Retaining Social Security Benefits for Non Resident

Citizenship doesnt matter in qualifying for a SS pension. As long they paid in 40 quarters of taxes under a legal SS number. Contact a SS office for one's payment history summary.

The difficulty is that SS does not send money abroad for non-citizens. The client would have to have to established a US-based bank account for check deposits. This may not be too hard in this era of online banks.

There is a list of countries that Social Security does send funds to a foreign bank. Peru is on that list.

You could try contacting the Embassy in Lima, but I doubt that they can help you as it seems they do not have a foreign operations office for this subject. Use the address below or phone number to get more information. Also note, that as a nonresident, 30% of your benefits (actually 30% x 85% of your benefits) will be withheld for income taxes.

Social Security Administration Office of International Operations P.O. Box 17769 Baltimore, Maryland 21235-7769

You may also call SSA's Office of International Operations directly at 410-965-5404, or send a fax to 410-965-6539. Calls are answered only in English and during normal business hours for the Eastern U.S.

That is what I thought, so part 2 of this saga is that the Peruvian citizen received a letter from Social Security saying that they need to come in an establish their residency within 15 days or they lose their benefit. That struck me as a very short timeline and it also struck me as wrong that they would threaten as the consequence of not being a resident the total loss of benefit. Has anyone seen one of these notices before, and what is the right response to this?

She has a bank account in the US and also has relatives here, so the problem is making sure to understand her legal rights and try to understand the correct way to respond to Social Security.