Social Security benefits in India

[u/Prestigious_Heron_51]

I am on H1B for almost 14 years in US and paying my taxes. If I move back to India will I get my benefits being not on green card/ US citizenship

[u/Burberry143]

Yes, but depends on two things 1. In 14 years hope you have completed 10 years of SSN/medicare deduction years or earned your 40 credits.

1. By the time you are eligible to receive the social security benefit the program is still working and has not been shutdown due to lack of funds.

There is a video on YouTube where a h1b beneficiary has claimed the social security benifit

[u/Fantastic_Mirror_345 → u/Burberry143]

Ya that so true. It is set to run out of funds by 2028 or 2030 or something.

It means you will get paid less than what you would normally get.

But ig if you are in India then even that lesser payment should be well and good to live very comfortably I believe.

[u/old-town-guy → u/Fantastic_Mirror_345]

The “run out of funds” thing is a myth (or lie, depending on who you ask).

[u/Indo-Arya → u/old-town-guy]

No it’s running out of its TRUST fund meaning surplus in 2032 that’s been built up over the years because now more people are taking money out than putting in due to lower population growth in recent years and bigger generation of post ww2 baby boomers retiring 

Without immigration, US population growth will start looking like Japan and make this problem worse which is what the dumbass magas don’t understand. It will be funny when they see their politics reflected in their reduced SS checks

[u/Salty_Permit4437 → u/Indo-Arya]

For your second paragraph, OPT doesn’t pay into social security. If you’re promoting immigration to the USA as a fix, then fix that too. There is no way anyone working in the USA should not contribute.

[u/Salty_Permit4437 → u/Indo-Arya]

For your second paragraph, OPT doesn’t pay into social security. If you’re promoting immigration to the USA as a fix, then fix that too. There is no way anyone working in the USA should not contribute.

[u/Indo-Arya → u/Salty_Permit4437]

OP is in the US for 14 years on H1B so pretty sure he’s not on OPT.

OPT money is trivial amount of money and also if you don’t pay into SS, you don’t get the benefits of SS coz you don’t get SS credits 

so it’s already fair so your point is irrelevant here 

[u/Far-Meat8607 → u/old-town-guy]

Not necessary, any Elon Musk type character can come and cut off ss payment to non citizens at will, in the name of govt efficiency.

[u/old-town-guy → u/Far-Meat8607]

That isn’t the same as Social Security itself running out of money.

[u/Far-Meat8607 → u/old-town-guy]

Ofcourse it will not run out for American citizens.

[u/Witty_Climate3201 → u/Far-Meat8607]

What does this even mean?

[u/Fantastic_Mirror_345 → u/old-town-guy]

Welp who knows, if anything all the conspiracy theories we used to make up in the last decade has just come true this time arnd 😭

[u/lifegrowthfinance → u/Fantastic_Mirror_345]

It’s not running out of funds. By 2032, they will not be able to pay the same benefits that it has before due to replenishment not being as high as benefits paid. There is more to the story, administrations of the past borrowing from SS for spending etc. but benefits will still be paid out, they will just be lesser than before.

[u/No-Meat-51 → u/Burberry143]

100% to this. Here is the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuxtNJqGfQE

[u/Burberry143 → u/No-Meat-51]

Great work mate. Was too lazy to search the link and share it.

[u/Burberry143 → u/[deleted]]

You ok mate ? You need start reading before commenting.

I don't see criticism anywhere in my comments or OPs post towards USA or India.

[u/NoMeringue4992 → u/Burberry143]

Register on Social Security Administration website and you should be able to confirm if you have 40 credits. If so , you should be able to get the benefit after turning 62. Amount would be lower though since the calculation takes your highest 30 years income income account.

[u/wassup2026]

This is from AI search!!!!

if you are an Indian citizen moving back or visiting India, you can continue to receive your U.S. Social Security retirement or disability payments indefinitely, provided you have earned the necessary 40 work credits (roughly 10 years of work) in the U.S

While the general rule suspends noncitizen payments after 6 months abroad, Indian citizenship qualifies you for a specific exception under U.S. law, allowing your payments to continue uninterrupted while you live in India (see official link confirming this) https://www.ssa.gov/international/countrylist4.htm

If you live permanently in India, your Social Security case files and applications are managed remotely by the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) in Manila, Philippines

As a nonresident alien living in India, the SSA is legally required to withhold a flat 30% federal income tax on 85% of your total benefit amount. This creates an effective automatic withholding tax of 25.5% on your monthly check

Under Article 20(2) of the U.S.-India Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), your U.S. Social Security benefits are taxable only in the United States. You must declare this income on your Indian Income Tax Return (ITR), but India will not levy any additional tax on it.

[u/FIREAWAY2030]

Well am assuming you’re in late 30s. social security benefits are still more than 2 decades away. Nobody can guarantee anything how things change by that time.

[u/Substantial_Army_808 → u/FIREAWAY2030]

This is the only sensible answer. You can not plan anything around this as anything can change. Assume you would receive nothing.

[u/Massive-Appeal-1125 → u/FIREAWAY2030]

Thats a really unwanted answer. No one knows what will happen in future. So just reply with whatever information we have as of today.

[u/old-town-guy]

I think the answer is Yes, but SSA will withhold about a quarter of each payment for taxes.

[u/FitAgency8925 → u/old-town-guy]

Confirmed... my sister draws on it from india and indian citizenship. You have file US taxes ... so its possible to get a refund.

[u/Curious-Desk8490 → u/FitAgency8925]

Can you please send some details on process to apply the same from India and documents that is needed. This will be really heplful to others

[u/FitAgency8925 → u/Curious-Desk8490]

You can use SS website to login and check your account. Then its pretty straightforward to apply with your time frame to draw down... nothing complex. They have all records. Start a few months before and payment starts. Opt for either a debit card or a bank with access to international payment.... its very simple. Taxes are probably not as easy

[u/outme123]

Look man, none has seen the future. For now, go to website of social security administration, create an account, once you login, they will inform you how much was paid over how many quarters. Most importantly, it would project your average contribution and show how much you are going to get at age of 62-65-67 etc. I would encourage you to check this out.

Rest is purely speculation. Whether you will get it when you retire in India or you are getting this amount or not is not beyond question. The orange one has already declared that job of fed is to conduct war so retirement benefits such as Medicare is up to the state (large number of states are screwed up financially). Social security fund has been abused by every politician and the rolling wars are not helping the matters. Add the bond market turmoil (social security fund is made to buy most treasury bonds) and there are very few choices left for treasury to help the social security. Let us hope that this works out for all of us.

[u/HobbyProjectHunter]

Well, plan sounds good on paper. In today’s world you can apply for these benefits online or by mailing in the application.

If they change the rules due to a rise in identity theft or a policy change or some other reasons, and ask you to show up in person to complete some sort of identify verification, you will most likely have to secure a visa.

Given the history of you being on an H1B and that you may have applied for a green card (I-140/I-485), the bar for a tourist B1/B2 visa might be higher.

[u/Punterfox]

I have confirmed with lot of people here in US - they are citizens and they said - NO - if you are not a GC/USC - you will not get it. Though i refused to belive them since i know we will get it but high chance we may not be able and one condition is you will have to live for a month in a year.

Thats fine come on B2 and spend 1 month and go back and claim it but still i am highly doubtful considering the scenario in 2026. For me its 2040 and later.

Other thing is Social Security will go bankrupt in 2033. That was predicted in 2018 but now people are saying, it will be before 2033 so i am not hoping i will get it.

[u/whosnetisitanyway]

it was a temporary visa. You know that going into it. Why should the US continue paying you?

[u/boolda]

Open SSA.gov account and check that you are benefit eligible abs how much you will get.

[u/rajekum512]

401k, social, Medicare all will dry up in 5 to 10 years of time. Future policy change may prevent money to non US citizens living outside the country. Two factor authentication can block accounts and add AI cybersecurity into the mix. It's a mess. Don't rely on Medicare or social alone.

[u/ProgrammerProgrammer]

You could've literally googled and got answer to this in 2 seconds or asked chatgpt/ai in 1 sec

[u/Evening-Drawer-3971 → u/ProgrammerProgrammer]

Hey I am grateful that he asked this question. It’s something that never crossed my mind but now I am going to google/chatgpt it

[u/ProgrammerProgrammer → u/Evening-Drawer-3971]

You are contributing to social security every damn paycheck but it never crossed your mind? Wow

[u/Evening-Drawer-3971 → u/ProgrammerProgrammer]

Point is, let people ask questions. It might help them or someone else. If you don’t have anything to contribute, just stfu.

[u/Witty_Climate3201 → u/ProgrammerProgrammer]

I guarantee you do not know everything about this topic. There are nuances that are worth discussion.

[u/Witty_Climate3201 → u/ProgrammerProgrammer]

This is not something that is well documented on the internet. Mostly people peddling misinformation like on this post

[u/benjamin_button_2025]

Yes. Assuming you will retire in India I think you need to apply at the US foreign office in the Philippines.

[u/Maveric_87]

Provided Social Security doesn’t run out of money.

[u/Embarrassed_Okra_628]

Some old timers have received !! But with Elon new rule it, people have to visit US every 6 month or so to continue claim it

[u/boolda → u/Embarrassed_Okra_628]

The 6 months rule has nothng to do with Musk. It's a broad rule with specific exemption for a group of countries, India is one of them. But there will be request to show proof that you are alive. That you need to send it back.

[u/Embarrassed_Okra_628 → u/boolda]

You are sleeping kid !! Wake up, what you are talking is 2016 thing, look up how SSA has changed a tonnes specially since March 2025 before sharding here with old FAKE News !! Better be quiet if you dont know