How to report foreign earnings to Social Security under totalization agreement?

You need Form SSA-308 (Self-Employment/Optional Coverage Questionnaire) and possibly Form SSA-42 (Certificate of Coverage). The totalization agreement doesn't automatically transfer earnings data between countries - you have to initiate the process yourself. Be prepared to provide translated copies of all earnings documentation from Germany, including proof of tax payments into their social security system. When I went through this for my work in France, it took about 6 months to get everything processed correctly.

my brother did this but with canada and it was a NIGHTMARE! they kept losing his paperwork and he had to start all over twice!! make sure u make copies of EVERYTHING u send them

Doesn't the totalization just mean you can combine the quarters/credits from both countries to qualify? I don't think it actually changes your benefit amount - the US will only pay based on your US earnings and Germany will only pay based on your German earnings. At least that's my understanding from when I worked in the UK.

I went through this exact process last year with my husband's earnings from Germany! You need to schedule an in-person appointment at your local SSA office and bring: original German income statements, tax documents showing social security contributions, your marriage certificate, his passport with visa pages showing work authorization, and Form SSA-308 filled out (but they'll also have it there). The key thing we discovered is you need to get a certificate from the German pension insurance system (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) FIRST before going to SSA. They'll provide documentation of his covered earnings that SSA will accept. Fair warning: we tried calling forever and couldn't get through. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got us connected to a live agent in about 15 minutes. They have a demo video here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it was the only way we could actually schedule that crucial in-person appointment.

i think your confused about how it works. totalization just lets you qualify for benefits in either country if you dont have enough quarters in one. it doesnt actually add money to your benefit amount. thats why its called totaliZation not EQUalization lol

When my wife went through this process for her work in South Korea (another totalization country), we found that the most important thing was persistence. The frontline SSA employees often aren't familiar with totalization agreements and may give incorrect information. We had to politely escalate to a technical expert or supervisor who understood the international agreements. The process took about 9 months total and involved multiple submissions of documentation. One key thing: make sure your husband's name appears exactly the same way on all documents from both countries. Even minor variations caused delays for us. Also, SSA doesn't adjust earnings records over the phone - you'll definitely need an in-person appointment.

The US-Germany totalization agreement is one of the more straightforward ones to navigate. Here's the exact process: 1. Contact Deutsche Rentenversicherung first for a certified earnings statement covering the period he worked there (Versicherungsverlauf) 2. Get this document apostilled in Germany (legal certification for international use) 3. Submit Form SSA-308 along with the apostilled German earnings statement to your local SSA office (appointment required) 4. SSA will process this through their Office of International Operations (OIO) in Baltimore 5. They'll update his earnings record with special "deemed" earnings that will count toward his PIA calculation The most common mistake people make is trying to do this without the German pension authority documentation. SSA won't accept employer pay stubs or tax records alone for this purpose - they specifically need certification from the foreign pension system.

doesnt this only matter if hes close to retirement? how old is he? maybe not worth the hassle if hes younger

One important clarification on totalization that hasn't been mentioned: the agreement doesn't mean those German earnings will show up on his SSA earnings record the way US wages would. Instead, SSA will calculate something called a "theoretical benefit" as if all combined work periods were under US Social Security, then prorate it based on the percentage of work performed in the US. This means that after all your paperwork is processed, his earnings record might still show zeros for those years, but SSA will have internal documentation about the German covered employment that will increase his benefit calculation when he applies for retirement benefits. The most important document is the German equivalent of our Social Security statement showing covered earnings and contributions to their system.