@JackW716462
Here's a thread from 2 years back that I thought was useful/helpful
https://community.aarp.org/t5/Social-Security/Non-Citizen-wife-survivor-benefits/m-p/2211186
Well, maybe it's not as applicable to your situation (and the one that I am interested in as well) because while the spouse is a non-citizen they may (or may not) be resident in the US, the original post did not make that clear and it was never clarified.
now, why'm I interested in this? my wife is Filipino and has relatives in the Philippines. We have visited there a number of times and I am aware that there are a lot of guys from the US who go there to live or to retire, cheaply, in both cases. They may be retired military, or they just have a sense of adventure, or 'something' motivating them, different in all cases. Anyway, I would see these guys in the malls, etc, with a beautiful young Filipina and maybe a few young children. And I would wonder what had been promised to the young woman. I firmly believe that if they are married then the wife (and later, widow, if comes to that) should be entitled to the guy's Social Security benefits. But I really have wondered whether they really are legally entitled to these. It would be tragic if the couple spent 30 years together, guy thinks his widow will be taken care of with Social Security, then he dies and widow finds out "nope".
haha, there is a bit more to my story. My wife was a Canadian citizen when we met. She came here (US) on a fiance visa and we married. I have made sure that she is covered on all counts for SS and other security issues. Now that I am retired it turns out that we are moving to Canada so I also will be an immigrant.