Can You Still Get Disability Benefits if You Leave the Country?

Social Security doesn’t automatically stop sending you payments if you collect disability benefits and leave the country to go live abroad. However, depending on which type of benefit you receive—Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)—and where you move, your payments may be affected. Additional factors, such as your citizenship status and how long you’re outside the United States, can also have an impact on your SSDI or SSI payments.

If you’re planning on moving to a different country or U.S. territory and you’re collecting disability benefits, it’s important to be familiar with Social Security’s rules about when the agency can continue to send your monthly payments uninterrupted and when they might stop. That way you don’t have to face any unexpected financial hurdles as you settle into your new location.

How Long Can You Leave the Country On Disability?

For both SSDI and SSI purposes, if you leave the United States for 30 days in a row or more, Social Security will consider you “outside the country” until you return to U.S. soil and stay for 30 days in a row. Your reporting obligations don’t stop once you’re out of the country (at least if you’d like to continue getting benefits), so it's important to make sure Social Security has your current address and to let the agency know as soon as you’re back in the United States.

Collecting SSDI While You Live Abroad

Both U.S. citizens as well as non-citizens (permanent residents and certain lawfully present foreign workers) can receive SSDI provided they’ve earned enough in work credits to become fully insured under the program. For the most part, U.S. citizens can continue to get SSDI benefits after leaving the United States as long as they remain eligible for disability and Social Security is allowed to send benefits to the country they’re moving to.

Countries Where Neither U.S. Citizens Nor Non-Citizens Can Get Disability Payments

The U.S. Treasury—from which SSDI benefits are paid— is statutorily banned from sending payments to anyone, even U.S. citizens, in Cuba or North Korea. (31 C.F.R. § 211.1(2025)). Furthermore, Social Security regulations generally prohibit sending disability payments to both U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens in the following countries:

• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan, or
• Uzbekistan.

However, the agency may be able to make exceptions for citizens in countries other than Cuba and North Korea provided they meet and agree to restricted payment conditions. If you’re abroad, you can contact the Federal Benefits Unit at your nearest U.S. embassy or consulate for more information.

The list of disallowed countries is subject to change depending on the global political climate and a country's policies. You can check the status of the country you’re moving to by using Social Security’s Payments Abroad Screening Tool.

Collecting SSDI Abroad as a Non-U.S. Citizen

Social Security will stop SSDI payments to some non-U.S. citizens after they’ve been outside the U.S. for six full calendar months. (42 U.S.C. § 402(t))(2025). However, the list of countries whose citizens can receive ongoing SSDI benefits is quite extensive. Provided that you aren’t moving to one of the disallowed countries listed above and you’re a citizen of one of the following countries, you can continue to collect SSDI payments regardless of how long you stay outside of the United States.

Citizens of the following countries who are receiving SSDI can also have their benefits continued as long as they’ve earned at least 40 work credits (equivalent to about 10 years of employment) or they’ve lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years.

These lists change from time to time. So, before you move, you should contact Social Security to confirm whether your country of citizenship allows you to receive SSDI benefits.

Rules for Citizens of All Other Countries

If you’re neither a citizen of the U.S. nor one of the countries listed in the tables above, you can lose SSDI benefits after spending six months outside the United States—unless you’re on active duty in the U.S. military or you become a resident (not a citizen) of a country that has a Social Security agreement with the United States. These countries are as follows:

*Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland only allow you to continue receiving your SSDI benefits if you’re a resident who is also a refugee or stateless person.

Can I Collect SSI If I Live Abroad?

Unlike with SSDI, you generally cannot collect SSI benefits once you leave the country. Furthermore, Social Security will stop your SSI payments if you’ve been outside the U.S. for 30 days, and they can’t be reinstated until you’ve been back in the United States for 30 days.

There are a few limited exceptions to the rule that you can’t get SSI if you leave the country for a month or longer: children of military personnel who receive SSI and who have to leave the United States for their parent's overseas duty can continue to get benefits while overseas, and in some cases, students studying abroad may continue to receive SSI as well.

Do Payment Methods Change If You Live Abroad?

Social Security’s use of direct deposit and other electronic banking methods typically means that you’ll see your disability payment show up in your U.S. or foreign bank account the same way that you would within the United States. (Remember to keep time zones in mind when tracking your pay date.) The agency can deposit benefits into your account at any financial institution that has a direct deposit agreement with the U.S., which is most countries not subject to payment restrictions. You can find a full list of countries with international direct deposit agreements here.

Leaving the Country Doesn’t Mean Leaving Behind Continuing Disability Reviews

Whether you’re a U.S. citizen or a legal non-citizen, if you’re living abroad, you’ll still need to undergo a continuing disability review every three to seven years. It’s very important that you do not ignore Social Security’s correspondence about a continuing disability review. If you don’t respond or comply with the agency’s request—which might include going to an in-person consultative examination—your disability benefits could be stopped.

Additional Resources for Disabled Travelers and “Ex-Pats”

Learn more about your rights and responsibilities in Social Security’s guide to getting benefits abroad. For more information about collecting SSDI or SSI disability benefits in another country, see Nolo's Guide to Social Security Disability, by David Morton, M.D. When in doubt, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to Social Security’s Office of Earnings & International Operations (contact information available here), or the Federal Benefits Unit at the embassy or consulate in the country where you reside (you can find a list of embassies and consular offices here).