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Can I Get Social Security Disability While Living Abroad? - AS.com
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits are payments provided to American workers who become disabled and are no longer able to perform “substantial gainful activity.” As you may have heard, getting approved for SSDI is a fairly lengthy process (unless you have a life-threatening disability), and appealing a denied claim is a notoriously lengthy ordeal. Nevertheless, SSDI is a critical program which sustains millions of Americans of working age who have found it impossible to continue working. And once approved, Social Security will make sure your payments remain deserved – in other words that you continue to be disabled while collecting benefits (for example, you must not perform substantial gainful activity while collecting SSDI benefits). But what about traveling abroad? Well, if you have worked enough in the U.S. to have earned SSDI benefits and are approved for same, your benefits can follow you to a foreign location, but with certain restrictions. For example, there are limits to how long you can get SSDI payments in a foreign country, and there are also some countries where the SSDI benefits (or any Social Security benefit) cannot be paid. Your safest move, if you’re collecting SSDI benefits and plan to be out of the United States for any length of time (e.g., 30 days or more), is to contact Social Security for guidance, as suggested in this article by Daniela Barrera appearing at AS.com.
Also, if you’re unsure about how these basics apply to you, or if you have any questions about your individual situation under Social Security, note that the AMAC Foundation provides a free-to-the-public advisory service to help Americans navigate the complexities of this program. Learn more about it here…