Dear Larry,

I am currently 78 years old and have been receiving Social Security benefits from the US Government since the age of 65.

As additional background:
- I am a non-US Citizen who has been living outside of the US (in India). I worked in the US when I was younger and had qualified for the 40 credits of work during the course of my career.
- At the time, both my spouse and I were Green Card holders (legal Permanent Residents), a status we both relinquished when we left he US to come back to India.
- My wife (also a non-US Citizen living in India with me) does not have enough work credits to qualify for Social Security benefits on her own. She is not working right now. She is currently 67 years of age.

The question I had is that in my absence, would my wife be entitled to spousal Social Security benefits?

Hi,

Based on your description, it sounds like your wife could only qualify to collect spousal or survivor benefits from your record if the two of you lived together in the United States as husband and wife for at least 5 years (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0302610030). If you did, then your wife should almost certainly claim spousal benefits as soon as possible, since she's over full retirement age (FRA) and her spousal rate would not get any higher if she waits to claim benefits.

Best, Jerry