Effective Dates: 10/13/2022 - Present Previous | Next

TN 6 (10-22)

GN 01713.120 U.S. Totalization Benefits Under The Belgian Agreement

A. General

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 Belgian Social Security system can be added to the NH's U.S. coverage to permit the NH (or any dependents or survivors) to qualify for U.S. Totalization benefits.

B. Crediting Belgian coverage

SSA will credit one U.S. QC for every three months or remaining fraction of Belgian coverage in a calendar year. (Belgian coverage is measured in months.) However, no credit will be given for:

  1. 1. 

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

  2. 2. 

    more than four QC's for any calendar year.

C. Computing benefits

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

D. Adjudication responsibility

1. Field Office Responsibilities

Field offices (FOs) are responsible for processing an initial insured status denial (see GN 01702.315 - GN 01702.325) when the worker has at least six QC's but is not insured based on U.S. coverage alone. This denial will produce a notice advising the applicant that insured status is not met based on U.S. coverage alone and that the Belgian coverage record is being requested.

2. Division of International Operations (DIO) Responsibilities

The DIO will request the Belgian coverage record. When the record is received, DIO will convert the Belgian coverage to QC's and finally adjudicate the claim.

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0201713120
GN 01713.120 - U.S. Totalization Benefits Under The Belgian Agreement - 10/13/2022
Batch run: 10/13/2022
Rev:10/13/2022