Yes. Green card holders do get Social Security benefits on the same terms as U.S. citizens, as long as they have worked long enough in jobs that paid Social Security taxes. In 2026, one work credit is earned for every $1,890 in covered wages or self-employment income, and most people need 40 credits — about ten years of work — to qualify for retirement benefits.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits The benefits are not automatic. They follow your work history and the FICA taxes taken out of your pay.
How Permanent Residents Earn Work Credits
The Social Security Administration measures eligibility in quarters of coverage, usually called credits. You earn them by paying Social Security taxes through an employer or by paying self-employment tax. In 2026, each $1,890 in covered earnings buys one credit, up to a maximum of four credits per year, so you need at least $7,560 in covered earnings during the year to lock in all four.2Social Security Administration. Quarter of Coverage
Because the cap is four credits per year, a high salary does not let you qualify faster. The system measures how long you worked, not how much you made in any given stretch. Forty credits is roughly ten years.3Social Security Administration. How You Earn Credits
Credits stay on your record permanently. If you stop working before hitting 40, you can pick up where you left off years later. Once you reach 40, you are vested for life; you cannot lose your entitlement to a retirement benefit.
Counting Work Done Outside the United States
Many green card holders spent part of their careers in another country and worry they will fall short of 40 U.S. credits. Totalization agreements can close that gap. The United States has agreements with 30 countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. They keep you from paying Social Security taxes to two countries on the same wages, and they let the SSA combine your U.S. and foreign work periods to meet the credit threshold.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 433 – International Agreements
To use a totalization agreement you must have at least six U.S. credits of your own. If you meet that floor, the SSA counts qualifying foreign work toward the 40-credit requirement and pays a pro-rata benefit based on the share of your career worked in the United States.5eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart T – Totalization Agreements The monthly payment is smaller than it would be for a full U.S. career, but it exists where nothing would otherwise.
Foreign Pensions No Longer Reduce Your Benefit
Two old provisions used to cut Social Security payments for people who also received a pension from work that did not pay into U.S. Social Security: the Windfall Elimination Provision reduced your own retirement check, and the Government Pension Offset reduced spousal or survivor benefits. The Social Security Fairness Act eliminated both. For benefits payable January 2024 and later, a foreign pension from non-covered work does not reduce your Social Security payment.6Social Security Administration. Pensions and Work Abroad Won’t Reduce Benefits
Benefits for Your Spouse, Children, and Survivors
Your work record can also support your family.
Spouses
A spouse who has never worked in the United States can still receive a benefit on your record. At full retirement age, that benefit is up to 50 percent of your primary insurance amount. Claiming as early as age 62 drops it to as little as 32.5 percent.7Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
Divorced spouses can qualify too if the marriage lasted at least ten years, the divorced spouse is 62 or older, and they have not remarried. If you have not filed yet, your ex must also have been divorced from you for at least two years before claiming.8Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.331
Children
Your unmarried children may receive monthly payments if they are under 18; between 18 and 19 and still in elementary or secondary school full time (benefits end at graduation or two months after turning 19, whichever comes first); or 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22.9Social Security Administration. Can Children and Students Get Social Security Benefits
Survivors
If you die, a surviving spouse can collect full survivor benefits at full retirement age (between 66 and 67 depending on birth year) or reduced benefits starting at 60. A surviving spouse with a disability can claim as early as 50. Remarriage before age 60 generally ends survivor eligibility; remarriage after 60 does not. A one-time $255 lump-sum death payment is available to a qualifying spouse or child, but the family has to apply within two years of the death.10Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
What Happens if You Move Abroad
This is where citizenship matters most. If you are not a U.S. citizen, your Social Security payments generally stop after you have been outside the country for six full calendar months.11Social Security Administration. International Programs – SSA Payments Outside US To restart them, you have to return and stay in the United States for a full calendar month, from the first minute of the first day through the last minute of the last day.12Social Security Administration. Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
Some countries have payment agreements with the United States that soften this rule, but green card holders who are nationals of a restricted country may not benefit. The Treasury Department bars Social Security payments to anyone in Cuba or North Korea outright, and payments to residents of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan face additional restrictions with only limited exceptions.12Social Security Administration. Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
A separate warning applies to the green card itself. Extended absences can be treated by immigration authorities as abandonment of your permanent residency, which creates problems well beyond Social Security.
How to File
Before filing, set up a free “my Social Security” account at ssa.gov to check the earnings the SSA has on file and see benefit estimates at different claiming ages.13SSA.gov. Get Your Social Security Statement Fixing an earnings error before you apply is easier than fixing one after.
You will need your Social Security number; proof of lawful status, typically your Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551); proof of age through an original or certified birth certificate (foreign-language documents are submitted in the original or certified copy and the SSA arranges translation); recent W-2s or, for the self-employed, your most recent tax return; and bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit.14Social Security Administration. Form SSA-1 – Information You Need to Apply for Retirement Benefits or Medicare15Social Security Administration. Transmittal of Foreign-Language Documents for Translation
You can apply online at ssa.gov, by phone, or in person at a local field office. Retirement claims typically take about six weeks to process. If your file includes foreign work credits, expect the SSA to ask for more information.
Taxes on Your Benefits
Green card holders owe U.S. federal income tax on worldwide income, and Social Security benefits are partially taxable once your “combined income” — adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus half your benefits — crosses certain thresholds.16IRS. IRS Reminds Taxpayers Their Social Security Benefits May Be Taxable
- Single filers with combined income between $25,000 and $34,000: up to 50 percent of benefits taxable.
- Single filers with combined income above $34,000: up to 85 percent taxable.
- Married filing jointly between $32,000 and $44,000: up to 50 percent taxable.
- Married filing jointly above $44,000: up to 85 percent taxable.16IRS. IRS Reminds Taxpayers Their Social Security Benefits May Be Taxable
These thresholds are not indexed to inflation, so more retirees cross them each year. For tax years 2025 through 2028, taxpayers 65 and older can claim a temporary additional standard deduction of $6,000, which softens the impact for lower-income retirees. Some states tax Social Security too, so your bottom line depends on where you live.
Social Security Is Not the Same as SSI
Green card holders sometimes conflate Social Security retirement benefits with Supplemental Security Income. They are separate programs. Social Security is earned through work credits and paid out of the trust fund you contributed to. SSI is a need-based program for people with limited income and resources who are aged, blind, or disabled, and it treats noncitizens differently.
If your green card was issued on or after August 22, 1996, you are generally barred from SSI for your first five years as a permanent resident, even if you have 40 work credits.17Social Security Administration. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for Noncitizens Social Security retirement carries no such waiting period tied to your immigration date. If you have 40 credits and have reached age 62, you can file no matter when the green card was issued.