Each application for U.S. benefits contains a question asking whether the number holder (NH) has coverage under a foreign social security system. If the applicant indicates the NH has foreign coverage, the application asks the applicant to enter the name of the country. These questions are designed to determine whether the NH has coverage in an agreement country that could be combined with the NH's U.S. coverage in the event the NH is not insured based on U.S. coverage alone. It also helps to determine if the applicant may be eligible for benefits from the foreign country.

When an applicant indicates on a title II application that the NH has coverage in an agreement country, it establishes a protective filing for benefits from that agreement country unless the applicant states explicitly that the applicant does not wish to file for benefits from that country. Dispose of such protective filings in accordance with GN 01702.100C.

Dispose of a protective filing for foreign benefits by one of the following methods:

• •

  Secure an application for benefits of the foreign country (see chart in GN 01702.120).

• •

  Obtain the applicant's signed statement in the remarks section of the title II application that the applicant does not wish to apply for benefits from the foreign country.

  NOTE: Restricting an application to only U.S. benefits would be appropriate if there is no possible entitlement (or earlier entitlement) to a foreign benefit, for example, the applicant is already entitled to a foreign benefit or is filing for U.S. retirement benefits at age 62 and the foreign benefit is not payable until age 65. If the applicant is filing for U.S. Totalization benefits and an SSA-2490 is completed on the modernized claims system (MCS), the MCS application can be restricted to only U.S. benefits by answering “No” to the question about filing for benefits from a foreign country on the additional benefits (ADDB) screen. If the applicant is filing for U.S. retirement, survivors or disability benefits under a Totalization agreement and a paper or electronic (e-form) SSA-2490-BK (Application For Benefits Under A U.S. International Social Security Agreement) is completed, the application can be restricted to only U.S. benefits by checking the “None” block under the type of foreign benefits claimed in Part I of the SSA-2490-BK.

• •

  Send a 6-month closeout letter to the applicant (see GN 00204.012).

• •

  Completing the SSA-2490 on MCS, MSOM MCS 007.001

• •

  Completing the ADDB screen on MCS, MSOM MCS 005.012

• •

  Retroactive life of foreign applications, GN 01702.125