Form SSA-2490-BK is the Social Security Administration’s application for benefits under a U.S. international totalization agreement, which lets you combine U.S. work credits with credits earned in a treaty-partner country to qualify for retirement, disability, or survivor benefits you couldn’t get on either country’s record alone.1Social Security Administration. U.S. International Social Security Agreements You can download it from SSA’s forms page or pick it up at any Social Security field office or U.S. foreign service post.2Social Security Administration. Social Security Forms There is no filing fee.
Who Can Use This Form
U.S. retirement benefits normally require 40 credits, about ten years of covered work.3Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility A totalization agreement lets SSA add foreign coverage to your U.S. record to get you over that line, but you must have at least six U.S. credits of your own before any foreign credits count.1Social Security Administration. U.S. International Social Security Agreements
The foreign work only counts if it was performed in one of the 30 countries with an active agreement: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.1Social Security Administration. U.S. International Social Security Agreements Work in any other country cannot be credited through this form no matter how long you were there.
The worker files the form for retirement or disability. If the worker has died, an eligible survivor files instead. One application covers both countries: SSA forwards your information to the foreign agency, and each country then decides your claim under its own rules.4Social Security Administration. Totalization Agreements
Filling Out Form SSA-2490-BK
Page one is the instruction sheet. Detach it before you start, and staple it back to the front after you sign.5Social Security Administration. SSA Form SSA-2490-BK – Application for Benefits Under a U.S. International Social Security Agreement The rest breaks into a few distinct blocks.
Part 1: Worker Identification and Foreign Coverage
Everyone completes Part 1. It asks for the worker’s full legal name, U.S. Social Security number, and the foreign country’s social insurance identification number. You then list every period of employment or self-employment abroad with exact start and end dates. Gaps matter: if the worker was employed abroad from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2012, put each stretch on its own line.5Social Security Administration. SSA Form SSA-2490-BK – Application for Benefits Under a U.S. International Social Security Agreement
Separate columns capture coverage that wasn’t tied to a job, such as voluntary contributions to the foreign system or military service credited under the partner country’s rules. The section closes with the worker’s last address in the foreign country. Get these dates right the first time. Any mismatch forces SSA to reconcile records with the foreign agency, and that back-and-forth is what slows claims down.
Part 2: Foreign Benefit Claims
Only fill in Part 2 if you’re also claiming benefits from the foreign country through this same application. It asks whether the claim is based on retirement or disability and whether the worker belonged to any special occupational system abroad, such as programs for miners, seamen, or agricultural workers.5Social Security Administration. SSA Form SSA-2490-BK – Application for Benefits Under a U.S. International Social Security Agreement
Applicant and Worker Information
If someone other than the worker is applying, such as a surviving spouse, item 11 collects the applicant’s identifying information; the worker leaves it blank. The next block asks for the worker’s date and place of birth, date and place of death if applicable, military service history, and U.S. Social Security coverage history.
Spouses and Children
The form asks whether you want the application to protect an eligible spouse’s or child’s right to benefits. Say yes, and a later section collects details about children, including natural, step, adopted, and grandchildren living in the household, along with current and former spouses.5Social Security Administration. SSA Form SSA-2490-BK – Application for Benefits Under a U.S. International Social Security Agreement
Signature
You sign under penalty of perjury that the information is true. Witnesses are required only if you sign with a mark (X) instead of a written signature; in that case, two witnesses who know you must also sign and provide their full addresses.5Social Security Administration. SSA Form SSA-2490-BK – Application for Benefits Under a U.S. International Social Security Agreement
Documents To Send With the Form
SSA accepts originals or copies certified by the issuing agency. Ordinary photocopies and notarized copies do not qualify.6Social Security Administration. What Documents Will You Need When You Apply Gather:
- Proof of age for every claimant, typically a certified birth certificate.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status if you weren’t born in the United States, such as a naturalization certificate or valid (unexpired) passport.
- Foreign earnings records: pay stubs, tax assessments, or employer statements that back up the dates you listed in Part 1.
- Both the U.S. Social Security number and the foreign country’s equivalent identification number.
- Evidence of U.S. earnings from the past 24 months, if SSA requests it.
- Marriage and divorce records if the claim involves a spouse or survivor.
Originals are returned after SSA scans them.7Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.707 – Original Records or Copies as Evidence Acceptable certifiers include the record’s official custodian, an authorized SSA or VA employee, a U.S. Consular Officer, or a state employee authorized to certify records.
Documents Not in English
Any foreign-language document has to be translated before SSA can use it. SSA runs its own translation process; field staff route materials to an authorized translator using Form SSA-533.8Social Security Administration. Transmittal of Foreign-Language Documents for Translation If a non-SSA translator does the work, it has to be a word-for-word translation, not a summary. Online translation tools are not accepted. When you can’t part with the original, send a certified photocopy that includes every page, front and back.
Where To File
You have three ways to submit the completed form:
- In person at any U.S. Social Security office. Call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to schedule an appointment and confirm which documents to bring.9Social Security Administration. Totalization Agreement with France
- By mail to SSA’s Office of Earnings and International Operations. If you are not currently receiving benefits, use: Social Security Administration, Office of Earnings & International Operations, P.O. Box 17775, Baltimore, Maryland 21235-7775. If you already receive benefits and are reporting a change, use P.O. Box 17769 at the same address.10Social Security Administration. Service Around the World – Office of Earnings and International Operations
- At a U.S. Embassy or Consulate if you live abroad. Federal Benefits Units at embassies handle totalization claims for Americans and eligible foreign nationals overseas.
After You File
SSA contacts the foreign country’s social security agency to verify the work history and coverage periods you reported. That exchange is the reason totalization claims take longer than a routine domestic application, and the pace depends heavily on how quickly the foreign agency responds. SSA does not publish a standard processing timeline, so plan on several months at minimum.
Once verification is done, SSA mails a written decision to the address on your application. If approved, the notice states your monthly benefit amount and when payments start. The foreign agency issues its own decision separately, so its letter may arrive on a different schedule.
If you live in a country where SSA offers International Direct Deposit, payments can go directly to a local bank account. IDD is available in well over 100 countries and territories, including all 30 totalization partners.11Social Security Administration. Country List 6
If SSA Denies the Claim
The denial letter explains how to appeal. There are four stages, each with a 60-day deadline from the date you receive the prior decision:12Social Security Administration. Appeal a Decision We Made
- Reconsideration. File Form SSA-561-U2 and a different SSA employee reviews your claim from scratch.13Social Security Administration. Request Reconsideration
- Hearing before an administrative law judge.
- Appeals Council review.
- Civil action in U.S. District Court.
Miss the 60-day window and you can still file, but attach a written explanation for the delay. SSA may accept it for good cause, such as not receiving the notice or being seriously ill.