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Just to clarify, I've read the websites and the rules. What I asked for was whether anyone has actually tried to wriggle through the actual process and reached an end result. Virtually everything Immigtation does is the discretion of an officer handling the case, there are no rules. I' looking for experiences on the ground;
Well, that might be true of Immigration staff, but Social Security does have and uses their rule book, known as POMS (Program Operations Manual System)
This one speaks to the 5 year residency rule, with examples.
RS 02610.030 5 Year Residency Requirements for Spouses, Natural Child, Adopted Child, and a Parent
Just to clarify, I've read the websites and the rules. What I asked for was whether anyone has actually tried to wriggle through the actual process and reached an end result. Virtually everything Immigtation does is the discretion of an officer handling the case, there are no rules. I' looking for experiences on the ground;
You give no information about the surviving spouse for anyone to really give you anything that will help. What country is this in? How old is the spouse? I guess I should also ask, has the American husband died yet or are they trying to figure out how to get her to qualify for when he does?
My last reply I gave you the run down, I assume she was not a US citizen or green card holder? Has she lived outside of the USA for six consecutive months? If both of these apply to her, she is out of luck unless she meets the exceptions that I listed.
Has the widow contacted social security to say he died or has he not died yet?
There are other things besides social security benefits. The American husband may have a pension where he would/could add the wife to be beneficiary. There could also be life insurance and bank accounts. Some of the above can be set up to pay out on death which is referred to as POD to make it easier for the foreign wife to get.
Quote:
Originally Posted by reed303
Well, that might be true of Immigration staff, but Social Security does have and uses their rule book, known as POMS (Program Operations Manual System)
This one speaks to the 5 year residency rule, with examples.
RS 02610.030 5 Year Residency Requirements for Spouses, Natural Child, Adopted Child, and a Parent
Well it appears that the rules are complicated, so one person's experience will have little bearing on the answer you seek, as the circumstances are unlikely to be the same, or even similar enough to draw a parallel. The country of the spouse's citizenship, whether or not they ever resided in the US, length of US residency, marital status during that residency, spouse's age, etc, etc, all could affect the spouse's eligibility.
Just to clarify, I've read the websites and the rules. What I asked for was whether anyone has actually tried to wriggle through the actual process and reached an end result. Virtually everything Immigtation does is the discretion of an officer handling the case, there are no rules. I' looking for experiences on the ground;
Without legal immigration, the chance of a survivor benefit is zero. That looks like a pretty clear involvement.
Let me rephrase my OP. Do you know of any instance in which a foreign widow of a US ex-pat successfullu fulfilled the immigration pre-requisite?
You're still too vague.
We don't know if the foreign born surviving spouse ever came to the US, whether they lived here for the amount of time that was listed in my post below, if not it says most likely can not get benefits, unless they qualify under one of the other rules listed.
As I've said, I think you may have better luck at one of the ex-pat boards unless you've tried that already? They would know more than any of us do.
It sounds like the foreign born spouse is SOL ($hit out of luck)...
If the retired ex-pat spouse is still alive, he should provide for her in other ways, such as writing a will, having it notarized, plus adding the spouse as beneficiary for life insurance and bank accounts. They can set some of them up as payable on death (POD).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roselvr
I found another decent article.
What I've always heard is that social security doesn't want to pay out money to people who are not American citizens, but that's only partially right.
Can a foreign spouse of American expats receive social security spousal benefits?
As a general rule, a foreign spouse cannot obtain social security spousal benefits if the both rules are met:
1. Foreign spouse is not a US citizen or green card holder.
2. Foreign spouse has lived outside of the USA for six consecutive months.
However, there are three exceptions to this rule. The country of citizenship and residence as well as the period of US residence play a key role in determining the eligibility for social security spousal benefits.
What is the list of countries which citizens can receive US social security spouse benefits?
This is the first exception. A foreign spouse can receive social security spousal benefits if s/he is a citizen of the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
Canada, Chile, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea
As long as a foreign spouse is 62 years old and a citizen of one of the above countries, s/he can claim social security spouse benefits. Also, US spouse must be receiving social security benefits.
In which countries should a foreign spouse reside to get social security spouse benefits?
This is the second exception. The USA has an extensive list of Social Security agreements with foreign countries. A social security agreement is also called a Totalization agreement. We wrote an article about Socials Security Agreements earlier. A foreign spouse of an American expat can receive social security spousal benefits If a foreign spouse has reached a retirement age of 62 years old and has been a resident of one the below countries. The following countries have a Social Security Agreement with the USA:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea (South), Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom
How long should two spouses live in the USA so a foreign spouse can obtain social security spousal benefits?
This is the third exception. If a foreign spouse of an American expat is not a citizen of resident of one of the countries listed above, then this spouse can still claim social security spousal benefits if the following requirements are met:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roselvr
You give no information about the surviving spouse for anyone to really give you anything that will help. What country is this in? How old is the spouse? I guess I should also ask, has the American husband died yet or are they trying to figure out how to get her to qualify for when he does?
My last reply I gave you the run down, I assume she was not a US citizen or green card holder? Has she lived outside of the USA for six consecutive months? If both of these apply to her, she is out of luck unless she meets the exceptions that I listed.
Has the widow contacted social security to say he died or has he not died yet?
There are other things besides social security benefits. The American husband may have a pension where he would/could add the wife to be beneficiary. There could also be life insurance and bank accounts. Some of the above can be set up to pay out on death which is referred to as POD to make it easier for the foreign wife to get.
As I said above, the OP hasn't given much information for anyone to give advice or experiences that will help.
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