Retirement Retirement in the United States: Are Immigrants Eligible for American Retirement Benefits

Immigrants over 65 may be eligible for benefits and social security in the United States under certain circumstances. Investopedia.

Photo: Shutterstock

In some cases, individuals who immigrate to the United States aged 65 and over may be eligible for Social Security benefits like any American citizen by birth. In other cases, immigrants can only use their country's pension plans. And some immigrants are eligible for benefits from both countries. Here's an overview of how the rules work.

People who immigrate to the United States aged 65 and over may be eligible for Social Security benefits. But if one of two conditions is met:

• they must have 40 US working credits (approximately 10 years of experience);
• or they must be from a country that has a summation agreement with the United States.

Summation agreements allow immigrants to pool their labor credits (seniority points) from both the United States and their home country. The US has accumulation agreements with over 25 other countries.

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Can immigrants over 65 receive social security (pension) in the United States

Most people who immigrate to the United States after reaching retirement age have not accumulated the required 40 work points (credits) to qualify for US Social Security, unless they worked in the country for a total of 10 years when they were younger.

However, those who can legally work in the US within a year and a half of arrival and earn at least $ 1470 per quarter (as of 2021) may be eligible for prorated US Social Security benefits when added to their agreement with countries of origin.

A totalization agreement is an agreement between two countries with similar social security programs that ensures that workers and their employers will not pay social security taxes on the same earnings in both countries. This also prevents double income when claiming benefits. The US has such agreements with the following countries:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• The Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uruguay

“An immigrant who comes to the United States from Italy, for example, and has some work experience in both countries but not enough to fully qualify for Social Security benefits in either country, may combine his foreign and domestic work experience. countries to be eligible for Social Security benefits,” explains investment consultant Mark Hebner.

Photo: Shutterstock

How summation conventions work

Consider the following scenario to illustrate how a summation convention can benefit "late" immigrant from the United States.

Penelope recently moved to the United States. She has lived most of her life in Spain, but when she was younger, she worked for nine years for an American company in the United States. During this time, she earned 36 social insurance credits, which, unfortunately, is less than 40 credits required to obtain it. But she is eligible for social security benefits here.

Penelope also worked in Spain for 12 years. According to the rules of this country, she will need 15 years of experience to be eligible for retirement benefits.

Through the summation agreement, she can pool her labor loans from Spain and the US to receive Social Security benefits. Without this agreement, she would not have been eligible for benefits in either country, despite the fact that she paid in the two national systems for 21 years combined.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

Obtaining U.S. Social Security from overseas

In some cases, immigrants who have earned at least 40 work credits in the US and are therefore eligible for US Social Security may choose to return to their home country and still receive their US benefits. This currently applies to the following countries:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Czech Republic
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• The Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Uruguay

Some immigrants age 65 and older are eligible to receive Social Security benefits in the United States or to receive Social Security benefits while living abroad. However, many people don't do this. In fact, a report from the Social Security Administration found that 37% of all people ineligible for Social Security benefits are immigrants who arrived in the United States at age 50 or older and do not have sufficient income.

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