Determining a claimant or beneficiary’s country of citizenship is important when making certain eligibility decisions affecting benefit payments outside the United States. SSA routinely obtains citizenship information on iClaims applications and on Form SSA-21, Supplement to Claim of Person Outside the United States. A person’s citizenship can affect:

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  whether payments can continue beyond the general six month limitation on benefits to non-U.S. citizens outside the United States under the Alien Nonpayment Provision (ANP); and

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  if Nonresident Alien Tax withholding applies.

Dual citizenship means a person is a citizen of more than one country. Claimants and beneficiaries often claim citizenship of the United States and at least one other country. A person who is currently a U.S. citizen is not subject to the ANP or to the withholding of Nonresident Alien Tax regardless of dual citizenship status.

The automatic acquisition or retention of foreign citizenship does not affect U.S. citizenship status. Some countries, for example Israel and Germany, allow automatic acquisition of citizenship for specific persons under a “law of return,” i.e., a right of return to the homeland.

Many foreign countries allow the retention of citizenship when a person obtains citizenship from another country by marriage, naturalization, etc. However, some countries do not allow the person to retain citizenship or only allow it under certain conditions. Therefore, we require current proof of the foreign citizenship that provides a citizenship exception to the ANP in dual foreign citizenship situations.

NOTE: Some situations involving alleged U.S. dual citizenship require additional information such as how the person obtained the foreign citizenship. As explained in GN 00303.200.B, this may require that we verify the person’s current U.S. citizenship status.

For ANP and Nonresident Alien Tax withholding purposes, when a person alleges current dual citizenship, the following rules apply.

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  If the person claims foreign and U.S. citizenship, we require proof of U.S. citizenship.

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  If the person claims to be a citizen of two foreign countries:

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    We require current proof of the citizenship that provides payment eligibility;

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    If citizenship of both foreign countries provides payment eligibility, proof of current citizenship of either country is acceptable. However, if development for current citizenship status is necessary, request proof of the most recent citizenship the person acquired;

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    If citizenship of neither country provides payment eligibility, we require no proof.

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  RS 00210.001 Field Office (FO) and Program Service Center (PSC) Requirements and Definitions of Lump-Sum Death Payment (LSDP)

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  RS 02610.001 Alien Nonpayment Provisions

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  RS 02610.010 Exceptions to Alien Nonpayment

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  RS 02610.013 Coding Priority of Alien Nonpayment Provisions

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  RS 02610.015 Status of Countries for Alien Nonpayment Provision (ANP) Exceptions Based on Citizenship

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  RS 02610.025 5 Year Residency Requirement for Alien Dependents/Survivors Outside the United States (U.S.)

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  RS 02640.020 Foreign Country of Citizenship

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  RS 02640.060 Evidence of Citizenship in Other Countries

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  GN 00204.055 Internet Claim (iClaim) Application

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  GN 00205.180 Significance of Form SSA-21 (Supplement to Claim of Person Outside the United States)

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  GN 00303.100 United States (U.S.) Citizenship

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  GN 00303.200 Loss of United States (U.S.) Citizenship or Nationality

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  GN 00303.300 Establishing U.S. Citizenship for All SSA Programs

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  GN 00303.320 Evidence of U.S. Citizenship — Tolerances

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  GN 05010.010 Beneficiaries Subject to the Withholding Tax