According to the Social Security Administration, about 7.2 million disabled workers and around one million of the children and spouses of disabled workers collect Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. Most of them live in the United States, but some of them reside in other countries.
If you live outside the country for more than 30 days, the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers you residing outside the U.S. As a U.S. citizen, you may continue receiving SSDI payments while living abroad, but you need to know and comply with rules prohibiting the SSA from sending Social Security Disability benefits overseas to certain countries. Rules for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program also limit or restrict benefit payments to people outside the country.
Restriction on SSI benefits
If you have thoughts of collecting disability outside the U.S. from the SSI program, rethink your plan. SSI stops paying benefits to anyone outside the U.S. for more than 30 days. You must notify them of your return to this country for your SS to restart.
You must be a citizen or national of the U.S. and live in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or the Northern Mariana Islands. The following exceptions exist to the residency rule:
- Living outside the U.S. for no more than 30 days.
- Students attending school overseas because their parents are active duty U.S. military personnel stationed outside the country.
- Students temporarily studying outside the U.S. as part of an educational program.
If you receive SSI benefits and plan to be out of the country, check with the Social Security Administration or with Sackett and Associates about how it may affect your eligibility for the program.
Disability benefits through SSDI while living overseas
As long as you are a citizen of the U.S. and meet eligibility requirements for the SSDI program, receiving Social Security abroad generally is not a problem, provided you give the Social Security Administration instructions about where payments can be sent. It’s critical to be aware that Social Security cannot pay SSDI or retirement benefits while you live in North Korea or Cuba. Your benefits stop and do not resume until you go to another country. The payments you missed while living in Cuba or North Korea are lost and cannot be recovered.
SSDI eligibility for expats can be affected when living in countries in addition to Cuba and North Korea. Treasury Department restrictions also apply to the following countries:
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Kazakhstan
- Krygyzstan
- Tajikistan
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
If you live in one of these countries, you may be eligible for an exception allowing you to receive your retirement or SSDI benefits, which you could not receive while living in Cuba or North Korea. Contact Social Security for additional information about the exceptions.
What Does It Mean To Be Outside The U.S.?
You live outside the U.S. when you do not reside in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Samoa, or the U.S. Virgin Islands for 30 days consecutively. Traveling to a different country does not trigger the start of another 30-day period, which can only be established by returning to the U.S. and living here for at least 30 consecutive days.
Rules For Non-Citizens for Collecting Disability Outside The U.S.
If you are not a citizen of the U.S., you cannot continue receiving Social Security abroad after six months. Payments cannot be resumed until you return to the U.S. and establish residency here for at least one full calendar month, starting on the first day of the month until the last minute of the last day of the month. The SSA has the right to ask you for proof of residence in the U.S. before it resumes benefit payments to you.
Federal law imposes other conditions for non-citizens to receive benefits outside the U.S. that do not apply to citizens, including:
- You can receive benefits outside the U.S., provided you were eligible for them in December 1956.
- If you receive benefits based on the account of a family member, the family member must have died while serving in the U.S. military or was not dishonorably discharged and died because of a service-connected disability.
- You receive benefits based on your own work record and serve as an active-duty member of the U.S. military.
Citizens of Austria, Belgium, and several other countries, your benefits through the SSA continue to be paid even if you leave the U.S. For other conditions that affect the ability of non-citizens receiving Social Security abroad, contact the SSA or speak to a Sackett Law disability lawyer.
Get Assistance with Your Disability Benefits
The disability benefits lawyers at Sackett Law have been the trusted resource for people with disabilities in Northern California and throughout the U.S. for 45 years. Learn how they can help you by contacting Sackett Law today for a free consultation.
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