A second supplementary Social Security agreement with Germany, which became effective
May 1, 1996, permits certain ethnic German Jews who fled their homelands in Eastern
Europe for fear of persecution and who now reside in the United States to make retroactive
voluntary contributions to the German Social Security system. These retroactive voluntary
contributions are different from the voluntary contributions described in GN 01707.135. Making these retroactive voluntary contributions can help a person establish entitlement
to a German benefit or increase the amount of a benefit already being paid by Germany.
German benefits based on these voluntary contributions can be paid as far back as
July 1990. As a result, the amount of retroactive benefits payable will usually exceed
the amount of voluntary contributions due, so there will be no cost to the beneficiary.
Further information about these contributions and who can make them is contained in
the factsheet exhibit in GN 01707.137.
Germany has developed a special application form called the D/USA ZA which must be
completed by people who wish to apply for the right to make retroactive voluntary
contributions. The D/USA ZA may also serve as an application for German Social Security
benefits (both life and death) for people who wish to claim German benefits at the
same time they apply to make reroactive voluntary contributions.
The D/USA ZA is not stocked in SSA FO's but can be obtained from German consular offices
throughout the United States. It is a bilingual (German and English) self-help form
that includes completion instructions as well as a list of documents that may be submitted
to support the claim.