A non-U.S. citizen can receive Social Security benefits, but two things have to line up: enough work credits on someone’s record (yours, a spouse’s, or a parent’s) and a qualifying lawful immigration status. Most retirement claims require 40 credits, which is about ten years of covered U.S. work, and in 2026 each credit takes $1,890 in earnings.1Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner – Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility The rest of the picture, including Supplemental Security Income, benefits paid overseas, and taxes withheld on those payments, follows a different set of rules for non-citizens than it does for citizens.
Earning the Work Credits
Credits come from work in the United States on which FICA taxes were paid. You get one credit for every $1,890 of covered earnings in 2026, up to four credits a year, so $7,560 in a year maxes you out regardless of citizenship.1Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner – Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility Forty credits is the threshold for retirement eligibility.2Social Security Administration. Fast Facts and Figures About Social Security, 2025
Credits don’t expire. Five years of work now, a decade abroad, five more years later, and all ten count together.3Social Security Administration. Retirement Benefits The credit count decides whether you are eligible; the benefit amount is computed from your average covered earnings.
One trap catches people who worked legally but on a FICA-exempt visa. Certain F-1 and J-1 holders don’t pay Social Security taxes during their early years in status, and those earnings don’t build credits even though the job was authorized. Check your earnings record with the SSA before you assume any given year counted.
Which Immigration Statuses Qualify
Having the credits is not enough. To collect Title II benefits (retirement, disability, survivor payments), a non-citizen generally must be “lawfully present” in the United States, using DHS’s definition.4Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 1725 – Evidence of U.S. Citizenship The main qualifying categories are:
- Lawful permanent residents holding a valid I-551.
- Refugees and asylees admitted under Sections 207 or 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- Parolees admitted for at least one year under Section 212(d)(5).
- People whose deportation or removal has been withheld under Section 241(b)(3).
- Cuban-Haitian entrants as defined in the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980.
- Certain battered spouses and children treated as “deemed qualified aliens.”
SSA verifies status against DHS records before paying. If your status lapses, benefits stop, and a person who has been deported cannot restart retirement or disability payments unless they later become a lawful permanent resident.5Social Security Administration. POMS RS 00204.025 – Evidence Requirements for Establishing U.S. Lawful Presence
Spousal and Survivor Benefits
You can collect on a current or former spouse’s record, and children can collect as survivors, but the eligibility hurdles you’d face as a citizen still apply. A current spouse generally must be at least 62, with the marriage lasting at least a year. A divorced spouse must be at least 62, unmarried, and previously married to the worker for at least ten years; if the ex-spouse has not yet filed, you also need to have been divorced for two years before claiming on their record.
Unmarried children of a deceased worker may qualify if they are 17 or younger, 18 or 19 and in school full-time, or any age if disabled before turning 22.6Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits Citizenship isn’t the deciding factor for child survivor benefits, but the lawful presence rules still govern where and how the money can be paid.
A non-citizen spouse or ex-spouse claiming from abroad faces an extra hurdle if the country of residence has no totalization agreement with the U.S.: the claimant must have lived in the United States for at least five years while married to the worker. Without that, the SSA generally will not pay a spousal or divorced-spouse benefit overseas.
Supplemental Security Income Is Stricter
SSI works differently. It’s a need-based program for people who are aged, blind, or disabled with very limited income and resources, and it does not require work credits. The immigration rules, however, are tighter than for regular Social Security.
Since welfare reform took effect in August 1996, most non-citizens must both fall into a “qualified alien” category and meet an additional condition. The seven qualified alien categories track the Title II ones and add certain Amerasian immigrants.7Social Security Administration. Spotlight on SSI Benefits for Noncitizens The most common ways to meet the second requirement are:
- Lawful permanent residents with 40 qualifying quarters, which may include quarters worked by a spouse or parent. If you entered the U.S. on or after August 22, 1996, a five-year waiting period applies even with 40 quarters.
- U.S. military veterans, active-duty service members, and their spouses or dependents.
- People who were lawfully residing in the U.S. and already receiving SSI on August 22, 1996.
Refugees, asylees, Cuban-Haitian entrants, and certain other humanitarian categories run on a seven-year clock: SSI lasts a maximum of seven years from the date the qualifying status was granted, and there is no grace period after it ends.8Social Security Administration. POMS SI 00502.106 – Time-Limited Eligibility for Certain Aliens To keep SSI past that deadline, you generally need to obtain a different qualifying status, such as becoming a lawful permanent resident with 40 quarters.
Getting Paid Outside the United States
This is where non-citizens hit the sharpest rules. Under the alien nonpayment provision, SSA stops monthly benefits to any non-citizen who has been outside the United States for six consecutive calendar months.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments Once you’ve been gone 30 consecutive days, SSA treats you as continuously outside the country until you return and stay a full calendar month, meaning from the first day of a month through the last.10Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.460 A short visit does not reset the clock.
Exceptions That Keep Payments Flowing
- You are a citizen of one of the 29 countries whose social insurance systems pay benefits to U.S. citizens abroad, a list that includes Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, and Italy.11Social Security Administration. Country List 1
- The worker whose record you’re drawing on earned at least 40 quarters of coverage.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments
- The worker lived in the U.S. for a combined total of ten or more years.
- You are on active duty with the U.S. armed forces abroad.
- You reside in a country that has a totalization agreement with the U.S.
Countries Where Payment Is Blocked Entirely
The U.S. Treasury Department bars Social Security payments to anyone living in Cuba or North Korea. U.S. citizens can eventually collect withheld payments after moving to an unrestricted country; non-citizens cannot recover the months spent in either country. Payments generally also cannot be sent to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan, though limited exceptions exist.12Social Security Administration. Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States Treasury sanctions shift over time, so check the current list before relocating.13U.S. Department of the Treasury. Sanctions Programs and Country Information
Totalization Agreements for Split Careers
If your working life is divided between the U.S. and another country, you may not have 40 credits in either place. Totalization agreements let you combine credits from both countries to meet each system’s minimum.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 433 – International Agreements The U.S. has agreements with about 30 countries, mostly in Western Europe, plus Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Chile, Brazil, and Uruguay.
These agreements also prevent double taxation by assigning coverage to one country’s system based on where and how long you work. When you qualify by combining credits, each country pays a partial benefit proportional to the time worked under its system rather than a full benefit from both.
Tax Withholding on Benefits Paid Abroad
Non-citizens living outside the U.S. face automatic withholding on their monthly Social Security payments. SSA withholds 30 percent of 85 percent of each payment, which works out to an effective 25.5 percent flat rate regardless of total income.15Social Security Administration. Nonresident Alien Tax Withholding Tax treaties can lower or eliminate the withholding. Residents of Canada, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Romania, and the United Kingdom are fully exempt under current treaties; residents of Switzerland pay 15 percent instead of 25.5 percent.16Internal Revenue Service. Publication 915 (2025), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits Claim a treaty exemption by filing IRS Form W-8BEN with SSA.
A Note on Medicare
The 40 credits that qualify you for retirement benefits also give you premium-free Medicare Part A at 65 if you’re a lawful permanent resident. Without 40 credits, Part A in 2026 costs $311 a month with at least 30 credits and $565 a month with fewer than 30. Part B is $202.90 a month regardless of work history.17Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles
Legislation that took effect in July 2025 restricted Medicare to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, Cuban-Haitian entrants, and people residing under the Compacts of Free Association. Refugees, asylees, TPS holders, and other lawfully present non-citizens who once qualified are no longer eligible even with the required credits. If you fall into one of those categories, don’t assume Social Security eligibility carries Medicare eligibility with it; verify current status with CMS or SSA.
Applying and What to Bring
Start with the SSA, either at a local office or through one of its international offices if you’re already abroad. You’ll need original documents or agency-certified copies proving identity, age, and immigration status. Photocopies and notarized copies are not accepted.
For status, SSA accepts a Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551), an Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766), or an I-94 Arrival/Departure Record together with an unexpired foreign passport.18Social Security Administration. Learn What Documents You Will Need to Get a Social Security Card If you don’t yet have a Social Security number, you can request one on USCIS Form I-765 or Form I-485 at the time of your immigration filing; the card arrives by mail after approval without a separate SSA application.19Social Security Administration. Apply For Your Social Security Card While Applying For Your Work Permit and/or Lawful Permanent Residency