An individual who meets all the requirements to be a qualified individual can be paid benefits only for those months in which the individual is residing outside the United States on the first day of the month, but no earlier than the month of application for SVB or the month a protective writing was filed.

An individual is considered to be residing outside the United States if the individual has established an actual dwelling place outside the United States with the intention of continuing to live outside the United States.

An individual is considered residing outside the United States if, on the first day of the month, he or she so resides outside the United States, as defined in VB 00101.001B.1. For SVB purposes, an individual can be a resident of only one country at a time. Thus, an individual cannot maintain a residence in the United States as well as a residence outside the United States at the same time. However, he or she can be a foreign resident for the first part of a month and a U.S. resident for a later part of that same month.

To become entitled to SVB payments, the individual must, except as noted in VB 00102.010D, establish a residence outside the United States within 4 calendar months of the date of the notice of qualification. For example, if the qualification determination is dated May 15, the individual has to become a foreign resident before October 1 of that year.

Generally, an individual, whose claim is denied because he or she did not become a foreign resident within the 4-month period, has to file a new application to become entitled to SVB.

If the individual is outside the United States at the time he or she files the application for SVB, residence outside the United States will usually be determined at the same time it is determined whether all the requirements for qualification are met. However, if for some reason the individual has not established foreign residence (e.g., he is visiting his son in Guam before going to live in the Philippines), the 4-month period noted above applies.

See VB 00205.150 through VB 00205.170 for a detailed discussion of residence outside the United States.

Not establishing a residence outside the United States within the prescribed period results in denial of the claim. However, an exception is made for individuals who are in the United States and are appealing either a:

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  title VIII issue; or

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  determination or decision on an RSI and/or SSI claim filed at the same time as the SVB claim where qualification for SVB depends on the determination or decision on the RSI and/or SSI claim.

In these cases, the 4-month period begins with the month after the month in which the individual is notified of the effectuation of the determination or decision in the appeals process or in which the individual's appeal rights are exhausted.