When we say you are outside the United States, we mean you are not in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands or American Samoa. Once you have been out of the United States for at least 30 days in a row, you are considered to be outside the country until you return and stay in the United States for at least 30 days in a row. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you also may have to prove you were lawfully present in the United States for that 30-day period. For more information, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate or Social Security office.
What happens to your right to Social Security payments when you are outside the United States
If you are a U.S. citizen, you may receive your Social Security payments outside the United States as long as you are eligible for them.
However, there are certain countries to which we are not allowed to send payments.
If you are a citizen of one of the countries listed in Country List 1 , Social Security payments will keep coming no matter how long you stay outside the United States, as long as you are eligible for the payments.
our Payments While You Are Outside The United States - Country List 1 |
| | If you are a U.S. citizen, you may receive your Social Security payments outside the U.S. as long as you are eligible for them. However, there are certain countries to which we are not allowed to send payments. If you are a citizen of one of the countries listed below, your Social Security payments will keep coming no matter how long you stay outside the U.S., as long as you are eligible for the payments.
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| Your Payments While You Are Outside The United States - Country List 2 |
| | If you are a citizen of one of the countries listed below, you may receive your payments as long as you are outside the U.S., unless you are receiving your payments as a dependent or survivor. In that case, there are additional requirements you have to meet.
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If you are not a U.S. citizen or a citizen of one of the other countries listed in Country List 1 and Country List 2, your payments will stop after you have been outside the United States for six full calendar months unless you meet one of the following exceptions:
· You were eligible for monthly Social Security benefits for December 1956; or
· You are in the active military or naval service of the United States; or
· The worker on whose record your benefits are based had railroad work treated as covered employment by the Social Security program; or
· The worker on whose record your benefits are based died while in the U.S. military service or as a result of a service-connected disability and was not dishonorably discharged; or you are a resident of a country with which the United States has a Social Security agreement. Currently these countries are listed in Country List 3. However, the agreements with Austria, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland permit you to receive benefits as a dependent or survivor of a worker while you reside in the foreign country. This is true only if the worker is (or was at the time of death) a U.S. citizen or a citizen of your country of residence;
| Your Payments While You Are Outside The United States - Country List 3 |
| | Your payments will continue even if you have been outside the U.S. for more than six full calendar months, if you are a resident of a country with which the U.S. has a Social Security agreement. Currently, these countries are:
However, the agreements with Austria, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland permit you to receive benefits as a dependent or survivor of a worker while you reside in the foreign country only if the worker is a U.S. citizen or a citizen of your country of residence. |
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· You are a citizen of one of the countries in Country List 4, and the worker on whose record your benefits are based lived in the United States for at least 10 years or earned at least 40 credits under the U.S. Social Security system. If you are receiving benefits as a dependent or survivor, seeadditional requirements.
Your Payments While You Are Outside The United States - Country List 4 |
| | Your payments will continue even if you have been outside the U.S. for more than six full calendar months, if you are a citizen of one of the countries listed below, and the worker on whose record your benefits are based lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years or earned at least 40 credits under the U.S. Social Security system. If you are receiving benefits as a dependent or survivor, there are additional requirements you have to meet.
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Additional residency requirements for dependents and survivors
If you receive benefits as a dependent or survivor of the worker, special requirements may affect your right to receive Social Security payments while you are outside the United States. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you must have lived in the United States for at least five years. During those five years, the family relationship on which benefits are based must have existed.
Children may meet this residency requirement on their own or may be considered as meeting the residency requirement if the worker and other parent (if any) meet it. However, children adopted outside the United States will not be paid outside the United States, even if the residency requirement is met.
The residency requirement will not apply to you if you meet any of the following conditions:
You were initially eligible for monthly benefits before January 1, 1985; or
You are entitled on the record of a worker who died while in the U.S. military service or as a result of a service connected disease or injury; or
You are a citizen of one of the countries in Country List 1; or
You are a resident of one of the countries with which the United States has a social security agreement in Country List 3.
U.S. Treasury Regulations
U.S. Department of the Treasury regulations prohibit sending payments to you if you are in Cuba or North Korea. If you are a U.S. citizen and are in Cuba or North Korea, you can receive all of your withheld payments once you leave that country and go to another country where we can send payments. Generally, if you are not a U.S. citizen, you cannot receive any payments for months in which you live in one of these countries, even if you leave that country and satisfy all other requirements.
Social Security Restrictions
Social Security restrictions prohibit sending payments to individuals in Cambodia, Vietnam or areas that were in the former Soviet Union (other than Armenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia). Generally, you cannot receive payments while you are in one of these countries, and we cannot send your payments to anyone for you. However, exceptions can be made for certain eligible beneficiaries in countries with Social Security restrictions in place.
To qualify for an exception, you must agree to the conditions of payment. One of the conditions is that you must appear in person at the U.S. Embassy each month to receive your benefits. Contact your nearest U.S. Social Security office, U.S. Embassy or consulate for additional information about these conditions and whether you might qualify for an exception.
If you do not qualify for payment under this procedure, you can receive all of the payments for which you were eligible (but which were withheld because of Social Security restrictions) once you leave that country and go to another country where we can send payments
The annual retirement test
Under certain conditions, work performed outside the United States by U.S. citizens or residents is covered by the U.S. Social Security program. If your work is covered by U.S. Social Security, the same annual retirement test that applies to people in the United States applies to you.
NOTE: Work by some U.S. citizens and residents outside the United States is exempt from U.S. Social Security as a result of international Social Security agreements the United States has concluded with the countries in Country List 5.
If you are working in one of the countries in Country List 5 and your earnings are exempt from U.S. Social Security taxes because of the agreement, your benefits will be subject to the foreign work test. For further information on how your benefits may be affected by an agreement, contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or consulate or Social Security office.
If your work is covered by the U.S. Social Security program, you can receive all benefits due you for the year if your earnings do not exceed the annual exempt amount. This limit changes each year. If you want to know the current limit, ask at any U.S. Embassy or consulate or Social Security office or write to us at the address shown under “How to report.”
If your earnings go over the limit, some or all of your benefits will be reduced by your earnings.
· If you are younger than full retirement age, $1 in benefits will be withheld for each $2 in earnings above the limit.
· In the year you reach full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced $1 for every $3 you earn over a different,annual exempt amount until the month you reach full retirement age.
Count your earnings for the whole year in figuring the benefits due you. For most people, this means earnings from January through December.
People who reach full retirement age can receive all of their benefits with no limit on their earnings.
| Your Payments While You Are Outside The United States - Country List 5 |
| | Work by some U.S. citizens and residents outside the U.S. is exempt from U.S. Social Security as a result of international Social Security agreements the U.S. has concluded with the following countries:
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If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. resident, up to 85 percent of the Social Security benefits you receive may be subject to the federal income tax.
If you file a federal income tax return as an individual and your combined income is $25,000 to $34,000, you may have to pay taxes on up to 50 percent of your Social Security benefits. “Combined income” means your adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus one-half of your Social Security benefits. If your combined income is over $34,000, you may have to pay taxes on up to 85 percent of your Social Security benefits.
If you file a joint tax return, you may have to pay taxes on up to 50 percent of your Social Security benefits if you and your spouse have a combined income of $32,000 to $44,000. If your combined income is over $44,000, you may have to pay taxes on up to 85 percent of your Social Security benefits.
If you are a member of a couple and file a separate return, you probably will pay taxes on your benefits.
If you are not a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident, federal income taxes will be withheld from your benefits. The tax is 30 percent of 85 percent of your benefit amount.
It will be withheld from the benefits of all nonresident aliens, except those who reside in countries that have tax treaties with the United States that do not permit taxing of U.S. Social Security benefits (or provide for a lower tax rate). The United States has such treaties with Canada, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (defined as England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Under the tax treaty with Switzerland, benefits paid to residents of Switzerland who are not U.S. citizens are taxed at a rate of 15 percent. In addition, the Social Security benefits paid to individuals who are both nationals and residents of India are exempt from this tax to the extent that their benefits are based on U.S. federal, state or local government employment. (This list of countries may change from time to time.)
After the end of the year, you will receive a statement showing the amount of benefits you were paid during the year.
Many foreign governments do tax U.S. Social Security benefits. U.S. residents planning to live in another country should contact that country’s embassy in Washington, D.C. for information.
Social Security benefits are calculated in U.S. dollars. The benefits are not increased or decreased because of changes in international exchange rates.
