Spousal relationships include spouses, surviving spouses, divorced spouses, surviving divorced spouses, or surviving divorced parents.

1. 1. 

   A, the NH, and B, the spouse, are citizens of Indonesia. A has lived in the United States for 10 years. A and B became entitled to benefits in January 2004 and then moved to Indonesia.

   B resided in the United States for 5 years while married to the NH.

   A meets the alien exception code of 3 (lived in the United States for ten years) and B meets the 5-year residency requirement.

   Payments can be paid indefinitely to B while living in Indonesia.

2. 2. 

   Same as in example 1 except the B resided in the United States for 7 years before marrying the NH.

   B and the NH were married and living in the United States for 3 years and moved to Indonesia effective April 4, 2007.

   B does not meet the 5-year residency requirement. B did live in the United States for 7 years but it was before marrying the NH. B must be married to the NH and residing in the United States for at least 5 years before meeting the alien nonpayment exception. B resided in the United States for only 3 years while married to the NH.

   Therefore, B is placed in alien suspense (SJ) after the 6-month period of absence from the United States (May through October 31, 2007) effective November 2007.

3. 3. 

   D, an aged widow, is a citizen of Argentina born on 02/01/1947.

   D was admitted to the United States for permanent residence on 01/15/1967.

   D married the NH on 11/29/1973 in New York City. The NH died in New York in 1976. D stayed in the United States but returned to Argentina to reside permanently in 05/1984.

   D became entitled to widow’s benefits in 02/2007. The deceased NH had 40 QC’s.

   D meets the 5-year residency requirement because she was the wife and later the widow of the deceased NH while residing in the United States from 11/29/1973 through 05/1984.

   The period of 01/15/1967 through 11/28/1973 is not counted because D was not in a spousal relationship with the NH.

4. 4. 

   Same as example 3, except D returns to reside in Argentina in 1976 after the NH's death.

   D does not meet the 5-year residency requirement when entitlement begins in 02/2007.

   Although D resided in the United States for more than 5 years from 01/15/1967 through 08/1977, D was not in a spousal relationship with the NH for at least 5 of those years. The spousal relationship lasted 3 years from 1973 through 1976.

Remarriage before the completion of the 5-year residency period affects the completion of that period only if entitlement to a particular category of benefit would otherwise be affected.

A surviving divorced spouse remarries before age 60.

They did not complete the 5-year residency period with their former spouse prior to the remarriage.

The surviving divorced spouse would not be eligible for surviving divorced spouse’s benefits and the residency requirement would not matter because they remarried before the age of 60.

However, if the surviving divorced spouse remarried after the age of 60, but before the requirement was met, they could eventually complete the 5-year period, because the remarriage would not affect potential entitlement to surviving divorced spouse’s benefits.

An alien who is entitled to benefits as the natural child of a living or deceased NH must meet the following requirements:

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  The child must have resided in the United States for 5 or more years as the child of the parent on whose earnings record entitlement is based; or

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  The parent on whose earnings record the child is entitled and the other parent must each have either resided in the United States for 5 or more years or died while residing in the United States.

  For more information about determining the other parent, see RS 02610.035.

1. 1. 

   A, the NH, lived in the United States from 1970 through 2003 and became entitled to benefits in November 2005. A moved to the Philippines and married in January 2006. A and his young wife, B2, have a child, C1, on September 10, 2006.

   B2 and C1 become entitled as dependents on A’s earnings record in October 2006.

   B2 cannot receive benefits because she did not reside in the United States while married to the NH for 5 years. Her benefit is placed in alien suspense (SJ). B2 would have to stay in the United States for a full calendar month to receive benefits.

   C1 can be paid benefits for the first 6 months C2 is outside the United States from October 2006 through March 2007 because C1 is a newborn child. C1’s benefits are placed in alien suspense (SJ) effective April 2007, the 7th month of absence from the United States because each parent did not reside in the United States for 5 years. Only A resided in the United States for 5 years.

   For more information on the alien nonpayment provisions (ANP), see RS 02610.001.

2. 2. 

   NH, a citizen of Mexico, lived in the United States from 1963 through 2005 and married in May 1998. His wife, a citizen of Mexico, had been a United States resident since June 1990.

   NH and his wife returned to Mexico to live in 2005.

   NH and his wife have twins in December 2006.

   NH becomes entitled to A benefits in March 2007. His young wife, B2, and children, C1 and C2, file as his dependents.

   B2 can be paid benefits while residing outside the United States because she meets the 5-year residency requirement. B2 was married to the NH while living in the United States for over 5 years (1998 through 2005) and meets the alien exception code of 6 (social insurance country). The period before her marriage to the NH for June 1990 through April 1998 cannot be counted because she was not married to the NH.

   C1 and C2, the twins, can also be paid benefits while residing outside the United States because each of their parents meets the 5-year residency requirement.

3. 3. 

   NH resided in the United States from 1980 through June 2004.

   NH was married in April 2003. His wife had been a U.S. resident since July 1995.

   NH, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, and his wife return to reside in the Dominican Republic in July 2004.

   NH and his wife have triplets in February 2007.

   NH becomes entitled to A benefits in May 2007. His young wife, B2, and children, C1, C2, and C3, file as his dependents.

   B2 cannot be paid benefits while residing outside the United States because she was not in a spousal relationship with the NH for 5 years while residing in the United States. Although B2 resided in the United States for a total of 9 years, only 1 year of the residence occurred while married to the NH. B2 is placed in alien suspense (SJ) effective May 2007.

   C1, C2, and C3 can be paid benefits effective May 2007 while living outside the United States because each of their parents resided in the United States for at least 5 years and the children met the alien exception code of 6, social insurance country. It does not matter that B2’s period of U.S. residence was established before she was in a spousal relationship with the NH for benefits to be payable to the children, but it does apply to her spousal benefits.

An alien who is entitled to benefits as the adopted child of a living or deceased NH must meet the residency requirement in one of the following ways:

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  The child must have resided in the United States for 5 or more years as the adopted child of the NH on whose earnings record entitlement is based; or

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  The NH on whose earnings record the adopted child is entitled and the other parent, if any, must each have either resided in the United States for 5 or more years or died while residing in the United States. For more information on determining the other parent, see RS 02610.035.

In addition to meeting the residency requirements, the adopted child must meet the following requirements:

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  The child must have been adopted within the United States by the NH on whose earnings record the child's entitlement is based; and

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  The child must have lived in the United States with and received one-half support from the NH for a period beginning prior to the child’s attainment of age 18 of at least one year immediately before the month in which the NH became eligible for retirement insurance benefits (RIB) or disability insurance benefits (DIB) or died, whichever comes first; or,

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  If the adopted parent has a period of disability which continued until they became entitled to RIB or DIB or died, the year before the month in which that period of disability began.

The requirement “adopted within the United States” is material to continuing eligibility for payment outside the United States. The adoption decree or other documentary evidence must state that the adoption occurred in the United States. An amended birth certificate that is issued after an adoption is not documentary evidence that can be used to prove that the adoption occurred in the United States.

1. 1. 

   NH entered the United States for permanent residence in 1975.

   NH returned to the Philippines in 2006 and adopted a child born in 2004 in the Philippines.

   NH became entitled to A benefits in April 2007 and the adopted child, C1, was entitled as a dependent.

   C1 does not meet an exception to the ANP because the child was adopted outside the United States and did not meet the 5-year residency requirement. Therefore, payments cannot be paid to C1 while outside the United States effective April 2007.

2. 2. 

   NH entered the United States for permanent residence in 1991.

   NH returned to live in Bermuda in January 2007.

   NH adopted a child born in Bermuda in December 2003. The child was also adopted in a Florida court but never lived with the NH in the United States.

   The child remained in Bermuda.

   NH became entitled to A benefits in January 2007 and C1, the adopted child, was entitled as a dependent.

   C1 does not meet an exception to the ANP even though C1 was adopted in the United States. This is because C1 did not live with the NH in the Unites States and receive one-half support from the NH in the year immediately before the month in which the NH became eligible for benefits.

An alien who is entitled to parent’s benefits must meet the following requirements:

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  The alien parent must have resided in the United States for 5 or more years; and

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  The alien parent must be a parent of the NH on whose earnings record they are entitled to benefits.

F2, the deceased NH’s mother, became entitled to benefits in April 2007, the month the NH died.

The NH and both parents were admitted to the United States as permanent residents in 1980.

The NH’s father became ill and the father and mother returned to Panama in 1987. The NH’s father died in 1988 and the NH’s mother was readmitted to the United States in July 1989.

F2 lived with the NH in the United States until September 1991 and then moved back to Panama.

F2 meets the 5-year residency requirement since she lived in the United States for a total of 5 years during which she met the definition of a parent.

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  RS 00209.010 Parent’s Benefits One-Half Support

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  RS 01301.165 One Half Support, Corroborating Statement and Other Evidence

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  RS 01301.180 Other Sources of Support Evidence and Information

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  RS 01301.185 Determining One Half Support

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  RS 01301.206 One Half Support Child Dependency Cases

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  RS 01310.000 Child in Care