Facts
The Yugoslav national Ivica [M.], born in 1956, entered Switzerland on June 1, 1985 and received a seasonal residence permit valid until December 15, 1985 for employment as an unskilled worker. On September 17, 1985, he suffered a complicated knee injury from a fall off a construction scaffold, which despite various treatments led to a permanent disability. Ivica [M.] applied for disability benefits from the Disability Insurance on June 20, 1986, which was, however, rejected by the Swiss Compensation Office, as he did not fulfill the minimum contribution period of one year required under the Swiss-Yugoslav agreement.
Ivica [M.] filed a complaint with the Insurance Court of the Canton of St. Gallen, which overturned the office's decision and remanded the case to the administration for examination of the substantive eligibility requirements. The Swiss Compensation Office then filed an administrative court appeal with the request to overturn the contested decision.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court states that the insured event for occupational integration measures within the meaning of Art. 15 et seq. IVG did not occur until the beginning of June 1986. The decisive factor is whether Ivica [M.] fulfilled the requirements under Art. 8 of the Swiss-Yugoslav agreement at that time.
While Ivica [M.] met the requirement of at least one year of contributions, it was disputed whether he had a residence in Switzerland at the time of the onset of disability. However, the court makes it clear…