Social Security approved despite foreign birth certificate concerns - my experience
After months of anxiety, my Social Security retirement application was finally approved yesterday! I can already see my benefit notice in my online account. My biggest worry was my birth situation - I was born in France in 1956 while my mother was teaching at an American school abroad. I've been a US citizen my whole life, but I don't have a standard US birth certificate, just the Consular Report of Birth Abroad. I was really stressed about this after seeing someone post here last summer about their application being delayed for 6 months because of documentation issues with foreign birth records. I almost considered delaying my application, but I decided to go ahead anyway since I'm turning 67 in March. What might have helped: I updated my SS card about 4 years ago and brought my US passport as citizenship proof. The SSA office told me they couldn't process it online because of my birth situation, but they handled it in person without any problems. I still have my original paper SS card from 1972 that's falling apart, but I'm glad I got the updated one now! Anyone else deal with foreign birth certificates when applying? Was your process smooth or complicated?
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Amaya Watson
My husband had virtually the same situation - born in Germany in '57 when his dad was stationed there with the Air Force. When he applied for retirement benefits last year, they initially flagged his application for review because of the birth certificate issue. Took an extra 3 weeks, but ultimately everything processed fine. The SSA agent told us that military births abroad are actually pretty common in their system! Glad yours went smoothly!
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Tristan Carpenter
•That's so reassuring to hear! Did they request any additional documentation from your husband beyond what was initially submitted? I was prepared to dig up my parents' old records if necessary, but thankfully they didn't ask.
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Grant Vikers
i had similar prob but mine was worse - born in philippines in 60s when dad worked for state dept. my FS-240 form was super faded and they rejected my first application!! had to order certified copy from state dept which took FOREVER. finally got approved last month but missed 2 payments bcuz of the delay. ugh.
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Tristan Carpenter
•Oh no, that sounds incredibly frustrating! Did they eventually back-pay you for those missed months? I would have been furious about losing payments due to their processing delays.
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Giovanni Martello
SSA actually has specific procedures for handling foreign birth certificates. For anyone reading this thread with similar concerns, here's what helps smooth the process: 1. If possible, update your SS card *before* applying for retirement benefits 2. Bring multiple forms of ID verification (passport, driver's license, etc.) 3. If you have a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (FS-240), Certificate of Citizenship, or Naturalization Certificate, bring the original if possible 4. Consider bringing documentation that links your US citizen parent(s) to you if it's a case of derived citizenship The most common delays happen when the name on your birth certificate doesn't exactly match other documents (marriage changes, spelling variations, etc.). For military families, the DoD records can sometimes be accessed by SSA to verify eligibility.
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Savannah Weiner
•This is really helpful info! My sister-in-law was born in Japan (military family) and she's applying next year. I'll pass this along!
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Levi Parker
I tried calling SSA about this exact issue last month and spent THREE HOURS on hold before getting disconnected. TWICE. The system is broken! My brother was born in Panama Canal Zone in 1959 and needs to apply soon but we can't get answers about what documentation he'll need.
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Libby Hassan
•I had the same struggle trying to get through to SSA, but then I found a service called Claimyr that got me connected to a real person in less than 10 minutes! Saved me hours of frustration. It basically calls SSA for you and then connects you when they answer. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU I used it when I had questions about my divorced spouse benefits and actually got helpful answers instead of just hold music. The SSA rep I spoke with was able to tell me exactly what documents I needed to provide.
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Hunter Hampton
Actually, Panama Canal Zone births have a specific designation in the SSA system. Your brother would need his Canal Zone birth certificate, proof of parent citizenship at time of birth, and possibly Form DS-1350 (Certification of Birth) if available. The Canal Zone has special status since it was a US-controlled territory, so it's handled differently than other foreign births. I processed these cases for years before retiring from SSA. He should apply online but expect to be contacted for an interview to verify documents. The backlog is currently running about 4-6 weeks for special case processing.
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Levi Parker
•THANK YOU! This is exactly what we needed to know. We have the original Canal Zone certificate but didn't know about Form DS-1350. Will look into getting that right away. Appreciate the insider perspective!
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Amaya Watson
For those wondering about timing - my application with a foreign birth certificate (Germany, 1954) took about 6 weeks from submission to approval. That was about 3 weeks longer than my husband's standard application with a US birth certificate. Not terrible, but plan accordingly!
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Tristan Carpenter
•That's actually not as bad as I feared! I submitted mine 5 weeks ago, so that timeline matches up pretty well with my experience. I was expecting months of delays based on horror stories I'd read online.
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Grant Vikers
so does anyone know if a CRBA form FS-240 is better than having naturalization papers?? my cousin has both (born in mexico, parents got citizenship when he was 4) and doesnt know which to use when he applies next month
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Hunter Hampton
•The FS-240 (Consular Report of Birth Abroad) would establish that your cousin was a US citizen at birth through his parents, while naturalization papers show citizenship was granted later. For SSA purposes, either document is acceptable proof of citizenship, but the FS-240 might simplify things by showing citizenship from birth. I'd recommend bringing both documents to be safe.
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Savannah Weiner
Congrats on getting approved! When do you get your first payment? I'm just starting to research all this stuff and the payment timing is confusing me.
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Tristan Carpenter
•Thanks! My first payment will be deposited on the 3rd Wednesday of next month (my birth date is on the 15th, so I fall in that payment group). The payment schedule depends on your birth date: if you were born on the 1st-10th, you get paid on the 2nd Wednesday; 11th-20th, it's the 3rd Wednesday; and 21st-31st, it's the 4th Wednesday. Hope that helps!
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