If you are a U.S. citizen and qualify for Social Security retirement, family, survivor or disability benefits, you can receive your payments while living in most other countries.
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Under Treasury Department sanctions, Social Security will not send money to anyone residing in Cuba or North Korea, although affected U.S. citizens can recoup payments once they move elsewhere.
Americans living in eight other countries — Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — can receive Social Security payments only under certain strict conditions, one of which is agreeing to appear personally at a U.S. embassy or consulate every six months.
Non-U.S. citizens who qualify for benefits based on their own work history may be able to get them abroad, depending on their country of citizenship and country of residence (and subject to the previously noted payment restrictions). Noncitizens eligible for family or survivor benefits may need to meet additional conditions.
To find out if you are eligible to receive benefits in a foreign country, contact Social Security’s Office of Earnings & International Operations at www.ssa.gov/foreign or 410-965-0160. To learn more, go to www.ssa.gov/pubs and search for the brochure “Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States.”
No matter where you live, your payments will be calculated in U.S. dollars.
