Social Security abroad: getting paid, where you can't, and what changed in 2025

If you're a US citizen, your Social Security check follows you to almost every country on the map. The no-go list is short, and the paperwork is manageable once you know the drill.

The short version

• US citizens can usually receive Social Security in any country, except where Treasury sanctions or Social Security restrictions block payments, such as Cuba, North Korea and several former Soviet states [3].
• Use the Payments Abroad Screening Tool before you move. It tells you whether payments continue, stop after six months, or face country restrictions [1].
• Payments are electronic now. Federal benefits had to be paid electronically from September 30, 2025, and SSA is finishing the switch in 2026 [5]. International direct deposit works in many countries [3].
• The Social Security Fairness Act ended WEP and GPO for benefits payable from January 2024. People with a foreign pension from work not covered by Social Security were among those affected [2].
• Answer the questionnaires. SSA mails beneficiaries abroad a questionnaire every year or two, and payments can stop if you don't return it [3].

Who can be paid abroad

The rules hinge on your passport. US citizens can generally live in most foreign countries without losing benefits. Non-citizens face a stricter test.

US citizens

If you're a US citizen, moving abroad doesn't stop your retirement, survivor or disability benefits in most of the world. Benefits are calculated and paid in US dollars, so exchange-rate swings change what you get in pesos or euros but not the dollar amount [3]. Good years and lean years, in other words, depend partly on the currency markets.

Non-citizens (spouses and survivors, for example)

A non-citizen beneficiary who is away from the US for 30 days in a row is treated as outside the country. SSA generally can't pay them after the sixth calendar month abroad unless one of SSA's exceptions applies, and the screening tool checks these for you [1][4]. Non-citizens leaving for 30 days or more should complete Form SSA-21, "Supplement to Claim of Person Outside the United States" [4]. If your spouse isn't a US citizen, run them through the screening tool separately. And if your partner is Australian and also counting on a pension from home, our sister site ExpatCooee covers Centrelink and the Age Pension abroad.

Countries where payments are blocked or restricted

The list can change, so do your homework: check the Payments Abroad Screening Tool [1] and SSA's publication Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States (Publication 05-10137, April 2026 edition) [3] before you commit to a move.

How the money reaches you

Direct deposit to a foreign or US bank

SSA recommends direct deposit. It's usually one to three weeks faster than a paper check and avoids check-cashing and conversion fees [3]. You have three options:

1. International direct deposit into a bank in your new country, if that country has a direct deposit agreement with the US. SSA keeps the country list on its International Programs pages [3].
2. A US bank account. Plenty of expats keep a checking account back home in the States, receive benefits there and transfer money abroad when the rate is good.
3. A Direct Express debit card, which doesn't need a bank account [3][5].

Paper checks are ending

Executive Order 14247 and federal law required federal benefits to be paid electronically as of September 30, 2025, and SSA planned to finish moving everyone off paper checks in 2026 [5]. If you live somewhere remote without access to a bank, you can ask the Treasury for a waiver [5]. If you still get a paper check abroad, set up electronic payment now. Don't wait for it to get lost in the mail.

The 2025 repeal of WEP and GPO

The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025. It ended the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). December 2023 was the last month they applied [2].

That matters abroad because WEP used to cut the US benefit of people who also had a pension from work not covered by US Social Security. SSA's own page lists people "whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system" among those helped [2]. If you worked for years in another country and draw a pension there, your US benefit may now be higher. For a lot of long-haul expats, that's a nice surprise.

What to know:

• Retroactive payments. SSA paid a one-time amount covering the increase back to January 2024 and started new monthly amounts in 2025. By July 2025 it had sent more than 3.1 million payments [2].
• No action is needed if you already get benefits and SSA has your correct address and bank details [2].
• If you never applied because WEP or GPO would have wiped out your benefit, you may need to apply now. Retroactivity for new applications is generally limited to six months before the month you apply, so don't sit on it [2].
• Medicare premiums. If your higher benefit changes how your Part B premium is paid, keep paying any bill until SSA tells you otherwise [2].

Rules that keep applying while you're abroad

The foreign work test

If you're under full retirement age and work outside the US in a job not covered by US Social Security, SSA withholds your benefit for each month you work more than 45 hours. Any day of employment, self-employment or business ownership counts, whatever you earn [3].

If your work is covered by US Social Security (for example, a US employer or a totalization agreement), the regular annual earnings test applies instead. For 2026, the limit is $24,480 a year under full retirement age, and $65,160 in the year you reach it. For 2027, SSA has set them at $25,560 and $67,920 [6].

Things you must report

Publication 05-10137 lists what to tell SSA [3]:

• a new address, including country and postal code
• work outside the US before full retirement age
• marriage, divorce or annulment
• a change in a child's student status or care
• a beneficiary's death, or inability to manage money

Failing to report can create an overpayment you have to pay back, and SSA does come looking for it.

Yearly or every-other-year questionnaires

SSA mails questionnaires to beneficiaries abroad to confirm they're alive and still eligible. People 90 and older, people with a representative payee and most other beneficiaries get one every year. Some spouses, survivors and parents in listed countries get one every two years, split by the last two digits of the Social Security number [3]. Return it promptly or payments may stop [3]. Make sure your mailing address is current, since a missed letter means a missed reply, and a missed reply can mean a missed check.

Taxes on your benefits abroad

Uncle Sam still wants his share: US citizens pay US income tax on benefits wherever they live. Up to 85% of benefits can be taxable, depending on your other income and filing status [3]. Your host country may tax them too. Some US tax treaties decide which country taxes Social Security, so check the treaty with your country or ask a US expat tax preparer to check your situation.

Non-citizen beneficiaries generally have 30% tax withheld on 85% of benefits (25.5% in effect) unless a treaty lowers it [3].

Your moving-abroad checklist for Social Security

1. Run every family member through the Payments Abroad Screening Tool [1].
2. Set up a my Social Security account before you leave, while US phone verification still works.
3. Choose international direct deposit or a US bank account.
4. Note the Federal Benefits Unit that serves your new country. US embassies handle many Social Security questions abroad.
5. Put your questionnaire year on the calendar and report any change of address.
6. If you had foreign work and never claimed because of WEP or GPO, apply now.

The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment was 2.8%, and SSA has announced 3.6% for 2027 [6]. You can share tips about paperwork with others in our community groups for Americans abroad.

Sources

1. SSA: Payments Abroad Screening Tool
2. SSA: Social Security Fairness Act, WEP and GPO update
3. SSA: Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States (Publication 05-10137)
4. SSA: Social Security payments outside the U.S.
5. SSA blog: Social Security to fully transition to electronic payments (June 2026)
6. SSA: 2026 COLA fact sheet and 2027 COLA fact sheet

Keep reading

• Medicare when you live abroad
• Tax treaties and totalization agreements
• Retiring abroad: the main retirement visas for Americans
• Keeping a US bank account and US address