Social Security Benefits Received in Foreign Exempt Country (2024)

FAQs

Can you live in another country and still receive Social Security benefits? ›

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.

If you leave the U.S., we will stop your benefits the month after the sixth calendar month in a row that you are outside the country. You can make visits to the United States for specific periods of time, depending on how long you've been outside, to continue receiving your benefits.

For Retirement and Disability benefits

Your Social Security benefit might be reduced if you get a pension from an employer who wasn't required to withhold Social Security taxes. This reduction is called the “Windfall Elimination Provision” (WEP). It most commonly affects government work or work in other countries.

You must have worked and paid Social Security taxes in five of the last 10 years. If you also get a pension from a job where you didn't pay Social Security taxes (e.g., a civil service or teacher's pension), your Social Security benefit might be reduced.

If IRS considers you to be a foreign person (or nonresident alien) for tax purposes, SSA is required to withhold a 30 percent flat income tax from 85 percent of your Social Security retirement, survivors, or disability benefits. This results in a withholding of 25.5 percent of your monthly benefit.

Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.

The amount of earnings that we consider substantial changes each year. Benefits will end if work and earnings are above the substantial level after the 36-month re-entitlement period.

The lifetime maximum benefit is $50,000. These policies will not pay benefits if you live or travel outside the United States for longer than 60 days.

If you qualify for full social security benefits from both the United States and another country, the amount of your U.S. benefit may be reduced. For more information, get the publication, Windfall Elimination Provision (Publication No. 05-10045).

Do I have to report foreign Social Security income? ›

Foreign Social Security Pensions

Generally, U.S. treaties provide that social security payments are taxable by the country making the payments. However, a foreign social security payment may also be taxable in the United States if you are a U.S. citizen or resident, as a result of the saving clause.

You can retire with Social Security and a pension at the same time, but the Social Security Administration (SSA) might reduce your Social Security benefit if your pension is from a job at which you did not pay Social Security taxes on your wages. There are two different kinds of pensions: covered and noncovered.

If you earned Social Security benefits, you can visit or live in most foreign countries and still receive payments. Look up the country on the SSA Payments Abroad Screening Tool to be sure you can receive your payments.

There's No Time Limit For Receiving Social Security Benefits Abroad. Luckily, there is no time limit on how long you can live outside the U.S. and still receive monthly Social Security payments.

If you are a U.S. citizen who qualifies for retirement, disability, or survivor benefits, you can generally collect them while living outside the U.S. However, benefit payments cannot be made to recipients living in certain countries, such as Cuba and North Korea.

The United States generally considers a person with dual U.S. and foreign citizenship a U.S. citizen for Social Security purposes. This does not apply if you are a U.S. citizen and a citizen of a country the United States has an international social security agreement with.

Going abroad temporarily

You can claim the following benefits if you're going abroad for up to 13 weeks (or 26 weeks if it's for medical treatment): Attendance Allowance. Disability Living Allowance ( DLA ) for adults. Personal Independence Payment ( PIP )

Personal and workplace pensions

If you're in a personal or workplace pension scheme, moving abroad shouldn't have any effect: your pension should continue to be paid in full. you're normally entitled to any rises regardless of where you live in the world.