Under the agreement, if an NH has at least 6 quarters of U.S. coverage but not enough to be insured for regular U.S. benefits, the NH's credits under the Dutch 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.

SSA will credit one U.S. quarter of coverage for every 3 months of Dutch coverage in a calendar year. (Dutch coverage is measured in months.) However, no credit will be given for:

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  any month in a calendar quarter that is already credited as a U.S. quarter of coverage, or

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  more than 4 quarters of coverage for any calendar year.

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

Field Offices (FO's) are responsible for processing an initial insured status denial (see GN 01702.300) 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 claimant that insured status is not met based on U.S. coverage alone and that the foreign coverage record is being requested.

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