- 1
- After receipt of an application, the competent institution of the Contracting Party shall verify the information regarding the applicant and, if applicable, any member of the same family and forward this evidence along with other relevant documents to the competent institution of the other Contracting Party, so that the latter can process the application further.
- 2
- Paragraph 1 also applies when the competent institution of a Contracting Party requests the other Contracting Party to conduct an investigation to verify the legitimacy of payments made to beneficiaries living or residing in the territory of that other Contracting Party.
- 3
- The information referred to in the first and second paragraph shall include, to the extent possible, information regarding address, work, education, income, family situation, ability for work or medical condition.
- 4
- The competent institutions of the Contracting Parties may contact each other, as well as their respective beneficiaries or their representatives, directly.
- 5
- The diplomatic or consular representatives and the competent institutions of the Contracting Parties may contact the authorities in the territory of the other Contracting Party directly in order to determine entitlement to benefit and legitimacy of payments to their respective beneficiaries.
- 6
- The term ``authorities" mentioned in the previous paragraph is meant to include those authorities responsible for tax, population registers, marriage registers, employment agencies and schools.
- 7
- Without prior request the competent institutions shall inform each other, to the extent possible, of circumstances which may be of importance when deciding on a benefit, and of circumstances which may be of influence to the amount of a benefit, enclosing documentation of the relevant information.
