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Agreement Between the United States And Germany
Agreement Between the United States
And Germany
Contents
Introduction 1
Coverage and Social Security taxes 2
Certificate of coverage 4
Voluntary contributions to the German Social Security program 5
Monthly benefits 5
A German pension may affect your U.S. benefit 8
What you need to know about Medicare 9
Claims for benefits 9
German insurance agencies 10
Authority to collect information for a certificate of coverage
(see pages 4-5) 11
Contacting Social Security 11
Introduction
An agreement effective December 1, 1979,
between the United States and Germany
improves Social Security protection for people
who work or have worked in both countries. It
helps many people who, without the agreement,
would not be eligible for monthly retirement,
disability or survivors benets under the Social
Security system of one or both countries. It also
helps people who would otherwise have to pay
Social Security taxes to both countries on the
same earnings.
The agreement covers Social Security taxes
(including the U.S. Medicare portion). As the
result of a supplementary agreement, beginning
May 1, 1996, it also includes the taxes that
nance Germany’s sickness insurance
and long-term nursing care programs. The
agreement also covers retirement, disability and
survivors insurance benets. It does not cover
benets under the U.S. Medicare program or
the Supplemental Security Income program.
This booklet covers highlights of the agreement
and explains how it may help you while you
work and when you apply for benets.
The agreement may help you, your
family and your employer
• While you work—If your work is covered by
both the U.S. and German Social Security
systems, you (and your employer, if you are
employed) would normally have to pay Social
Security taxes to both countries for the same
work. However, the agreement eliminates
SocialSecurity.gov
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this double coverage so you pay taxes to
only one system (see pages 2-5).
• When you apply for benets—You may
have some Social Security credits in both
the U.S. and Germany but not have enough
to be eligible for benets in one country or
the other. The agreement makes it easier
to qualify for benets by letting you add
together your Social Security credits in
both countries. For more details, see the
section on “Monthly benets” beginning on
page 5.
Coverage and Social Security taxes
Before the agreement, employees, employers
and self-employed people could, under certain
circumstances, be required to pay Social
Security taxes to both the United States and
Germany for the same work.
Under the agreement, if you work as an
employee in the United States, you normally
will be covered by the United States, and you
and your employer will pay Social Security
taxes only to the United States. If you work
as an employee in Germany, you normally
will be covered by Germany, and you and
your employer pay Social Security taxes
only to Germany.
On the other hand, if your employer sends you
from one country to work for that employer or an
afliate in the other country for ve years or less,
you will continue to be covered by your home
country and you will be exempt from coverage
in the other country. For example, if a U.S.
company sends an employee to work for that
employer or an afliate in Germany for no more
than ve years, the employer and the employee
will continue to pay only U.S. Social Security
taxes and will not have to pay in Germany.
Special rules apply to self-employed people
who, without the agreement, would have to pay
Social Security taxes to both countries (see the
table on pages 2 and 3).
Summary of agreement rules
The following table shows whether your work
is covered under the U.S. or German Social
Security system. If you are covered under
U.S. Social Security, you and your employer
(if you are an employee) must pay U.S. Social
Security taxes. If you are covered under the
German system, you and your employer (if you
are an employee) must pay German Social
Security taxes. The next section explains how
to get a form from the country where you are
covered that will prove you are exempt in
the other country.
Your work status Coverage and taxes
You are working in Germany:
For a U.S. employer who:
• Sent you to work in Germany for ve years
or less
U.S.
• Sent you to work in Germany for more
than ve years
Germany
• Hired you in Germany Germany
For a non-U.S. employer Germany
For the U.S. government and you are a:
• U.S. national U.S. (either Social Security or federal
retirement program)
• German national Germany
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Your work status Coverage and taxes
You are working in the U.S.:
For an employer in Germany who:
• Sent you to work in the U.S. for ve years or less Germany
• Sent you to work in the U.S. for more than
ve years
U.S.
• Hired you in the U.S. U.S.
For a non-German employer U.S.
For the German government and you are a:
• German national Germany
• U.S. national U.S.
You are self-employed and you:
• Work only in the U.S. U.S.
• Normally work in the U.S. but transfer your
business activity to Germany for ve years
or less.
U.S.
• Work only in Germany Germany
• Normally work in Germany but transfer your
business activity to the U.S. for ve years or less
Germany
If this table does not seem to describe your situation and you are:
• Working in the U.S. Write to the U.S. address on page 12 for further
information.
• Working in Germany Write to the appropriate German address on page
10 for further information.
NOTE: As the table indicates, a U.S. worker employed in Germany can be covered by U.S. Social
Security only if he or she works for a U.S. employer. A U.S. employer includes a corporation
organized under the laws of the United States or any state, a partnership if at least two-thirds of
the partners are U.S. residents, a person who is a resident of the U.S. or a trust if all the trustees
are U.S. residents. The term also includes a foreign afliate of a U.S. employer if the U.S.
employer has entered into an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under section
3121(l) of the Internal Revenue Code to pay Social Security taxes for U.S. citizens and residents
employed by the afliate.
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Certicate of coverage
A certicate of coverage issued by one country
serves as proof of exemption from Social
Security taxes on the same earnings in the
other country.
Certicates for employees
To establish an exemption from compulsory
coverage and taxes under the German system,
your employer must request a certicate of
coverage (form USA/D 101) from the U.S. at
this address:
Social Security Administration
Ofce of International Programs
P.O. Box 17741
Baltimore, MD 21235-7741
USA
If preferred, the request may be sent by FAX to
(410) 966-1861. Please note this FAX number
should only be used to request certicates
of coverage.
No special form is required to request a
certicate but the request must be in writing and
provide the following information:
• Full name of worker;
• Date and place of birth;
• Citizenship;
• Country of worker’s permanent residence;
• U.S. Social Security number;
• Date of hire;
• Country of hire;
• Name and address of the employer in the
U.S. and Germany; and
• Date of transfer and anticipated date
of return.
In addition, your employer must indicate if
you remain an employee of the U.S. company
while working in Germany or if you become
an employee of the U.S. company’s afliate in
Germany. If you become an employee of an
afliate, your employer must indicate if the U.S.
company has an agreement with the IRS under
section 3121(l) of the Internal Revenue Code to
pay U.S. Social Security taxes for U.S. citizens
and residents employed by the afliate and, if
yes, the effective date of the agreement.
Your employer can also request a certicate
of U.S. coverage for you over the Internet
using a special online request form available
at www.socialsecurity.gov/coc. Only an
employer can use the online form to request a
certicate of coverage. A self-employed person
must submit a request by mail or fax.
To establish your exemption from coverage
under the U.S. Social Security system, your
employer in Germany must request a certicate
of coverage (form D/USA 101) from the local
German Sickness Fund that collects your Social
Security taxes in Germany.
The same information required for a certicate
of coverage from the United States is needed to
get a certicate from Germany except that you
must show your German Social Security number
rather than your U.S. Social Security number.
Certicates for self-employed people
If you are self-employed and would normally
have to pay Social Security taxes to both the
U.S. and German systems, you can establish
your exemption from one of the taxes.
• If you will be covered by the United States
(see table on page 2-3), write to the
Social Security Administration at the address
on page 4; or
• If you will be covered by Germany (see table
on page 2-3), write to the local German
Sickness Fund that collects your German
Social Security taxes.
Be sure to provide the following information in
your letter:
• Full name;
• Date and place of birth;
• Citizenship;
• Country of permanent residence;
• U.S. and/or German Social Security number;
• Nature of self-employment activity;
• Dates the activity was or will be
performed; and
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• Name and address of your trade or business
in both countries.
Eective date of coverage exemption
The certicate of coverage you receive from
one country will show the effective date of your
exemption from paying Social Security taxes in
the other country. Generally, this will be the date
you began working in the other country.
Certicates of coverage issued by Germany
should be retained by the employer in the
United States in case of an audit by the IRS. No
copies should be sent to IRS unless specically
requested by IRS. However, a self-employed
person must attach a photocopy of the
certicate to his or her income tax return each
year as proof of the U.S. exemption.
Copies of certicates of coverage issued by
the United States will be provided for both the
employee and the employer. It will be their
responsibility to present the certicate to the
German authorities when requested to do so.
To avoid any difculties, your employer (or
you, if you are self-employed) should request a
certicate as early as possible, preferably before
your work in the other country begins.
If you or your employer request a certicate of
coverage, you should read the Privacy Act and
Paperwork Reduction Act statements at the end
of this booklet.
Voluntary contributions to the
German Social Security program
The agreement allows U.S. nationals, stateless
people and refugees to make voluntary
Social Security contributions to the German
program if they meet certain conditions. These
contributions may help a person qualify for
a regular German benet or increase the
benet amount.
You can get more information on making
voluntary contributions by writing to either the
Bundesversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte
or the Landesversicherungsanstalt Freie und
Hansestadt - Hamburg at the addresses shown
on page 10.
Monthly benets
The following table shows the various types
of Social Security benets payable under the
U.S. and German Social Security systems and
briey describes the eligibility requirements that
normally apply for each type of benet. If you
do not meet the normal requirements for these
benets, the agreement may help you to qualify
(see page 8).
This table is only a general guide. You can
get more specic information about U.S.
benets at any U.S. Social Security ofce or by
calling our toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213
or by visiting Social Security’s website at
www.socialsecurity.gov. You can get more
detailed information about the German system
by writing to the appropriate German ofce to
which you pay German Social Security taxes
or by visiting the German Social Security
program’s website. Postal and website
addresses are shown on pages 10-11.
Under U.S. Social Security, you may earn
up to four credits each year depending on
the amount of your covered earnings. For
example, in 2017, you get one credit for each
$1,300 of your covered annual earnings up to
a maximum of four credits for the year. Under
the German system, credits are measured in
months. To simplify the information in the table,
requirements are shown in years of credits.
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Agreement Between the United States And Germany
Retirement or old-age benets
United States Germany
Worker—Full benet at full retirement
age.* Reduced benet as early as age
62. Required work credits range from
one and one-half to 10 years (10 years
if age 62 in 1991 or later).
Worker-male or female—Benets payable at:
• Age 65 with ve years of coverage;
• Age 63 with 35 years of coverage; or
• Age 60 with 15 years of coverage including eight years of
covered work in the last 10 years. In addition, must have
been unemployed in Germany for 52 weeks during the last
one and one-half years.
Worker-female—Benet payable at age 60 with 15 years of
coverage including more than 10 years of covered work after
age 40.
Disability benets
United States Germany
Worker—Under full
retirement age* can get
benet if unable to do any
substantial gainful work for
at least a year. One and
one-half to 10 years credit
needed, depending on age at
date of onset. Some recent
work credits also needed
unless worker is blind.
Worker—Benet payable at any age if work capacity reduced to less than
50 percent. Must have 60 months of coverage at any time prior to onset of
disability. In addition, must have either 36 months of contributions based on
covered work in the ve years immediately before onset (this requirement
is deemed met if disability results from work accident) or 60 months of
coverage before 1984 and contributing continuously since January 1, 1984.
The severity of the disability determines whether the worker receives an
occupational incapacity benet or a higher total disability benet.
Family benets to dependents of retired or disabled people
United States Germany
Spouse—Full benet at full retirement age* or at any age if
caring for the worker’s entitled child under age 16 (or disabled
before age 22). Reduced benet as early as age 62 if not
caring for a child.
Spouse—No provision.
Divorced spouse—Full benet at full retirement age.*
Reduced benet as early as age 62. Must be unmarried and
have been married to worker for at least 10 years.
Divorced spouse—No provision.
Children—If unmarried, up to age 18 (age 19 if in an
elementary or secondary school full time) or any age if
disabled before age 22.
Children—No provision.
*Full retirement age for people born in 1938 is age 65 and 2 months. The full retirement age increases
gradually until it reaches age 67 for people born in 1960 or later.
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Survivors benets
United States Germany
Widow(er)—Full benet at full retirement age* or at
any age if caring for deceased’s entitled child under
age 16 (or disabled before age 22).
Reduced benet as early as age 60 (or age 50 if
disabled) if not caring for a child. Benets may be
continued if remarriage occurs after age 60 (or age
50 if disabled).
Widow(er)—Benet payable at any age if not
remarried and worker had ve years of coverage or
was entitled to benets before death.
Divorced widow(er)—Same as widow(er) if
marriage lasted at least 10 years.
Divorced widow(er)—Benet payable to dependent
former spouse at any age if not remarried before the
worker’s death and marriage was dissolved prior to
July 1, 1977. (If not dependent on worker at time of
death, benet may still be payable if other conditions
are met.) Worker must have had ve years of
coverage or was entitled to benets before death.
If marriage ended after June 30, 1977, benets
may be payable based on the former spouse’s own
insurance record. Former spouse must be unmarried
and raising a child entitled to benets.
Children—Same as for children of retired or
disabled worker.
Children—Orphan’s benet until age 18, or if
attending school or in vocational training, until age
27. Worker must have had ve years of coverage or
was entitled to benets before death.
Lump-sum death benet—A one-time payment
not to exceed $255 payable on the death of an
insured worker.
Lump-sum death benet—No provision.
*Full retirement age for people born in 1938 is age 65 and 2 months. The full retirement age increases
gradually until it reaches age 67 for people born in 1960 or later.
Special benets from Miners’ Pension Insurance
United States Germany
None Apart from the already listed pension benets from
the German Pension Insurance, there are also
special benets from the Miners’ Pension Insurance.
Specic details concerning these benets may be
obtained from the Federal Miners’ Pension Insurance
Fund at the address on page 10.
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How benets can be paid
If you have Social Security credits in both the
United States and Germany, you may be eligible
for benets from one or both countries. If you
meet all the basic requirements under one
country’s system, you will get a regular benet
from that country. If you do not meet the basic
requirements, the agreement may help you
qualify for a benet as explained below.
• Benets from the U.S.—If you do not have
enough work credits under the U.S. system
to qualify for regular benets, you may be
able to qualify for a partial benet from
the United States based on both U.S. and
German credits. However, to be eligible
to have your German credits counted,
you must have earned at least six credits
(generally one and one-half years of work)
under the U.S. system. Since the U.S. Social
Security program did not begin until 1937,
any German coverage earned before that
year cannot be counted. If you already have
enough credits under the U.S. system to
qualify for a benet, the United States cannot
count your German credits.
• Benets from Germany—Social Security
credits from both countries can also be
counted, when necessary, to meet the
eligibility requirements for German benets.
To be eligible to have your U.S. and German
credits counted, you must have at least
18 months of coverage credited under the
German system.
How credits get counted
You do not have to do anything to have your
credits in one country counted by the other
country. If we need to count your credits
under the German system to help you qualify
for a U.S. benet, we will get a copy of your
German record directly from Germany when
you apply for benets. If German ofcials need
to count your U.S. credits to help you qualify
for a German benet, they will get a copy
of your U.S. record directly from the Social
Security Administration when you apply for the
German benet.
Although each country may count your credits
in the other country, your credits are not actually
transferred from one country to the other. They
remain on your record in the country where you
earned them and also can be used to qualify for
benets there.
Computation of U.S. benet under
the agreement
When a U.S. benet becomes payable as a
result of counting both U.S. and German Social
Security credits, an initial benet is determined
based on your U.S. earnings as if your entire
career had been completed under the U.S.
system. This initial benet is then reduced to
reect the fact that German credits helped to
make the benet payable. The amount of the
reduction will depend on the number of U.S.
credits: the more U.S. credits, the smaller the
reduction; and the fewer U.S. credits, the larger
the reduction.
A German pension may aect your
U.S. benet
If you qualify for Social Security benets from
both the United States and Germany and you
did not need the agreement to qualify for either
benet, the amount of your U.S. benet may
be reduced. This is a result of a provision in
U.S. law that can affect the way your benet
is gured if you also receive a pension based
on work that was not covered by U.S. Social
Security. For more information, call our toll-free
number, 1-800-772-1213, or visit our website,
www.socialsecurity.gov, and get a copy of
our publication, Windfall Elimination Provision
(Publication No. 05-10045). If you are outside
the United States, you may write to us at the
address on page 12.
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Agreement Between the United States And Germany
What you need to know
about Medicare
Medicare is the U.S. national health insurance
program for people age 65 or older or who are
disabled. Medicare has four parts:
• Hospital insurance (Part A) helps pay
for inpatient hospital care and certain
follow-up services.
• Medical insurance (Part B) helps pay for
doctors’ services, outpatient hospital care
and other medical services.
• Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) are
available in many areas. People with
Medicare Parts A and B can choose to
receive all of their health care services
through a provider organization under Part C.
• Prescription drug coverage (Part D) helps
pay for medications doctors prescribe for
medical treatment.
You are eligible for free hospital insurance at
age 65 if you have worked long enough under
U.S. Social Security to qualify for a retirement
benet. People born in 1929 or later need 40
credits (about 10 years of covered work) to
qualify for retirement benets.
Although the agreement between the United
States and Germany allows the Social Security
Administration to count your German credits to
help you qualify for U.S. retirement, disability
or survivors benets, the agreement does not
cover Medicare benets. As a result, we cannot
count your credits in Germany to establish
entitlement to free Medicare hospital insurance.
For more information about Medicare,
call our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213,
and ask for the publication, Medicare
(Publication No. 05-10043) or visit Medicare’s
website at www.medicare.gov.
Claims for benets
If you live in the United States and wish to apply
for U.S. or German benets:
• Visit or write any U.S. Social
Security ofce; or
• Phone our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213,
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. any business day. People
who are deaf or hard of hearing may call our
toll-free TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.
You can apply for German benets at any
U.S. Social Security ofce by completing an
application form SSA-2490.
If you live in Germany and wish to apply for U.S.
or German benets, contact:
• The Federal Benets Unit at the U.S.
Consulate General in Frankfurt (phone
69-7535-2496) to le for U.S. benets; or
• Any German Social Security ofce to le for
German benets.
You can apply with one country and ask to
have your application considered as a claim for
benets from the other country. Information from
your application will then be sent to the other
country. Each country will process the claim
under its own laws—counting credits from the
other country when appropriate—and notify you
of its decision.
If you have not applied for benets before, you
may need to provide certain information and
documents when you apply. These include
the worker’s U.S. and German Social Security
numbers, proof of age for all claimants,
evidence of the worker’s U.S. earnings in the
past 24 months and information about the
worker’s coverage under the German system.
You may wish to call the Social Security
ofce before you go there to see if any other
information is needed.
Payment of benets
Each country pays its own benet. U.S.
payments are made by the U.S. Department
of Treasury each month and cover benets
for the preceding month. German benets are
paid monthly, in advance, through the German
Postal System.
Absence from U.S. territory
Normally, people who are not U.S. citizens
may receive U.S. Social Security benets
while outside the U.S. only if they meet certain
requirements. Under the agreement, however,
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Agreement Between the United States And Germany
if you are a U.S. or German citizen, a refugee, a
stateless person, or a person who is eligible for
dependents or survivors benets based on the
Social Security record of one of these people,
you may receive benets as long as you reside
in Germany. If you are not a U.S. or German
citizen and live in another country, you may not
be able to receive benets. The restrictions on
U.S. benets are explained in the publication,
Your Payments While You Are Outside The
United States (Publication No. 05-10137).
Appeals
If you disagree with the decision made on your
claim for benets under the agreement, contact
any U.S. or German Social Security ofce. The
people there can tell you what you need to do to
appeal the decision.
The German Social Security authorities will
review your appeal if it affects your rights under
the German system, while U.S. Social Security
authorities will review your appeal if it affects
your rights under the U.S. system. Since each
country’s decisions are made independently
of the other, a decision by one country on a
particular issue may not always conform with
the decision made by the other country on the
same issue.
German insurance agencies
For more information about the German Social Security program
If your most recent Social Security tax was
paid to the:
Write to:
Pension Insurance for Wage Earners Landesversicherungstanstalt
Freie- und Hansestadt - Hamburg
Friedrich-Ebert-Damm 245
22159 Hamburg
GERMANY
Internet: www.lva-hamburg.de
Pension Insurance of Salaried Employees Bundesversicherungsanstalt Für Angestellte
10704 Berlin
GERMANY
Internet: www.bfa-berlin.de
Miners’ Pension Insurance, or if you have at least 60
months of contributions and substitute periods in the
Miners’ Pension Insurance
Bundesknappschaft
Hauptverwaltung Bochum
Pieperstrasse 14-28
44781 Bochum
GERMANY
Internet: www.bundesknappschaft.de
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For more information about the German Social Security program
Special Institute of the Wage Earners’ Pension
Insurance for Railroad Workers
Bahnversicherungsanstalt
Berziksleitung Wuppertal (VT)
Doeppersburg 41
42103 Wuppertal
GERMANY
Internet: www.bahnva.de
Special Institute of the Wage Earners’ Pension
Insurance, or, if you paid at least one tax
contribution as a navigational employee or as
a sea pilot
Seekasse
Postfach 11 04 89
20404 Hamburg
GERMANY
Internet: www.seekasse.de
Authority to collect information
for a certicate of coverage
(see pages 4-5)
Privacy Act
The Privacy Act requires us to notify you that
we are authorized to collect this information by
section 233 of the Social Security Act. While it is
not mandatory for you to furnish the information
to the Social Security Administration, a
certicate of coverage cannot be issued unless
a request has been received. The information is
needed to enable Social Security to determine
if work should be covered only under the U.S.
Social Security system in accordance with an
international agreement. Without the certicate,
work may be subject to taxation under both the
U.S. and the foreign Social Security systems.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice
This information collection meets the clearance
requirements of 44 U.S.C. section 3507,
as amended by section 2 of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. You are not required
to answer these questions unless we display a
valid Ofce of Management and Budget control
number. We estimate that it will take you about
30 minutes to read the instructions, gather the
necessary facts, and write down the information
to request a certicate of coverage.
Contacting Social Security
Visit our website
The most convenient way to conduct Social
Security business from anywhere at any
time, is to visit www.socialsecurity.gov.
There, you can:
• Apply for retirement, disability, and
Medicare benets;
• Find copies of our publications;
• Get answers to frequently asked
questions; and
• So much more!
Call us
If you don’t have access to the internet,
we offer many automated services by
telephone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you’re in the United States, call us toll-free
at 1-800-772-1213 or at our TTY number,
1-800-325-0778, if you’re deaf or hard
of hearing.
If you need to speak to a person, we can answer
your calls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through
Friday. We ask for your patience during busy
periods since you may experience a higher than
usual rate of busy signals and longer hold times
to speak to us. We look forward to serving you.
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For more information
To le a claim for U.S. or German benets
under the agreement, follow the instructions on
pages 9-10.
To nd out more about U.S. Social Security
benets or for information about a claim for
benets, contact any
U.S. Social Security ofce or call our toll-free
number at 1-800-772-1213. If you live outside
the United States, write to:
Social Security Administration
OIO—Totalization
P.O. Box 17049
Baltimore, MD 21235-7049
USA
For more information about Germany’s Social
Security programs, contact any branch ofce
of a German insurance agency or a German
diplomatic post or refer to the chart on
page 10.
Do not worry if you are not sure which German
insurance agency to contact. If you do not write
to the proper one, the agency will forward your
inquiry or application to the correct one.
If you do not wish to le a claim for benets
but would like more information about the
agreement, write to:
Social Security Administration
Ofce of International Programs
P.O. Box 17741
Baltimore, MD 21235-7741
USA
For additional information visit our website:
www.socialsecurity.gov/international
Social Security Administration
Publication No. 05-10191
September 2017
Agreement Between The United States And Germany
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
