Immigration Corner | Can I collect social security?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I was a legal permanent resident for 30 years. I am now back in Jamaica for the past 16 years. I have worked and paid taxes and I can also log in to my social security account and see that I do qualify for social security. I have not submitted an application for social security. I would like to know if I could be refused social security which was collected as taxes when I worked.

Please and thank you in advance for your response to my question.

– TG

Dear TG,

You did not say why you were back in Jamaica for 16 years. If you left America voluntarily and have not returned for 16 years, you have abandoned your US residency.

If you were deported and are unable to return to America, your removal from the United States would have been reported by the Department of Homeland Security to the Social Security Administration (SSA) within a month of your removal.

Generally, once a person is deported from the United States, they no longer qualify for social security benefits – except in some limited circumstances. You should, therefore, consult with a US immigration attorney to determine when you were removed, and under what section of the US Immigration and Nationality Act you were removed.

If a person is able to regain their permanent residency status, they can requalify to collect their social security benefits.

If you abandon or surrender your US permanent residency, you also forfeit your social security benefits. All of these scenarios are true, notwithstanding the fact that you may have paid federal income taxes and social security and medicare taxes during your working life in the United States.

A scenario like this is a prime example of why immigrants should become US citizens as soon as they qualify – to prevent future deportation and loss of benefits such as social security. An American citizen can live anywhere in the world they choose (and are accepted as an immigrant) and receive their social security payments.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com