TN 4 (10-22)

GN 01749.120 U.S. Totalization Benefits under the Czech Agreement

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 Czech Social Security system can be added to the NH's U.S. coverage to determine insured status.

A. Adjudication responsibility

1. Field office responsibilities

Claims Representatives (CRs) in the field office (FO) process the initial insured status denial when the NH has at least 6 U.S. QCs but is not insured based on U.S. coverage alone. This denial automatically generates a notice advising the applicant that insured status is not met based on U.S. coverage alone and that we are requesting the foreign coverage record. The FO routes the claim to Social Security Administration, OIO-Totalization, P.O. Box 17769, Baltimore, MD 21235-7769, for final adjudication. For information about processing Totalization insured-status notices in claims for U.S. benefits, see GN 01702.315.

2. Office of International Operations responsibilities

The Benefit Earnings Technician (BET) in the Office of International Operations (OIO) requests the Czech coverage record. When the record is received, the Claims Authorizer (CA) in OIO converts the Czech coverage to QCs, determines insured status, and adjudicates the claim.

B. Crediting Czech contributory coverage

SSA credits one U.S. QC for every 90 days of Czech coverage in a calendar year. (Czech coverage is measured in days.) However, we give no credit for:

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

  • more than 4 QCs for any calendar year.

C. Computing benefits

When SSA establishes U.S. insured status based on combined U.S. and Czech coverage, we use the computation method described in GN 01701.200 to determine the amount of the U.S. Totalization benefit.


To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0201749120
GN 01749.120 - U.S. Totalization Benefits under the Czech Agreement - 10/18/2022
Batch run: 10/18/2022
Rev:10/18/2022