Hi -I was denied spousal benefits and am not sure why. Firstly my spouse has been collecting SS since 3 plus years. Secondly we have been married 38 plus years and I sent my original document of proof, to them also. Thirdly I meet the min. age requirement as I was born 07/1955.
I applied at my full retirement age of 66 and 2 months.
I am a dual citizen of Canada and U.S.A and we have lived here since 1994 working and paying our taxes faithfully.
I had a call/request for proof of what Canadian Gov. retirement benefits I was receiving . I sent them that documentation of the small amount I receive from work years in Canada prior to moving for work to U.S.
I did not think that should be part of the equation in my eligibility for spousal benefits in U.S.A
Please explain what I am missing here and why the denial.
Thank you
Anonymous

Hi. I'm not sure if you mean that your claim for spousal benefits was disallowed for not meeting the eligibility requirements (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0305.html), or if your claim was approved but with a benefit rate of zero. If it's the former, there's nothing stated in your question that would give me a clue as to why. But, if it's the latter, then I assume that Social Security is incorrectly counting your Canadian pension as a government pension for purposes of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision.

In either case, it sounds like you should probably file an appeal request (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10058.pdf). You have 60 days from the date of your notice in which to file for an appeal. If your claim was disallowed for not meeting the eligibility requirements, your disallowance notice should tell you why. But, if your claim was approved but for a zero benefit amount, then it sounds like Social Security may be misapplying the GPO provision. GPO can cause spousal benefits to be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of a person's pension that's based on their work for a governmental agency, but only if the governmental agency is U.S. agency. Foreign pensions are excluded from the definition of a government pension for GPO purposes (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202608400). Therefore, if Social Security is offsetting your spousal benefits because of your Canadian pension then they're doing so improperly.

Best, Jerry