What to consider if you’re becoming an Expat - AMAC Foundation
You’re considering becoming an expat; you are not alone. Over 760,000 retirees receive Social Security abroad, a number that has grown sharply in just two years. In 1974, only 10 percent of US citizens expressed interest in moving abroad. By 2024, that number had risen to 34 percent. In 2024-2025, retirees accounted for 62 percent of US citizens relocating abroad.[1]
If you are moving overseas, there are many factors involved in your decision, and one of the most important ones is: How will this affect my Social Security benefits?
According to Social Security, if you receive Retirement, Survivors, or Disability Insurance benefits and you are leaving (or have already left) the United States, your payments might be affected. The U.S. Department of the Treasury prohibits making payments to persons residing in Cuba or North Korea. If you are a U.S. citizen residing in Cuba or North Korea, you can get all the payments SSA withheld once you move to a country where SSA can send payments. If you are not a U.S. citizen, you cannot receive payments for the months you lived in Cuba or North Korea. This applies even if you go to another country and satisfy all other requirements.[2]
However, those two countries are not the only countries on Social Security’s list of countries where SSA cannot send Social Security benefits. “Generally, they cannot send Social Security payments to persons in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan. They can make exceptions for certain eligible people in these countries, but you must meet and agree to restricted payment conditions.
If you are a United States citizen, you may continue to receive payments while outside the U.S. You must be eligible for payments, and you must be in a country where SSA can send payments.
The Social Security Administration will send questionnaires to persons receiving Social Security benefits (or their representative payees) outside the United States every year or every 2 years. It is important that you (or your representative payee) complete, sign, date, and return the questionnaire to the SSA in the envelope provided with the questionnaire as soon as possible. If you do not, your payments will stop.
You will receive a questionnaire between May and June, every year, if you:
- Are you age 90 or over
- Have a representative payee.
- Are not receiving benefits as a spouse, surviving spouse, parent, or surviving spouse with a disability
You will receive a questionnaire between May and June every 2 years if you are receiving benefits as a spouse, surviving spouse, parent, or surviving spouse with a disability and live in one of the 49 countries in the Social Security publication: “Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States.”
Now you are wondering how SSA will get my payments to you. Unless you are residing in one of the payment restriction countries or situations described above, SSA can deposit your benefits directly into your account at a U.S. financial institution, no matter where you live.
If you live outside the United States, SSA can deposit your benefits into your account at a financial institution in any country that has an international direct deposit agreement with the U.S. Note: SSA cannot deposit your benefits if a payment restriction applies. To find the list of countries that have international direct deposit agreements with the U.S., visit www.ssa.gov/international/countrylist6.htm.
US citizens living overseas can now create a personal my Social Security account and access many of the Social Security services on online services their ID.me credential.
Now that you know how the Social Security Administration will handle your benefits, where will you be heading in your retirement?
[1] Why US Retirees Are Moving Out of America? | Get Golden Visa