Your Payments
While You Are
Outside the
United States
Social Security.gov
What’s inside
Introduction 1
Payment restrictions 1
Your right to Social Security
payments when you are outside
the United States 2
Conditions for payments to
continue while you are outside the
United States 3
Additional residency
requirements for dependents and
survivors 9
Countries that have social security
agreements with the United
States 10
Things you must report 11
How to report 21
Questionnaires 21
Advance Designation of
Representative Payee 24
What you need to know
about Medicare 24
If your check is lost or stolen 27
Electronic payments 27
Income tax 29
Contacting Us Outside the United
States 31
1
Introduction
This booklet explains how being outside
the United States may affect your Social
Security benets. It also lists information
you need to report to us, and how to
report it. Reporting changes timely helps
to avoid overpayments and helps you
receive all the benets you are entitled to.
We calculate Social Security benets
in U.S. dollars. We do not increase
or decrease your benets because of
changes in international exchange rates.
Payment restrictions
Treasury Department sanctions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury
prohibits making payments to persons
residing in Cuba or North Korea. If
you are a U.S. citizen residing in Cuba
or North Korea, you can get all the
payments we withheld once you move to
a country where we can send payments.
Under the Social Security Act, if you are
not a U.S. citizen, you cannot receive
payments for the months you lived in
Cuba or North Korea. This applies even
if you go to another country and satisfy
all other requirements.
Other Treasury Department sanctions
could affect payments to persons in
other countries. For information about
U.S. Treasury sanctions, please visit
www.treasury.gov/resource-center/
sanctions/Programs/Pages/
Programs.aspx.
2
Social Security restrictions
Generally, we cannot send Social
Security payments to persons in
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
and Uzbekistan. However, we can make
exceptions for certain eligible persons in
these countries.
To qualify for an exception, you must
meet and agree to restricted payment
conditions. For more information about
these conditions and the qualications for
an exception, contact Social Security or
your Federal Benets Unit (FBU). Contact
information is in the last section of this
publication.
If you do not qualify for an exception,
we will withhold your payments until you
leave the country with Social Security
restrictions and go to a country where we
can send payments.
Your right to Social Security
payments when you are outside
the United States
If you are a United States citizen, you
may continue to receive payments while
outside the U.S. as long as you are
eligible for payment and you are in a
country where we can send payments.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, you must
meet one of the conditions for payment
described in the next section.
3
When we say you are “outside the U.S.,”
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 for at least 30 days in a row. We
consider you to be “outside the U.S.”
until you return and stay in the U.S. 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 U.S. for
that 30-day period.
If you are not a U.S. citizen or you do not
meet one of the conditions for continued
payments, we will stop your payments
after you have been outside the U.S.
for 6 full calendar months. Once this
happens, we cannot start your payments
again until you come back and stay in
the U.S. for a full calendar month. You
must be in the U.S. on the rst minute
of the rst day of any month and stay
through the last minute of the last day
of that month. In addition, we may ask
you to prove you have been lawfully
present in the U.S. for the full calendar
month. For more information, contact
Social Security or your FBU. Contact
information is in the last section of this
publication.
Conditions for payments to
continue while you are outside
the United States
If you are not a United States citizen,
you must meet the conditions described
in this section to continue receiving
4
benets outside the U.S. You must
also remain eligible for benets and
live in a country where we can send
payments. You can use the Payments
Abroad Screening Tool to determine
whether you meet the conditions for
payments to continue while you are
outside the U.S. The Payments Abroad
Screening Tool is on our website
at: www.ssa.gov/international/
payments_outsideUS.html.
1. We will continue to pay your benets if:
• You were eligible for monthly
Social Security benets for
December 1956.
• The worker on whose record your
benets are based died while in the
U.S. military service or as a result of
a service-connected disability, and
was not dishonorably discharged.
2. If you are receiving benets based
on your own earnings and you meet
one of the conditions below, we will
continue your U.S. Social Security
payments.
• The worker on whose record your
benets are based had railroad work
that the Social Security program
treated as covered employment.
• You are in the active military or
naval service of the U.S.
If you are receiving your payments
as a dependent or survivor, you
must also meet the conditions listed
5
in this publication under the section
“Additional residency requirements
for dependents and survivors.”
3. We will continue your U.S. Social
Security payments if you are a citizen
of one of the countries listed below:
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Czech Republic
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Korea (South)
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• Uruguay
(This list of countries is subject to
change. For the latest information,
visit www.ssa.gov/international/
countrylist1.htm.)
4. If you are a citizen of one of the
countries listed below and you are
receiving benets based on your own
earnings, we will continue your U.S.
Social Security payments. If you are
receiving benets as a dependent
or survivor, you must also meet the
conditions listed in this publication. For
more information see the section titled
“Additional residency requirements
for dependents and survivors.”
6
• Albania
• Antigua and
Barbuda
• Argentina
• Australia
• Bahamas, The
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Bosnia-
Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Dominica
• Dominican
Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Estonia
• Gabon
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Jamaica
• Jordan
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Marshall
Islands
• Mexico
• Micronesia,
Fed. States of
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Nicaragua
• North
Macedonia
• Palau
• Panamá
• Perú
• Philippines
• Romania
• St. Kitts and
Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent and
the Grenadines
• Samoa
(formerly
Western
Samoa)
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Trinidad-Tobago
• Turkey
• Venezuela
(This list of countries is subject to
change. For the latest information,
visit www.ssa.gov/international/
countrylist2.htm.)
7
5. If you are a citizen of one of the
countries listed in the chart below,
we will continue to pay your benets
outside the the U.S. if:
a) You are receiving benets based
on your own earnings, and you
earned at least 40 credits under the
U.S. Social Security system or lived
at least 10 years in the the U.S.
b) You are receiving benets as a
dependent or survivor of a worker
who earned at least 40 credits
under the U.S. Social Security
system or lived in the U.S. for at
least 10 years. You must also
meet the conditions under the
section “Additional residency
requirements for dependents and
survivors” in this publication.
• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• Botswana
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Cameroon
• Central
African
Republic
• Chad
• China
• Congo,
Rep. of
• Eritrea
• Eswatini
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• Gambia
• Ghana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• India
• Indonesia
• Kenya
• Laos
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Mali
• Mauritania
8
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Myanmar
(formerly
Burma)
• Nepal
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Solomon
Islands
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Sri Lanka
• Sudan
• Taiwan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tonga
• Tunisia
• Uganda
• Yemen
(This list of countries is subject to
change. For the latest information,
visit www.ssa.gov/international/
countrylist4.htm.)
6. If you are a resident of a country that
has a U.S. social security agreement,
(other than Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Germany, Sweden, or
Switzerland), we will continue your
U.S. Social Security payments. You
can view a list of these countries in
this publication under the heading
“Countries that have social security
agreements with the United States.”
If you are a resident (but not citizen)
of Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, Sweden, or Switzerland,
the social security agreements allow
you to continue to receive your
benets only if you are:
• A refugee or stateless person.
9
• Receiving dependent or survivors
benets on the record of a worker
who is (or was at the time of
death) a U.S. citizen, a citizen of
the country where you reside, a
refugee, or stateless person.
Additional residency
requirements for dependents
and survivors
If you are a citizen of a country for which
we require dependents and survivors to
meet additional residency requirements,
you will have to show that you lived in
the United States for at least 5 years.
During those 5 years, you must have
been in the family relationship on which
we based your benets.
However, the U.S. residency
requirement does not apply if you meet
any of the following conditions:
• You were initially eligible for monthly
benets before January 1, 1985.
• Your entitlement is based on the
record of a worker who died during
U.S. military service or as a result of a
service-connected disease or injury.
• You are a citizen of a country listed
under number 3 in the section
titled “Conditions for payments to
continue while you are outside the
United States” in this publication.
• You are a resident of a country
(other than Austria, Belgium,
Denmark, Germany, Sweden, or
Switzerland) listed in the section titled
10
“Countries that have social security
agreements with the United States.”
For more information about residency
in Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, Sweden, or Switzerland,
see the section titled, “Conditions for
payments to continue while you are
outside the United States.”
A child who has not lived in the U.S. for
5 years can meet the 5-year residency
requirement if the parent who is the
worker, and the other parent, have both
lived in the U.S. for 5 years. However,
we will not pay children adopted outside
the U.S. while they reside outside the
U.S., even if they meet the residency
requirement.
Countries that have social
security agreements with the
United States
Currently, these countries have a social
security agreement with the United States:
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Korea (South)
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• Spain
11
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• Uruguay
(This list of countries is subject to
change. For the latest information,
visit www.ssa.gov/international/
countrylist3.htm.)
For more information about international
social security agreements, visit
www.ssa.gov/international/.
Things you must report
Below is a list of things you must report
to us. You will nd an explanation of
each item after this list.
1. Change of address.
2. Work outside the United States.
3. If your disability improves, or you
return to work, after qualifying for
disability benets.
4. Marriage.
5. Divorce or annulment.
6. Adoption of a child.
7. Child leaves the care of a spouse or
surviving spouse.
8. Child nearing age 18 is a full-time
student or has a disability.
9. Death.
10. Inability to manage funds.
11. Deportation or removal from the
United States.
12. Changes in parental circumstances.
13. Eligibility for a pension from work not
covered by Social Security.
12
NOTE: Failure to report a change
may result in an overpayment. We will
recover any payments not due you. Also,
if you fail to report changes timely or you
intentionally make a false statement, we
may stop your benets.
1. Change of address
You should tell us if your address
changes. Reporting this change timely
ensures that the payments and mail
we send you will not be lost or delayed.
Even if we are sending your payments
to a bank or other nancial institution,
report any change of your home
address.
When you write to Social Security about
a change of address, please type or print
your new address carefully. Be sure to
include the country and ZIP or postal
code. Also, list the names of all family
members moving to the new address.
2. Work outside the United States
If you work or own a business outside
the United States and are younger
than full retirement age, notify
Social Security or your FBU. Contact
information is in the last section of this
publication. If you do not, we may charge
a penalty. In addition, you may lose
benets under one of the work tests
explained in this section.
Full retirement age is 65 for people
born in 1937 or earlier. Beginning with
people born in 1938, full retirement
age increases gradually until it reaches
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age 67 for those born in 1960 or later.
Working after full retirement age will not
affect your benet payments.
If you are under full retirement age, your
work may affect the amount of your
monthly benet payment.
Report your work to Social Security
even if you work part-time or you are
self-employed. Some examples of the
types of work you must report include
work as an apprentice, farmer, sales
representative, tutor, writer, etc. If you
own a business, notify us even if you do
not work in the business or make any
income from it.
If a child beneciary (regardless of age)
begins an apprenticeship, notify Social
Security or your FBU. We may consider
an apprenticeship as work under the
Social Security program.
We will consider your work outside the
U.S. under either the foreign work test or
the annual retirement test.
The foreign work test
If you are receiving Social Security
benets and are younger than full
retirement age, we will withhold your
benets for each month you work more
than 45 hours outside the United States
and you are not subject to U.S. Social
Security taxes. This applies even if you
are exempt from U.S. Social Security
taxes because of an international
agreement. These countries are listed
14
in this publication under the section
“Countries that have social security
agreements with the United States.”
It does not matter how much you earned
or how many hours you worked each
day. Under the foreign work test, we
consider a person to be working any day
they:
• Work as an employee or self-
employed person.
• Have an agreement to work even if
the person does not actually work
because of sickness, vacation, etc.
• Are the owner or part owner of a
trade or business, even if the person
does not actually work in the trade
or business, or the person does not
make any income from it.
If you are entitled to benets as a
dependent of someone whose benets
we must withhold because of the foreign
work test, we will withhold your benets
for the same months. This applies even
if you are not working.
The annual retirement test
Under certain conditions, Social Security
covers work by U.S. citizens or residents
outside the United States. If Social
Security covers your work, the same
annual retirement test that applies to
people in the U.S. applies to you. Under
the annual retirement test, you can still
get all benets due for the year if your
earnings do not exceed the annual
exempt amount. This limit changes
each year. To nd out the current limit,
15
read How Work Affects Your Benets
(Publication No. 05-10069). You can
also contact Social Security or your FBU.
Contact information is in the last section of
this publication.
If the annual retirement test applies to
you, and your earnings exceed the annual
exempt amount, we will reduce some
or all your benets by your earnings as
follows:
• If you are younger than full retirement
age, we withhold $1 in benets for
each $2 in earnings above the limit.
• In the year you reach full retirement
age, we will reduce your benets by
$1 for every $3 you earn above a
different annual limit until the month
you reach full retirement age.
• People who reach full retirement age
can get all their benets with no limit
on earnings.
Count your earnings for the whole year to
gure your benet amount due. For most
people, this means earnings from January
through December. To gure your total
earnings for the year you rst become
entitled to benets, count your earnings
for the months before and after becoming
entitled to benets.
Your benets as a child stop at age 18,
unless you are a full-time student in an
elementary or secondary school, or you
have a disability. We count your earnings
for the entire year you reach age 18 to
16
gure the amount of benets due you for
the year. We do this regardless of whether
your payments continue or stop at age 18.
You may be entitled to benets as a
dependent of someone whose work is
covered by Social Security. If so, we will
include your benets in the amount we
must withhold due to the earnings above
the limit in the annual earnings test.
3. If your disability improves,
or you return to work, after
qualifying for disability benets
If you get payments because you have
a disability, let us know right away if
your condition improves and you go
back to work. We will continue to send
you payments for up to 9 months when
you go back to work. This 9-month “trial
work period” gives you a chance to test
whether you can work without payments
stopping. If, after 9 months, you continue
working, we will continue to pay you for 3
more months.
If you can’t continue working after the
trial work period, you will continue to get
disability benets.
4. Marriage
Let us know if you get married or if
someone receiving benets based
on your earnings gets married, or if
someone in your care gets married. In
some cases, Social Security payments
stop after marriage. In other cases, the
payment amount changes.
17
5. Divorce or annulment
Notify us of your marriage annulment or
divorce. Divorce or annulment doesn’t
necessarily mean we will stop your
Social Security payments. If you are
getting payments based on your own
work record, divorce or annulment
of your marriage will not affect your
payments. Also, if you are a spouse
age 62 or older and you were married
to the worker for 10 years or more, we
will continue your payments even if
you divorce. Contact us if your name
changes, so your new name will appear
on your payments.
6. Adoption of a child
When you adopt a child, tell us the
child’s legal name, the adoption decree
date, the country or U.S. state where the
adoption took place, and the adopting
parents’ names and addresses.
7. Child leaves the care of a spouse
or surviving spouse
You may be a spouse or a surviving
spouse receiving benets because you
are caring for a child who is under age
16 or who has a qualifying disability that
began before age 22. If so, notify us right
away if the child leaves your care. If you
do not, you could be penalized and lose
additional benets.
A temporary separation may not affect
your benets as long as you still have
parental control over the child. Tell us
if you or your child moves to another
18
residence or if you no longer are
responsible for the child. If the child
returns to your care, tell us that as well.
8. Child nearing age 18 is a
full-time student or has a disability
We will stop payments to a child when
the child reaches age 18, unless the
child is unmarried and either has a
disability or is a full-time student at an
elementary or secondary school.
If a child age 18 or over gets payments
as a student, notify us immediately
if the student:
• Drops out of school.
• Changes schools.
• Changes from full-time to
part-time attendance.
• Gets expelled or suspended.
• Is paid by his or her employer for
attending school.
• Marries.
• Begins working.
If a child whose payments were stopped
at age 18 has a disability that developed
before age 22, or is unmarried and enters
elementary or secondary school on a
full-time basis before age 19, notify us.
We will then resume payments to the
child. Also, we can start payments again
if a child who recovered from a disability
develops a disability again within 7 years.
19
9. Death
If a person who gets Social Security
benets dies, we do not pay benets
for the month of death. For example,
if a beneciary dies any time in June,
someone must return the payment dated
July (June payment) to Social Security.
10. Inability to manage funds
Some people who get Social Security
payments cannot manage their money.
If that is the case, the beneciary or
beneciary’s caretaker should let us
know. We can arrange to send the
payments to a relative or other person to
act on behalf of the beneciary. We call
this person a “representative payee”.
We also offer the option to advance
designate up to 3 people who could
serve as payee for you if the need
arises. For more information, read the
section in this publication titled “Advance
Designation of Representative Payee.”
11. Deportation or removal from
the United States
If you are deported or removed from the
United States for certain reasons, we
will stop your Social Security benets.
We cannot restart your payments unless
you are lawfully admitted to the U.S. for
permanent residence.
Even if you are deported or removed,
your dependents can get any benets
for which they qualify if they are U.S.
citizens. If not, we will continue to pay
your dependents’ benets if they stay in
20
the U.S. for the entire month. However,
we will not pay them benets for any
month if they spend any part of that
month outside the U.S.
12. Changes in parental
circumstances
We may stop or start payments to a child
who is not a U.S. citizen when certain
changes occur. Let us know when the
child’s natural parent, adoptive parent,
or stepparent dies, marries, or gets
divorced (or has an annulment). Let us
know even if that person doesn’t receive
Social Security payments.
13. Eligibility for a pension from
work not covered by Social Security
We may reduce your U.S. Social
Security benet if you become entitled
to both a U.S. Social Security retirement
or disability benet and a retirement or
disability pension, such as foreign social
security or a private pension, based, in
whole or in part, on work not covered by
U.S. Social Security. When this is the
case, we may use a different formula to
gure your U.S. Social Security benet.
You should tell us if you start receiving a
retirement or disability pension for work
not covered by U.S. Social Security.
For more information, visit our website,
www.ssa.gov, and read the publication,
Windfall Elimination Provision
(Publication No. 05-10045), or contact
any U.S. Social Security ofce or FBU.
Contact information is in the last section
of this publication.
21
By answering a few questions in
the WEP Screening Tool for foreign
pensions, you can learn if the Windfall
Elimination Provision (WEP) will
reduce your U.S. Social Security
benet. The WEP Screening Tool for
foreign pensions is on our website
at: www.ssa.gov/international/
wep_intro.html.
How to report
You can report by contacting us in
person, by mail, or by telephone. For
information about how to contact us, see
the last section in this publication.” When
you contact us, include:
• The name of the person or persons
about whom the report was made.
• What is being reported and the
date it happened.
• The Beneciary Notice Control #
that appears on letters or other
correspondence we send you.
Questionnaires
We send questionnaires to persons
receiving social security benets (or
their representative payees) outside
the United States every year or every
2 years. Your answers will help us
determine if you are still eligible for
benets. This section will explain when
you should receive a questionnaire. If
you do not receive your questionnaire
when you are supposed to, you
should contact the Social Security
22
Administration or your FBU. Contact
information is in the last section of this
publication.
It is important that you (or your
representative payee) complete, sign,
date, and return the questionnaire to
us in the envelope provided with the
questionnaire as soon as possible. If you
do not, your payments will stop. If you
fail to report or deliberately make a false
statement, you could be penalized by a
ne or imprisonment. You also may lose
some of your payments if you do not
report changes promptly.
You will receive a questionnaire between
May and June every year if you:
• Are age 90 or over.
• Have a representative payee.
• Are not receiving benets as a spouse,
surviving spouse, parent, special age
72 payments, or surviving spouse with
a disability.
You will receive a questionnaire between
May and June every 2 years if you:
• Are receiving benets as a spouse,
surviving spouse, parent, special age
72 payments, or surviving spouse with
a disability.
• Live in one of the countries in the
list below and you do not meet the
conditions for an annual questionnaire.
23
Countries where we mail
questionnaires every 2 years:
• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Azores
• Barbados
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Mongolia
• Nauru
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Norway
• Panama
• Poland
• Portugal
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• Venezuela
If you are supposed to receive a
questionnaire every 2 years, we will mail
your questionnaire in even numbered
years if the last 2 numbers of your Social
Security number are 00 through 49, or
odd numbered years, if the last 2 digits
of your Social Security number are 50
through 99.
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Advance Designation of
Representative Payee
Advance Designation is available to
capable adult and emancipated minor
applicants and beneciaries of Social
Security, Supplemental Security Income
(SSI), and Special Veterans Benets. It
allows beneciaries to designate up to
3 people who could potentially serve as
their representative payee in the future, if
the need arises.
By selecting a representative payee
in advance, you’ll have peace of mind
knowing that someone you trust may
be appointed to manage your benets if
needed.
For more information, contact Social
Security or your Federal Benets Unit
(FBU). Contact information is in the last
section of this publication.
What you need to know
about Medicare
Medicare is the U.S. national health
insurance program for people who are
age 65 or older, or have a disability.
Although the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services (CMS) is the
agency in charge of the Medicare
program, Social Security processes your
application for Original Medicare (Part
A and Part B). We can give you general
information about the Medicare program.
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Medicare generally does not cover
health services you get outside the
United States. Part A becomes available
to you if you return to the U.S. We do not
withhold monthly premiums from your
benet payment for this protection.
Medicare benets are available only in
the U.S. It may not be to your advantage
to sign up and pay the premium for
medical insurance if you will be out of the
U.S. for a long period of time. However,
if you do not sign up, be aware that if
you do so at a later date, you will pay a
10% higher premium for each 12-month
period you could have been enrolled but
were not.
Parts of Medicare
• Medicare Part A (hospital insurance)
helps cover inpatient care in hospitals
(including critical access hospitals)
and skilled nursing facilities (not
custodial or long-term care). Part A
also pays for some home health care
and hospice care and inpatient care
in a religious non-medical health care
institution.
• Medicare Part B (medical insurance)
helps cover medically necessary
doctors’ services, outpatient care,
home health services, durable
medical equipment, mental health
services, and other medical services.
Part B also covers many preventative
services.
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Other parts of Medicare are run by
private insurance companies that follow
rules set by Medicare.
• Supplemental (Medigap) policies
help pay Medicare out-of-pocket
copayments, coinsurance, and
deductible expenses.
• Medicare Advantage Plan (previously
known as Part C) includes all benets
and services covered under Part A
and Part B, plus prescription drugs
and additional benets such as vision,
hearing, and dental, bundled together
in one plan.
• Medicare Part D (Medicare
prescription drug coverage) helps
cover the cost of prescription drugs.
You have choices for how you get
Medicare coverage. If you choose to
have Original Medicare (Part A and Part
B) coverage, you can buy a Medicare
Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy
from a private insurance company.
If you want Part B, you must enroll. If
you do, we will likely withhold a monthly
premium from your payment.
If you have Medicare Part B coverage
and you want to cancel it, notify Social
Security. Premiums for Medicare Part B
and associated premiums will continue
for one more month after the month you
notify us.
27
If your check is lost or stolen
It usually takes longer to deliver paper
checks outside the United States.
Delivery time varies from country to
country and your check may not arrive
the same day each month. If you do not
receive your check after a reasonable
waiting period, or if it is lost or stolen,
contact Social Security or your FBU.
Contact information is in the last section
of this publication.
We will replace your check as soon as
possible. Please try to keep your check
safe since it takes time to replace a
check for a beneciary living outside the
country.
Electronic payments
Direct deposit has several advantages.
You never have to worry about your
check being delayed in the mail, lost,
or stolen.
With direct deposit, you receive your
payment much faster than if you receive
payment by check (usually 1 to 3 weeks
faster than check deliveries). When we
deposit benets to a nancial institution,
you also may avoid check cashing and
currency conversion fees.
If you did not sign up for electronic
payments when you applied for
benets, you should do so immediately.
If you still receive paper checks, the
U.S. Department of the Treasury
will contact you about receiving
payments electronically.
28
Even when you get your payments by
direct deposit, you must let us know your
residence address.
Unless one of the payment restrictions
described in this publication applies,
we can deposit your benets directly
into your account at a U.S. nancial
institution no matter where you live.
If you live outside the United States,
we can deposit your benets into your
account at a nancial institution in
any country that has an international
direct deposit agreement with the U.S.
We cannot deposit your benets if a
payment restriction applies.
To see a list of countries that
have international direct deposit
agreements with the U.S., visit:
www.ssa.gov/international/
countrylist6.htm, or contact your
nearest Social Security ofce or FBU.
Contact information is in the last section
of this publication.
Another option to receive your benets
electronically is to use the Direct
Express
®
debit card. You do not need a
bank account. With the Direct Express
®
card program, we deposit your federal
benet payment directly onto your card
account. Your monthly benets are
available on your payment day. You
can use the card to make purchases,
pay bills, or get cash at thousands of
locations. Many transactions are free.
Call the toll-free Direct Express
®
hotline
at 1-800-333-1795 or sign up online at
www.USDirectExpress.com. If you are
29
outside the U.S., call the international
number (collect) at 1-765-778-6290 for
Direct Express
®
services. Social Security
also can help you sign up.
To nd out more about these or other
electronic payment options, contact
Social Security or your FBU. Contact
information is in the last section of this
publication.
Income tax
If you are a U.S. citizen or a permanent
resident of the United States (Green
Card holder), you are subject to U.S.
income tax laws no matter where you
live. This means that your income,
including up to 85% of the Social
Security benets you get, may be
subject to federal income tax.
If you le 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% of your
benets. “Combined income” amounts
to your adjusted gross income added to
your nontaxable interest added to 1/2
of your Social Security benets. If your
combined income is over $34,000, you
may have to pay taxes on up to 85% of
your Social Security benets.
If you le a joint tax return, you may
have to pay taxes on up to 50% of your
Social Security benets. This happens if
you and your spouse have a combined
income of $32,000 to $44,000. If your
30
combined income is more than $44,000,
you may have to pay taxes on up to 85%
of your Social Security benets.
If you are a member of a couple and le
a separate return, you probably will pay
taxes on your benets.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, or you
are not a permanent resident of the
United States, we will withhold a 30%
federal income tax from 85% of your
benet amount, unless you meet the
conditions of an income tax treaty that
reduces your tax rate. This results in
25.5% withholding of your monthly
benet amount. The U.S. has treaties
with Canada, Egypt, Germany, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Japan, Romania, and the
United Kingdom (dened as England,
Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland)
that eliminates this tax. Under the tax
treaty with Switzerland, benets paid
to residents of Switzerland who are not
U.S. citizens are taxed at a rate of 15%.
In addition, the portion of Social Security
benets based on U.S. federal, state, or
local government employment paid to
individuals who are both nationals and
residents of India are exempt from this
tax. (This list of countries is subject to
change.)
You can use the Alien Tax Screening
Tool to help you determine if your
benets are subject to this nonresident
alien tax withholding or if you qualify
for a tax treaty benet. The Alien
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Tax Screening Tool is located on our
website at: www.ssa.gov/international/
AlienTax.html.
At the end of the year, we will send you
a statement showing the amount of
benets we paid you during the year and
any income tax we withheld.
Many foreign governments tax U.S.
Social Security benets. U.S. residents
planning to live in another country
should contact that country’s embassy in
Washington, D.C., for information.
Contacting Us Outside the
United States
There are several ways to do business
with us including online, by mail, by
phone, and in person. We are here to
answer questions and serve you.
Visit our website
The most convenient way to do business
with us is to visit www.ssa.gov. There
are several things you can do online:
apply for most types of benets; nd
publications; and get answers to
frequently asked questions.
Call us
If you are calling about a Social Security
number card, a pending claim for Social
Security benets, or another issue,
call +1-410-965-0160. Message and
data rates may apply. We provide free
interpreter services upon request.
32
Visit us
If you are in the British Virgin Islands,
Canada, or Samoa, you can visit the
nearest Social Security ofce. To nd the
nearest ofce, use the Social Security
Ofce Locator at: www.ssa.gov/locator.
In all other countries, contact your
Federal Benets Unit. For a complete list
of locations and contact information, visit
www.ssa.gov/foreign.
Write to us
If you are outside the United States, you
can write to us at:
Social Security Administration
P.O. Box 17769
Baltimore, MD 21235-7769
USA
33
Notes
34
Notes
Social Security Administration | Publication No. 05-10137
May 2023 (Recycle prior editions)
Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense