Divorced spouse benefits for non-citizen

JoeCT · ‎10-25-2020

Hello all:

Hoping to get some advice from someone who is, or has been in a similar situation. I’m 64 years & 3 months old, not planning on retiring for 3-5 years. I am currently married to my second wife who is about ten years younger. She is planning on working for a few years more as well. No issues for her and I.

But, my first wife is a non-citizen, and lives in her native country now. We were married for 13-14 years, she’s not married now. But she only worked and paid into Social Security for a few months while living in the US- mostly she took care of all the household duties while we were married. She hardly participated in the equivalent system for retirement in her country, so as retirement age approaches it’s not looking good.

It's my understanding that she fulfills all the criteria to be able to get Social Security benefits as a divorced spouse based on my eligibility - https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/applying7.html

So, how does she get the ball rolling without being in the United States? She knows her SS#, but can’t find the actual card. The website wants a US address when attempting to sign in. Are there lawyers/volunteers who can advise and assist with the paperwork? Anyone been through this recently who could perhaps share some tips in the forum. (Or email?)

Thanks,

JL