Social Security When You Leave

Most people on H-1B, L-1 and similar visas pay Social Security tax on every paycheck, and many assume the money is lost if they leave. It is not always lost, and it is not automatically kept either. Whether those years turn into a benefit depends on three things: how many work credits you earned, whether your country has a Social Security agreement with the US, and whether the Social Security Administration (SSA) can keep paying you where you live. This chapter walks through each, using SSA's own rules as of 2026.

What you are paying into

Wages on a work visa are generally covered by Social Security and Medicare tax, just like a citizen's. (Students on F-1 and J-1 visas are often exempt for their first years; Volume 1 of this shelf covers that.) There is no program that refunds Social Security tax correctly withheld because you leave the country. What you keep is the record of your earnings and the credits they earned, which stay on your Social Security record permanently.

That record is worth checking. Create an account on SSA's website while you are in the US, download your earnings statement, and correct any missing year while the employer and the pay stubs are easy to reach.

Credits: the 10-year rule

A retirement benefit needs 40 credits. In 2026 you earn one credit for each $1,890 of covered earnings, up to four credits a year, so most full-time workers earn the maximum each year and reach 40 credits after about 10 years of work. That is the "10-year rule" people talk about: it is really a 40-credit rule, and the years do not have to be consecutive.

What the credits buy is a separate question. The benefit is based on your highest 35 years of indexed earnings, and years with no US earnings count as zero. Someone with 10 or 12 years of high US earnings qualifies, but receives a smaller benefit than someone with a full US career at the same pay. The Social Security for visa holders calculator estimates a benefit from a partial US career, and the Social Security break-even calculator compares claiming ages.

Totalization agreements: combining credits from two countries

If you leave before reaching 40 credits, a Social Security agreement (often called a totalization agreement) may still get you a benefit. The US has agreements in force with about thirty countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Brazil, with the newest, Romania, in force from September 2026. Under these agreements:

• You avoid paying into both systems for the same work in some cross-border assignments.
• Credits can be combined. SSA can count your coverage in the other country toward the 40 credits, but only if you have at least 6 US credits. The US then pays a partial benefit based on the share of your career completed in the US.

Several of the countries that send the most visa holders do not have an agreement in force, India and China among them, as of SSA's list in September 2026. For workers from those countries the 40-credit threshold has to be met with US work alone. SSA's agreements page keeps the current list; check it rather than assuming, because agreements are signed and brought into force over time.

Getting paid outside the US

Qualifying is not the same as being paid abroad. SSA's publication on payments outside the United States sets the rules. A US citizen can generally be paid in most countries. A person who is not a US citizen is paid abroad only if they meet one of several conditions; otherwise payments stop after six full calendar months outside the US and restart only after a full calendar month back in the US. The main conditions are:

• Citizenship of a listed country. Citizens of about thirty countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Brazil, can generally be paid abroad.
• Citizenship of a second group of countries, for benefits on your own record. This list includes Mexico, the Philippines and many others. Dependents and survivors from these countries must also meet a residence requirement.
• Citizenship of a third group, with a 40-credit or 10-year condition. For citizens of countries including India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Kenya, payments continue abroad if the worker earned at least 40 US credits or lived in the US for at least 10 years. This is the second place the "10-year rule" appears, and for many readers of this book it is the one that matters.
• Residence in a country with an agreement (with special conditions for a few of them).

Dependents and survivors who are not US citizens generally must also show they lived in the US for at least 5 years while in the family relationship on which the benefit is based, unless an exception applies. A spouse who spent less time in the US than the worker may therefore not be paid abroad even when the worker is.

Some places cannot be paid at all. Treasury sanctions bar payments to people in Cuba and North Korea, and SSA generally cannot send payments to several other countries without special arrangements.

SSA's Payments Abroad Screening Tool applies these rules to your citizenship and residence. Run it for yourself and for your spouse.

Tax on benefits paid to nonresidents

If you are neither a US citizen nor a US resident for tax, SSA withholds a 30% tax on 85% of each benefit, which is 25.5% of the payment, unless a tax treaty reduces it. SSA's publication lists treaties that eliminate this tax (Canada, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Romania and the United Kingdom) and a reduced 15% rate for residents of Switzerland. For people who are both nationals and residents of India, only the part of benefits based on US federal, state or local government employment is exempt. Your country of residence may also tax the benefit; the treaty decides which country taxes first.

Medicare does not travel

Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the United States, and being able to enroll in it at all has its own conditions on citizenship or permanent residence, separate from the Social Security rules above. Someone who earned a Social Security benefit on a work visa and then left should not count on Medicare. Plan health coverage in your new country separately, and price it for the age at which you will need it most. If you hold a green card and might return, ask Medicare about enrollment timing before you go, because late enrollment can carry lasting penalties.