In 1983, Congress amended Section 340 of the Social Security Act (P.L. 98-21) to include
an additional provision regarding the payment of Social Security benefits to aliens
outside the United States. Section 202(t)(11) of the Social Security Act requires
that certain non-U.S. citizen dependent and survivor beneficiaries who are first eligible
for Social Security Benefits after December 1984, must have resided in the United
States for at least 5 years as the spouse, surviving spouse, child, or parent of the
NH, in order to receive U.S. benefits while residing outside the United States. For
more information about the 5-year residency requirements for spouses, natural children,
adopted children, and parents, see RS 02610.030.
Beginning in January 1985, the alien nonpayment provision (ANP) requires that certain
alien beneficiaries entitled to dependent or survivor benefits must meet a U.S. residency
requirement in addition to meeting the following exceptions:
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•
Code 3 – Number Holder (NH) has 10 years of U.S. residence;
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•
Code 4 – NH has 40 Quarters of Coverage (QC’s);
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•
Code 6 – Citizen of a Social Insurance Country
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Code 7 – Railroad Service
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•
Code 9 – Beneficiary in Military Service
These exceptions have two
tiers
and both tiers must be met. For the first
tier,
the alien must meet an alien exception code. For the second tier, the alien’s dependents
or
survivors must meet the
5-year
residency requirement.
This requirement precludes paying benefits to dependents and survivors outside the
United States unless:
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•
Dependents or survivors have resided in the United States for a period of at least
5 years during which time the relationship with the NH as a spouse, surviving spouse,
child, or parent has existed.
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•
The beneficiaries are children who cannot satisfy the requirement on their own but
are deemed to meet it if both parents meet it. For information about establishing absence and presence in the United
States, see RS 02610.020. For more information about determining the other parent, see RS 02610.035A.
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1.
A dependent/survivor who is a citizen of a social insurance country must also meet the 5-year residency requirement.
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2.
A dependent/survivor who is entitled on the earnings record of a NH who has 40 QCs
must
also meet the 5-year residency requirement.