then 10 months later ship the rest of the furniture. After receiving the last shipment I would send the invoice to the department in charge of reimbursement. If I understand clearly your reply this is possible? Thank you!
Martin, the EU Paymasters Office must authorize the quote from the company, only then you will be reimbursed. If PMO hasn’t autorized the quote and your request in advance, you will not be reimbursed. However, if you go the official route and submit a request and a quote, and it gets approved, you will lose the daily subsistence allowance at the moment the removal is actually carried out.
In human language, if you can agree with the company that they issue you a quote and an invoice later for approval by the PMO, this might be an option, although not totally legit. A better strategy, IMHO, would be to move a small amount of essential items and pay for this yourself. And do the moving of all items once the probation period ends so that you get all the DSA.
Hello, what if you are hired to work in a delegation in a foreign country and you really need to bring stuffs there immediately ? Can you move your things two times, first time when you are hired and second time when your probation period is over in order to get the daily subsistence allowance? So you reclaim the removal cost reimbursement at the end of the probation period? Thanks
Hi! As a general principle, if you need to have furniture and other equipment immediatelly, it is better to arrange transportation yourself. Because as soon as you carry out “removal” from your home country, the Daily Subsistence Allowance stops. If you have the DSA fro 10 months, you would then forfeit up to 10k EUR. Unless you have a very expensive taste, you can buy everything you need locally and still benefit from the difference. In my opinion, even if you are entitled to the 4 months DSA, in most cases it still pays to carry out removal only after the end of the probation period.
Theoretically, you can split removal trips between family members, e.g., transport your things first, and then families later. But most people do it once.
Bear in mind that you will have to advance the costs to the logistics company and you will be reimbursed only after approx. 2-3 months.
Also- it takes PMO up to 6 weeks to approve your removal request. I.e., if you submit your request to PMO (usually through your HR) on June 1, you can plan removal from July 15 onwards.
I hope I answered your question, but let me know if there are further questions!
There’s a significant error in your calculation: if you’re not entitled to the household allowance then your daily subsistence allowance stops after 120 days, so it’s actually around 4171€.
Georg, thanks for spotting the issue, you are right. I’ll adjust the article to reflect this!