Timing the medical and interview

[Chancy 6,241]

10 hours ago, Dave Knapp said:

We never asked for an expedite and would actually prefer her interview to be after April 15, so we can delay travel until after our 2nd wedding anniversary.

 

It's not just the interview you have to time properly but the medical as well.  Visa validity depends on the medical date, not the interview nor the issuance date.  Maximum validity is 6 months after the medical.  If your wife gets tagged for sputum testing and test results hopefully turn out negative, visa validity will just be 3 months from the medical clearance date.

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

18 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

I need to get my wife 5 years residency so she can benefit from my Social Security after I am gone.

I did not know that is a requirement. We have to sons who would also be eligible for death benefits. The are both US citizens and my wife and kids all came a little over a year ago. Do you know if they would still be eligible?

[RO_AH 1,659]

4 hours ago, Chancy said:

Maximum validity is 6 months after the medical.

To be specific the 6 month timer starts when you first go to SLEC not when the medical is completed.

 

P.S. I know @Chancy knows this, I just wanted to clarify for others.

Edited January 13, 2023 by RO_AH

[Chancy 6,241]

21 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

To be specific the 6 month timer starts when you first go to SLEC not when the medical is completed.

 

P.S. I know @Chancy knows this, I just wanted to clarify for others.

 

For those who are tagged for sputum testing like I was, visa validity would be 3 months from the last day of the medical.  So yes, that would be around 5 to 6 months from the 1st visit to SLEC. 

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

For those who are tagged for sputum testing like I was, visa validity would be 3 months from the last day of the medical.  So yes, that would be around 5 to 6 months from the 1st visit to SLEC.

My wife was flagged for sputum also and the completion date had nothing to do with her validity date. They went off of the date she first went to SLEC. I think they should make it 6 months from completion myself. My wife was messed up because it was during covid lockdowns so our problem was getting the new interview date after the sputum. Then we got a 221g at the interview which was cleared up pretty quick but we were still out of time and had to get a second medical. Luckily she didn't get flagged the second time.

[top_secret 2,417]

5 hours ago, RO_AH said:

My wife was flagged for sputum also and the completion date had nothing to do with her validity date. They went off of the date she first went to SLEC. I think they should make it 6 months from completion myself. My wife was messed up because it was during covid lockdowns so our problem was getting the new interview date after the sputum. Then we got a 221g at the interview which was cleared up pretty quick but we were still out of time and had to get a second medical. Luckily she didn't get flagged the second time.

 

Buried deep in Saint Luke's web site they say what they are basing the expiration on.  Apparently the rule is 3 months from the sputum result date rather than 6 months from when the physical took place.

 

 

Quote

For medical reports with no significant findings, the report is valid for 6 months starting from the date of the medical exam.

For those who undergo TB screening, the validity is only 3 months starting from the date of the MTB culture results.

https://slec.ph/faq/us.php

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

8 hours ago, RO_AH said:

I did not know that is a requirement. We have to sons who would also be eligible for death benefits. The are both US citizens and my wife and kids all came a little over a year ago. Do you know if they would still be eligible?

This probably deserves it's own topic, but I did not see an appropriate forum, and this is my topic, so here we go! 😊

 

Anything I say here is based on research, my actual experience, and my memory of both, but you should always double check possible idiots posting on the internet!  🙃

 

Wife

(I will say wife here but it could the other way around with husband collecting on wife's benefit) while husband is still living

 

A foreign born wife can collect SS benefits on her husband's SS account when he starts receiving SS at age 62 or beyond, but she must reside in the U.S. for 5 years and will start at her age 62 or greater.  She can get up to 50% of her husband's benefit at her full retirement age, but they knock a lot for retiring early.  You can use this calculator to estimate the benefit:

https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/quickcalc/spouse.html

For my wife, it goes from 32% of my benefit at age 62 to 50% at her full retirement age at 67.

 

If she works and gets 10 years of contributions, she will get the higher of the two benefits.

 

After getting the 5 years residency, the wife can move to most countries and still get the benefit.

 

Exception:  Your wife can get a caregiver benefit for caring for your children under 16. She can get that at any age and the 5 year residency does not apply.  (Read below in Family on why I don't do that) In fact, the benefit can go to any qualified caregiver if your wife is gone.  For instance, your wife disappears with the mailman, and your mom is taking care of the kids.  I think your mom can get a benefit.  Of course, lot's of details on that.

 

If you quality for SSDI (disability) the rules re different and your wife may be able to collect earlier than 62.

 

Children

 

5 year residency also effects foreign born children who are U.S. citizens.  They must have 5 years residency in order to pass their U.S. citizenship on to their children.

 

That has no impact on their ability to get a SS benefit on their parent's account.  My two kids get SS on my account.  That made starting SS at 62 a no brainer for us.  They each get about 50% of my benefit, so the extra benefit to our family is 100% of my benefit.  They can get it until age 18 or 19 if they are a full time student.

 

Family Maximum

 

When you start collecting, you can have several kids and your wife collecting on your account, but they will split the "family maximum" pie equally.  For instance, suppose my two kids get $1000 each and the family maximum is $2100.  Add a third kid and they get 2100 / 3 = 700 each.  This is why we don't add my wife as a caregiver and as the third.  My kids don't pay taxes.  Without the 3rd, 2000 is not taxable.  If my wife was the third, that 700 she gets would be part of our joint return "possible" taxable income.  I need to revisit that after the recent large increase in SS and the possibility we will be in a lower tax bracket this year.

 

Formula is here but I think it is also shown in your SS online account.

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/familymax.html

 

Hope that helps a bit.  Lots of details to look into.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

On 1/14/2023 at 2:16 AM, RO_AH said:

I did not know that is a requirement. We have to sons who would also be eligible for death benefits. The are both US citizens and my wife and kids all came a little over a year ago. Do you know if they would still be eligible?

Glanced back over this and I don't think I answered your question directly.

 

Your U.S. citizen kids can get SS on your account as soon as you start SS, as long as they are still under 18.  Regardless of residency.

 

Your wife needs 5 years residency to get any type of SS on your account, unless she can qualify for the caregiver status.

 

Are you close to getting SS or are you a young whippersnapper?

[RO_AH 1,659]

10 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

Are you close to getting SS or are you a young whippersnapper?

Not sure yet when I plan top start. Currently 59 so 2 1/2 years from now would be the soonest.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 hours ago, RO_AH said:

Not sure yet when I plan top start. Currently 59 so 2 1/2 years from now would be the soonest.

If your kids are younger, it might be the right choice to take it at 62.  I have a spreadsheet that shows my breakeven with the kids and I taking it at 62 or waiting til 66.4, my full retirement age.  In 2018 I would be would be 87 before taking it at 66.4 made sense.

 

My kids were 2 and 4 (6 & 8 now) when they started getting SS, so they get it for many years until they are 18 or 19 if full time students.  They each get about 1/2 my benefit, so basically our family benefit is doubled until that age.

 

I did not know about the child benefits until 2016, 2 years before I turned 62, and it was a huge positive surprise for us!  Hopefully for you too!

[RO_AH 1,659]

5 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

If your kids are younger, it might be the right choice to take it at 62.  I have a spreadsheet that shows my breakeven with the kids and I taking it at 62 or waiting til 66.4, my full retirement age.  In 2018 I would be would be 87 before taking it at 66.4 made sense.

 

My kids were 2 and 4 (6 & 8 now) when they started getting SS, so they get it for many years until they are 18 or 19 if full time students.  They each get about 1/2 my benefit, so basically our family benefit is doubled until that age.

 

I did not know about the child benefits until 2016, 2 years before I turned 62, and it was a huge positive surprise for us!  Hopefully for you too!

Wait...Do I understand this right? (BTW my 2 boys are 3 & 4) So if I take early retirement at 62 (my kids will be 6 & 7), my children can also start receiving benefit? So say my benefit is 1k USD, they would receive 500 USD ea as well??

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

7 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

Wait...Do I understand this right? (BTW my 2 boys are 3 & 4) So if I take early retirement at 62 (my kids will be 6 & 7), my children can also start receiving benefit? So say my benefit is 1k USD, they would receive 500 USD ea as well??

That was my reaction too!

 

A BIG YES!

 

Being an old fart daddy has it's benefits!

 

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10085.pdf

[RO_AH 1,659]

1 hour ago, seekingthetruth said:

That was my reaction too!

A BIG YES!

Being an old fart daddy has it's benefits!

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10085.pdf

Well that makes it simple. 62 for sure now. I was a little iffy before but this makes it a no brainer.

[Stein 276]

Glad I popped into the Phillipines section out of boredom today.  I'm 55 and just found out my wife is pregnant.  So, the child get benefits if I start drawing at 62?  I'm at the max cap of $4400 or so on SS at age 67 so not bad at all if I start drawing early.  We are in the US now so any child born will already be USC without having to file CRBA.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Stein

[Stein 276]

17 minutes ago, Stein said:

Glad I popped into the Phillipines section out of boredom today.  I'm 55 and just found out my wife is pregnant.  So, the child get benefits if I start drawing at 62?  I'm at the max cap of $4400 or so on SS at age 67 so not bad at all if I start drawing early.  We are in the US now so any child born will already be USC without having to file CRBA.

So reading through the link above 

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10085.pdf

the child can receive 50% of the max benefit.  Would that be 50% of my max Age 67 benefit?  That would be an extra $2200?  And my wife could get the same as the caregiver?  I think that's where the benefits could be capped at 150-180% of the benefit.  Well, I have seven years to figure that one out.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Stein