Yes. If you worked in the United States and in one of 30 countries that has a Totalization Agreement with the U.S., you can receive Social Security from two countries at the same time. Each government pays its own benefit based on the years you contributed to its system, and since January 2025 the U.S. no longer reduces your American benefit because you also collect a foreign one.
How Drawing From Both Systems Works
A Totalization Agreement is a bilateral treaty that connects the U.S. Social Security system to another country’s social insurance program. It does two jobs. While you are working, it decides which country you pay into so you are not taxed twice on the same wages. When you retire, it lets each country count the years you worked in the other toward its own minimum eligibility rules.1Social Security Administration. U.S. International Social Security Agreements
The U.S. requires 40 credits (about ten years of covered work) for a retirement benefit on your own record.2Social Security Administration. Retirement Benefits (Publication No. 05-10035) If you fall short, the SSA will add credits from an agreement country to get you over the threshold, provided you have at least six quarters (roughly 18 months) of U.S. coverage of your own. The foreign country applies the same idea in reverse under its own rules.1Social Security Administration. U.S. International Social Security Agreements
The two checks are not duplicates. Each country prorates what it pays to match only the earnings you had inside its system. Someone with eight U.S. years and six German years might qualify for both benefits through totalization, but the U.S. amount reflects only the U.S. wages and the German amount only the German wages. You keep both, and neither is a full career’s worth.
Spousal, survivor, and disability benefits under Title II are covered by the same agreements, so a spouse or surviving family member can also combine credits to qualify.3Social Security Administration. Totalization Agreements
Countries With a Totalization Agreement
The 30 countries currently under agreement with the United States are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay.4Social Security Administration. Country List 3 – International Programs
If you worked in a country that is not on this list, those years cannot be combined with your U.S. record. You would need to qualify separately under each country’s own rules. New agreements are negotiated from time to time, so the list is worth rechecking.
What the Social Security Fairness Act Changed
For anyone drawing benefits from two countries, this is the biggest recent change. For decades, the Windfall Elimination Provision reduced a U.S. Social Security benefit when the same person also received a pension from work not covered by U.S. Social Security taxes, and foreign government pensions fell squarely inside that rule. The Government Pension Offset did something similar to spousal and survivor benefits.
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025, repealed both provisions in full. December 2023 was the last month either one applied, and benefits payable for January 2024 forward are calculated without any WEP or GPO reduction.5Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act – Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update If your U.S. benefit was already being reduced, the SSA is issuing a one-time retroactive payment covering the increase back to January 2024, sent to the bank account on file. Most went out by the end of March 2025; complex cases requiring manual review are taking longer.6Social Security Administration. Social Security Announces Expedited Retroactive Payments
Other reductions still apply as usual. Claiming before your full retirement age still lowers your monthly amount, and the retirement earnings test still applies if you are working while receiving early benefits.5Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act – Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update
How to Apply
You file one application, not two. Form SSA-2490-BK is the U.S. application for international Social Security benefits. The SSA forwards your work history to the foreign agency, which then makes its own decision under its own laws. You will receive separate award notices from each country.
The form asks for:
- Your U.S. Social Security number and any foreign social insurance numbers you were assigned.
- Dates worked in each country, employer names and addresses, the industry, and the agency your foreign contributions went to.
- Your citizenship, date and place of birth, and whether you have ever held refugee or stateless status.
- Information on any spouse, former spouse, or children who may claim on your record.
You can file at a local Social Security office (call ahead for an appointment) or by phone at 1-800-772-1213. Plan for several months of processing. Verification runs between two national agencies on two schedules.
Getting Paid While Living Abroad
The SSA offers direct deposit in more than 170 countries and territories.7Social Security Administration. Country List 6 – International Programs A short list of countries is off-limits: Treasury rules block payments to Cuba and North Korea, and the SSA separately restricts payments to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.8Social Security Administration. Payments to Individuals in Barred and SSA-Restricted Countries U.S. citizens living in a restricted country can often route payments to a U.S. bank account instead; non-citizens face tighter rules and may see benefits withheld until they move somewhere eligible.
Residency also affects some dependent benefits. U.S. citizens, citizens of an agreement country, refugees, and stateless persons can generally collect while living in any agreement country. People outside those categories who live in a third country may not be able to.3Social Security Administration. Totalization Agreements
Once you are receiving benefits abroad, the SSA periodically mails Form SSA-7161 to confirm you are still alive, still eligible, and still in the country of record. Return it within 60 days or payments can stop. The form asks about changes in the past 15 months: citizenship, country of residence, marriage or divorce, deaths, work or business activity, and whether benefits are actually reaching the person they are meant for.9Social Security Administration. Instructions for Completion of Form SSA-7161-OCR SM
Taxes on the Two Benefits
Your U.S. benefit and your foreign benefit are taxed on different tracks.
If you are a nonresident alien receiving a U.S. Social Security benefit, the SSA withholds a flat 30 percent tax on 85 percent of the benefit, which works out to about 25.5 percent of the gross amount. A tax treaty between the U.S. and your country of residence can reduce or eliminate that withholding, so it is worth checking whether one is in force.
If you are a U.S. citizen or resident collecting a foreign social security payment, the IRS generally treats it as a foreign pension or annuity, taxable on your U.S. return. It does not get the partial exclusion that applies to U.S. Social Security. Some income tax treaties assign taxing rights on social security payments only to the country making them, which could exempt your foreign benefit from U.S. tax, but the saving clause in most treaties reserves the U.S. right to tax its own citizens and residents anyway. The answer turns on the specific treaty, and this is a good place to work with a tax professional.10Internal Revenue Service. The Taxation of Foreign Pension and Annuity Distributions Foreign social security is also not eligible for the foreign earned income exclusion, because the IRS excludes pension and annuity payments from foreign earned income.11Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
One separate reporting item to flag. If your foreign pension is paid through or held in a foreign financial account, and your foreign accounts together crossed $10,000 at any point during the year, you must file an FBAR by April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15.12Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Some retirement accounts are exempt and a separate FATCA filing on Form 8938 may also apply. Penalties for missing these are steep, so mention any foreign pension accounts to your tax preparer.