Does the Social Security Benefits Letter need to be apostilled?

Member since 19 August 2021

mikehunterSerial expat29 June 2023 21:07:17

358

Apologies if this has been covered before. I did a quick search and didn't find anything on it. I did a search on Google and found this within an agreement between the US and Brazil:

"Documents and certificates which are presented for purposes of this Agreement shall be exempted from requirements for authentication by diplomatic or consular authorities."

If an apostille is required what is the procedure, does anyone know the correct procedure. One google search says to submit it to the secretary of state of the state you reside, and then another says to send it to Washington, DC. So much for consistent messaging. LOL.

I'm thinking of applying for my SSA Benefits so would like to figure this out ahead of time, to deal with it if need be.

I'm still assuming if an apostille is not required, it still would require an official translation.

Thanks folks!

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abthree Brazil Expert

Member since 28 December 2017

abthreeBrazil Expert29 June 2023 22:40:19

6410

06/29/23 @mikehunter. Here's the entire US-Brazilian Social Security Agreement:

https://www.ssa.gov/international/Agree … html#part3

Article 13 discusses Documents, and is where the quote you cited comes from. It appears to only apply to exchanges of documents between social security agencies, SSA in the US and INSS in Brazil, not with the immigration authorities (see the Annotations).

If you decide to get an apostille for the letter, you should ask SSA how to get it apostilled for presentation to a foreign government. It's a federal document, so my assumption would be that it would have to be apostilled by the Office of Authentications at the US Department of State, but that should be confirmed with SSA.

If you already have sufficient proof that you meet the minimum income requirement, you may not want to bother.

Since you're a resident of Brazil renewing your Retirement Visa, you may want to check with the Federal Benefits Unit at the US Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, which handles Social Security questions for US expats in Portuguese-speaking countries. Here's their contact info:

https://pt.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-se … -security/

mikehunter Serial expat

Member since 19 August 2021

mikehunterSerial expat29 June 2023 22:46:24

358

Thanks @abthree! Better to be safe than sorry. I'll ask SSA how to apostille. Yeah, online it's confusing. Like I said, some say Washington, DC, some say no, there is an exception for SSA documents and do it with your own Secretary of State.