Living and working in the United States is one of the major requirements for receiving a Social Security benefit or any other benefit. It is not necessary to live in the U.S. during the time of retirement, but it is necessary to live in the U.S. during the time as a worker.
Despite this, there are exceptions that allow non-U.S. citizens to receive a benefit in the future. This is because spouses can receive the spousal benefit regardless of their country of origin. Still, some requirements are mandatory for the Social Security Administration to make a benefit payment to these individuals.
If you are in a situation where you are already receiving a retirement benefit and you are marrying a foreign national who has never lived or worked in the U.S., you may find this information useful. It is important to remember that not everyone who comes to the U.S. can receive these types of benefits. The most important thing is to become a U.S. citizen. After some time you will be eligible to receive some of the benefits, although sometimes you will have to wait longer.
Requirements for a non-citizen to collect Social Security after marrying a U.S. citizen
The first of these requirements has nothing to do with the non-citizen. On the contrary, it is directly related to the U.S. citizen. According to NJ.com, it is mandatory that the person residing in the United States has already applied for a retirement benefit. In addition to this, it is also indispensable that the non-citizen has reached 62 years of age. In other words, he or she must have reached the Early Retirement Age.
But these are not the only requirements. To this list we must add the fact that it is indispensable that one year must have passed in the marriage to start applying for the Social Security benefit. If this time does not pass, it is not possible to apply for this benefit for the non-citizen. It may be a long time, but SSA take these types of measures to avoid fraud and marriages of convenience.
What happens if the U.S. citizen passes away?
In the event of the death of the U.S. citizen, the non-citizen is entitled to continue receiving the benefit. But this is only possible if the Social Security Administration can prove that they have been married for at least 9 months. In this situation, the spouse is entitled to a survivor’s benefit.
For any doubts related to this type of procedure, the best solution is to seek a specialist lawyer. Another option is to contact the Social Security Administration directly, no matter through which channel. There is no doubt that it is not an easy situation to resolve, but it is possible to do so.