An individual who meets all SVB qualification requirements can be paid benefits only for months during which the individual resides outside the United States (as explained in VB 00102.010). An individual's residence on the first day of the month will generally be considered his or her residence throughout the month absent information to the contrary. For SVB purposes, an individual can be a resident of only one country at a time. An individual cannot maintain a residence in the United States as well as a residence outside the United States and be considered a resident of both countries at the same time.

IMPORTANT: A determination that an individual is not a foreign resident for SVB purposes is NOT a determination that an individual is a U.S. resident.

Under certain circumstances an SVB recipient can be entitled to receive SVB and a prorated SSI benefit for the same month. This can occur when an SVB recipient is considered a foreign resident on the first day of a month but gives up his or her foreign residence and becomes a U.S. resident later in that same month (as discussed in VB 00205.170).

SVB is not payable beginning with the month after the individual loses or relinquishes his or her foreign residence. Residence outside the United States is considered lost or relinquished if the SVB recipient:

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  enters the United States and stays for more than 1 full calendar month;

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  notifies SSA that he or she no longer considers himself or herself to be a foreign resident; or

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  becomes eligible again for SSI (including section 1619(b) participants and certain institutionalized individuals).

EXCEPTION: An SVB recipient whose stay or visit in the United States exceeds 1 full calendar month can continue to be considered a foreign resident and paid SVB if good cause is found to exist per VB 00205.160C.

SSA's policy for establishing and discontinuing residence outside of the United States for SVB purposes is found in VB 00205.155 through VB 00205.165. These guidelines are to be used in tandem with the following sections to determine whether the departure from, and/or or entrance into, a foreign country affect SVB entitlement and/or payments.

An SVB recipient who comes to the United States for a visit is considered to retain his or her foreign residence unless the visit lasts for more than 1 full calendar month. Once a visit exceeds 1 full calendar month, he or she will no longer be considered a foreign resident as of the first day of the month following the first full calendar month the individual remained in the United States.

EXAMPLE: An SVB beneficiary resides in the Philippines and has been receiving monthly SVB since May 2000. He notifies the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) that he is leaving on January 9, 2001 to visit relatives in the United States. He is uncertain how long his U.S. visit will last; however, he has no intention of relinquishing his Philippine residence. When the beneficiary returned to the Philippines, he contacted the FBU and submitted his plane ticket showing that he returned on March 2, 2001. For SVB purposes, SSA determines that the beneficiary's Philippine residence ended once he remained in the United States for a full calendar month even though the beneficiary still considered himself to be a Philippine resident while visiting in the United States. SVB payments would be as follows:

An SVB beneficiary's foreign residence ends on the date he or she notifies SSA that he or she no longer considers himself or herself to be a resident of a foreign country. Absent information to the contrary, a beneficiary's statement of the date (past or future) on which he or she gives up (or will give up) foreign residence will be accepted at face value. If an individual notifies SSA that he or she no longer considers himself or herself to be a foreign resident, but does not provide a date foreign residence was relinquished, the date of notification will be used as the date the beneficiary's foreign residence ends. If SSA becomes aware after-the-fact that an SVB beneficiary is not residing abroad and has remained in the United States a full calendar month or longer, SVB payments will be suspended effective with the earlier of:

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  the month following the month the beneficiary no longer considers himself or herself to be a foreign resident; or

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  the month following the first full calendar month throughout which the beneficiary remains in the United States.

EXAMPLE 1: On April 18, 2001, an SVB beneficiary calls the FO to report that he had relinquished his Philippine residence when he permanently moved to the United States on March 28, 2001.

EXAMPLE 2: On May 5, 2001, an individual went into an FO to file for SSI at which time it was discovered that he was being paid SVB as a Philippine resident. The individual had arrived in the United States on April 1, 2001, and at the end of April he decided to remain in the United States indefinitely. SVB is to be suspended effective May 2001—the month after the month foreign residence was relinquished based on the SVB recipient's statement. (NOTE: April 2001 SVB is payable because the SVB recipient was considered to be residing outside the United States on the first day of April even though he departed the Philippines on April 1.)