Effective Dates: 09/17/2020 - Present Previous | Next

TN 39 (09-20)

RS 02001.725 Rule for Government Employees - U.S.- Finnish Agreement

A. Vienna Conventions

The Vienna Conventions provide that, in general, nationals of a country who work abroad in the diplomatic or consular services of their country are exempt from social security coverage and contributions under the host country's laws unless the host country specifically waives that exception.

The Conventions, to which both the United States and Finland are parties, apply to:

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    members of the staff of a diplomatic or consular mission, including the diplomatic, consular, administrative, and technical staffs;

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    dependents of members of those staffs;

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    the domestic service staffs of those missions, and;

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    the private servant employee of members of such missions (under certain conditions).

B. Agreement Provisions

1. General agreement provisions

The agreement does not affect the coverage of U.S. or Finnish Government employees to whom the Vienna Conventions apply. They remain exempt from coverage in the host country.

The agreement establishes the following rules for U.S and Finnish Government employees for cases when the Vienna Conventions do not apply:

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    U.S. national employees of the U.S. Government or a U.S. Government instrumentality in Finland are subject to U.S. Social Security and/or Federal pension program taxation and coverage laws only.

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    Finnish national employees of the Finnish Government or a Finnish Government instrumentality in the United States are subject to Finnish social security taxation and coverage laws only.

2. Definition - U.S. Government employee

For purposes of applying this provision of the agreement, the phrase "U.S. Government employee" means employees of the Federal Government or any of its instrumentalities

C. Reference

U.S. citizens employed by foreign governments, RS 01802.050

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302001725
RS 02001.725 - Rule for Government Employees - U.S.- Finnish Agreement - 09/17/2020
Batch run: 09/17/2020
Rev:09/17/2020