Countries with social security agreements with the united states

If you are a U.S. citizen and qualify for Social Security retirement, family, survivor or disability benefits, you can receive your payments while living in most other countries.

Under Treasury Department sanctions, Social Security will not send money to anyone residing in Cuba or North Korea, although affected U.S. citizens can recoup payments once they move elsewhere.

Americans living in eight other countries — Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — can receive Social Security payments only under certain strict conditions, one of which is agreeing to appear personally at a U.S. embassy or consulate every six months.

Non-U.S. citizens who qualify for benefits based on their own work history may be able to get them abroad, depending on their country of citizenship and country of residence (and subject to the previously noted payment restrictions). Noncitizens eligible for family or survivor benefits may need to meet additional conditions.

To find out if you are eligible to receive benefits in a foreign country, contact Social Security’s Office of Earnings & International Operations at www.ssa.gov/foreign or 410-965-0160. To learn more, go to www.ssa.gov/pubs and search for the brochure “Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States.”

No matter where you live, your payments will be calculated in U.S. dollars.

Keep in mind

• Social Security defines living outside the United States as not residing 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 for at least 30 days in a row. If you return to the United States and stay for more than 30 consecutive days, you are no longer considered to be living abroad.
• Social Security sends recipients living abroad a questionnaire every one or two years (the frequency depends on age, country of residence and other factors) to confirm they remain eligible for benefits. Failing to return the questionnaire will halt your payments.
• The overwhelming majority of Social Security recipients abroad get their benefits deposited electronically, either in a U.S. bank or in a financial institution in a country with which the United States has a direct-deposit agreement. If you use a foreign bank, it may charge fees on international transactions, for which you are responsible.

Updated September 17, 2021

Social Security Agreements with Foreign Countries (Totalization Agreements)

Agreements between the United States and certain foreign countries improve social security protection for people who work or have worked in both countries. They help many people who, without the agreement, would not be eligible for monthly retirement, disability, or survivors benefits under the social security system of one or both countries. They also help people who would otherwise have to pay social security taxes to both countries on the same earnings.

The United States signed Totalization Agreements with four countries in FBU Poland’s service area: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Information about all Social Security agreements in effect can be found at International Programs Overview website.

Dual Coverage

If you work overseas for an American company or, in some cases, a foreign company that is affiliated with an American company, you and your employer may have to pay Social Security taxes to both the United States and the foreign country on the same earnings. But, if you work in Poland your Social Security coverage will be assigned to either the United States or Poland so you and your employer do not have to pay taxes to both systems.

If you have been sent by your employer in the United States to work in an agreement country for five years or less, you pay only U.S. Social Security tax and you are exempt from foreign tax. On the other hand, if you were hired in an agreement country or delegated to work there for more than five years, you generally will pay Social Security taxes only to the foreign system and will be exempt from paying U.S. Social Security taxes. In the same way, workers who are employed in the United States pay only U.S. Social Security taxes unless they were sent to the United States by their employer in an agreement country generally for five years or less.

Please note that the Federal Benefits Unit does not deal with the SSA tax collection. For more information on the tax aspect of the agreement please refer to your IRS representative or to the SSA International Programs page.

Eligibility for Benefits

The agreement can help those who have worked in both the United States and an agreement country, but have not worked long enough in either country to qualify for Social Security benefits. Under the agreement, each country can count the work credits in the other country if this will help the claimant qualify for so called totalized benefits.

For example, if you earned at least six Social Security credits in the United States, but not enough to qualify for a benefit, we can count your credits in an agreement country to make up the difference. If you meet the minimum eligibility requirements based on combined credits from both countries, you will receive a partial U.S. benefit that is proportional to the number of credits you earned in the United States. The other county also can use your U.S. credits to help you meet the eligibility requirements for a foreign pension.

Although each country may count your work credits in the other country, your credits are not actually transferred from one country to the other. They remain on your record in the country where they were earned. Therefore, it is possible for a person to qualify for a separate benefit payment from each country.

How to Apply for Totalization Benefits

If you reside in overseas you can file a claim for the U.S. totalized benefits either with the foreign agency in which you are insured or with the Federal Benefits Unit.  Please contact the respective agency or, if you chose to file your claim with us, follow the instructions on our Benefits page.

If you reside in the U.S. you can file your claim with the nearest Social Security office. You can use the office locator tool to find it.

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