Social Security is an essential federal government program in the whole United States. By using the taxes workers pay, they help them in return whenever necessary as long as they meet some requirements. Once you have managed to get a Social Security number and get a job, you become a worker and taxpayer as well. If you have not yet got a Social Security number or you have simply lost it, do not worry. Because you can get it easily a replacement or the first one.
It is true that you may need to get a Social Security benefit when you are abroad. Therefore, you need to know if there is a possibility of doing it while you are overseas. The disadvantage is that it is not possible to do it in every single country. As a U.S. citizen, you could move to live in any country you would like to, provided that you get a visa.
However, you are not allowed to get Social Security benefits in some particular countries. In order to get that information, you may be interested to know more about the SSA tool. It is through the Payments Abroad Screening Tool. You could use this tool whether you are already overseas or before you are traveling abroad. Then you just need to provide SSA with some information regarding your citizenship and personal situation.
Which Social Security benefits can you receive while you are overseas?
Remember that this is not just for retirement benefits. It could help you find out whether you can get your Title II Social Security payments abroad. Apart from that, you could check the length of time of your benefits and if it has restrictions or not. It is for retirement, survivor’s payments, and disability too. If you are the sort of person who is not keen on using laptops or smartphones, phone your Social Security Office or visit them.
The first question you will come across in the Payments Screening Tool has to do with traveling abroad. It does not matter if it is in the past or in the future, select yes or no, then click on continue. After that, you will have to tell them about your nationality. The following question has to do with the type of benefit you are getting, disability or retirement. If not, the next one will be about your survivor’s payments.
After having specified your Social Security benefits, select the country. Here is when you might get a positive or negative answer. It is more than likely that you can get it because there are few countries where payments cannot be possible. The U.S. Treasury Department has some special regulations and according to them, they can send the payment or it is prohibited.