Under the Agreement, if a number holder (NH) has at least six U.S. quarters of coverage
(QCs) but not enough to receive regular U.S. benefits, the Social Security Administration
(SSA) can count the NH’s years of "working life residence" in Australia to permit
the NH (or any dependents or survivors) to qualify for U.S. Totalization benefits.
If the NH has enough QCs under the U.S. system to receive regular U.S. benefits, SSA
cannot count Australian years of "working life residence". Under the U.S. – Australian
Agreement, the term "working life residence" means periods of residence in Australia
between age 16 and normal retirement age during which the worker was employed or self-employed,
see GN 01743.205A.2.
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1.
Field office (FO) responsibilities for processing claims under the Agreement
When a NH does not have enough U.S. coverage to meet fully insured status, but the
NH has at least six QCs, FO technicians must take an initial claim to process the
insured status denial. The initial denial automatically generates a notice to inform
the applicant that they do not meet the insured status requirement based on U.S. coverage
alone, and that we will request the applicant's Australian coverage record.
For more information about processing Totalization insured status notices for claims
for U.S. benefits, see GN 01702.315 through GN 01702.325.
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2.
Division of International Operations (DIO) responsibilities for claims processing
under the Agreement
DIO requests and converts Australian periods of coverage on the Australian coverage
record to U.S. QCs before adjudicating the claim.