GN 01735.120 U.S. Totalization Benefits under the Irish Agreement

A. Policy — General

Under the agreement, if a number holder (NH) has at least 6 U.S. quarters of coverage (QCs) but not enough to be insured for regular U.S. benefits, the NH's credits under the Irish Social Security system can be added to his or her U.S. coverage to permit the NH (or any dependents or survivors) to qualify for U.S. Totalization benefits.

B. Policy — crediting Irish coverage

SSA will credit one U.S. QC for every 13 weeks or remaining fraction of Irish coverage in a calendar year. (Irish coverage is measured in weeks.) However, no credit will be given for:

1.

any week in a calendar quarter that is already credited as a U.S. QC, or
2.

more than 4 QC's for any calendar year.

C. Policy — Computing benefits

When U.S. insured status is established based on combined U.S. and Irish coverage, the amount of the U.S. Totalization benefit will be determined using the computation method described in GN 01701.200.

D. Policy — Adjudication responsibility

1. Field Office Responsibilities

Field offices (FOs) are responsible for processing an initial insured status denial (see GN 01702.315 - GN 01702.325) when the worker has at least 6 QC's but is not insured based on U.S. coverage alone. This denial will produce a notice advising the applicant that insured status is not met based on U.S. coverage alone and that the Irish coverage record is being requested.

2. Office of International Operations Responsibilities

The Office of International Operations (OIO) will request the Irish coverage record. When the record is received, OIO will convert the Irish coverage to QC's and finally adjudicate the claim.

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0201735120

GN 01735.120 - U.S. Totalization Benefits under the Irish Agreement - 01/23/2003
Batch run: 04/18/2014
Rev:01/23/2003

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)