Going abroad? Your EPF rules may change if you are an International Worker

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If you are an Indian employee going abroad on an assignment to a country with which India has a social-security agreement (SSA), or a foreign national working in India, your provident fund treatment can be very different from that of a regular EPF member.

Such employees are classified as International Workers (IWs) by EPFO, and the rules governing their contributions, withdrawal and pension benefits are different.

Under EPFO rules, an IW can broadly be an Indian employee who has worked or is going to work in a foreign country with which India has an SSA. It also includes a foreign national holding a non-Indian passport and working for an establishment in India covered by the EPF law.

Nepalese and Bhutanese nationals are treated as Indian workers under EPF rules and therefore are not treated as IWs.

There is also no minimum period of stay prescribed for an eligible foreign national working in India. EPFO says such a worker has to be enrolled from the first day of employment.

“The IW status is not about how long someone stays, where they live, or what visa they hold. It is about the passport and the workplace,” said Kunal Kabra, co-founder, KustodianLife, a tech firm providing claims resolution across EPF, banking, wills, and trusts.

For a regular EPF member, contributions are generally subject to the applicable statutory wage ceiling, currently ₹ 15,000. For IWs, there is no wage ceiling for PF contribution. EPFO says the contribution is calculated on the employee's total salary.

With the Labour Codes coming into effect on 21 November 2025 and the new PF schemes being notified on 29 June 2026, the rules for International Workers continue to require PF contributions without a wage ceiling. The contribution base is now linked to “wages” as defined under the Labour Codes.

When an employee moves between countries, there can be a problem of double social-security contributions. The worker may otherwise have to contribute to the social-security systems of both the home and host countries.

An SSA is designed to provide continuity of social-security coverage and typically addresses three areas: detachment, totalization and exportability.

“SSA benefits include avoiding dual social-security contributions, so that an employee does not have to contribute to both countries' systems in applicable circumstances. They also provide for totalization of service, where periods of social-security coverage in India and the other country can be combined to determine eligibility for certain benefits, and export of benefits, allowing eligible pension benefits to be paid even when the beneficiary resides in the other country, subject to the terms of the agreement,” said Anurag Jain, co-founder and partner of ByTheBook Consulting LLP.

The Certificate of Coverage (CoC) is critical for an employee being deputed to an SSA country. EPFO issues the CoC to eligible Indian employees being sent to SSA countries.