by Alisa Cook-Roehs, AIWC Düsseldorf
Although Social Security doesn’t fall directly under Tax and Banking, as part of the US Issues Team, we do collect articles of interest and pass them on to the FAWCO membership. The following are two such synopses written by members relaying their experiences in filing for individual social security benefits and benefits for a non-US citizen spouse. The Social Security Administration has an entire publication dedicated to Your Payments While You Are Outside of the United States to guide you through eligibility for benefits.
From Düsseldorf, a US citizen married to a non-US citizen applying for individual and spousal benefits:
I made the decision to apply for social security at the age of 63, due to the opportunity for my 72-year-old German husband to draw the spousal benefit. I chose not to have the German social security office file for me, as I did not want to start drawing any potential German social security early, and therefore I declined their offer to do all the paperwork with the US on my behalf.
In January of 2022, I filled out the online application and chose to start my benefits in May of 2023. When signing up online, the website said the normal wait time was 4–6 weeks. I later learned that this would not be the case. After attempting to contact the Social Security Administration, both in the US and Germany, I resolved to just sit back and wait. In September, I finally received a call back and I answered the few simple questions the agent posed. In closing the call, she advised that she could file the social security claim for my German husband, and she asked for his phone number. I had thought that I would do this after I had my filing complete, but the reality was that he received a phone call immediately and within a week we received all the required papers for my husband in the mail. He filled them out promptly and sent them back. We then received a call requesting that my husband go to Frankfurt with some supporting documentation. I chose to go with him, and the entire appointment took about 10 minutes. Within the next two weeks, I had not only received my social security benefit, including the retroactive payment, but my husband had also received his. Two weeks later he received his Medicare card.
I plan on filing for my German social security at my full German retirement age, but do understand that there may be a reduction in my US social security based on the windfall provision that is set up to keep individuals from receiving too much from both countries. It is important to note that the two countries will be in contact with each other to ensure that this is not the case. If one does not intend to draw social security until full retirement age, one can indeed have the German social security office coordinate all the filings with the US instead of going through the US social security administration as I did.
From Berlin, a non-US citizen married to a US citizen applying for spousal benefits:
It is a little-known fact that foreign spouses of US expats who receive social security payments after retirement are also entitled to their own social security benefits, which are estimated to be about 50% of those their US spouse receives.
In May 2021, I had to fill out an online form with the Social Security Administration. A requirement is that the US spouse is receiving his/her payments and the foreign spouse has reached the appropriate age (63+).
Somebody from Social Security got in touch with me and interviewed me on the phone to check the correctness of the information I had given on the form. All this used to be done automatically, but has changed during the last 10 years or so.
It is important that I, as the foreign spouse, have a Social Security number. This could be obtained at any time during our marriage. However, it cannot be done online. I had to appear at the Social Security office of my host country or in the US in person. In Germany, I made an appointment with the office in Frankfurt and provided proof of my marriage. I brought our marriage certificate. I completed another form while in the ofice, which takes about 10 minutes. All of the documents were forwarded to Washington, DC. I had to wait a few weeks before I was issued my Social Security number.
Once all the requirements are finally fulfilled, I began to receive my monthly payments to the bank of my choice, which is in my host country. The process can take up to nine months, but the money will be paid retroactively from the date of the submission of the forms.
