Social Security Agreement between Hungary and the United States of America

The Social Security Agreement between Hungary and the United States of America (hereinafter: the Agreement) has been effective since 1 September 2016.

BENEFITS UNDER THE AGREEMENT FOR WHICH THE PENSION DETERMINATION BODIES ARE RESPONSIBLE

In Hungary:

old age pension,
survivor's pension,
work accident-related survivor’s pension.

In the United States of America, under the Federal Insurance Program:

old age pension,
disability pension,
survivor's pension

THE FOLLOWING PERSONS MAY APPLY FOR THE ABOVE BENEFITS UNDER THE AGREEMENT

Any person, irrespective of nationality, who has paid contributions in both Hungary and the United States of America may claim pension benefits under the Agreement. For survivor’s pensions, proof of payment of contributions in both countries must be provided for the deceased insured person.

RULES ON THE PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS

The obligation to pay contributions applies, as a general rule, in the country where the person concerned earns the income, irrespective of the country in which the employer is resident or the country where the business is established.

For posted workers, contributions are payable in the country where the posting employer is established.

A special rule applies to officers or crew members employed on ships, travelling personnel of air transport companies.

Diplomatic and consular staff are not covered by the provisions of the Agreement.

In order to determine the existence of insurance, i.e. the obligation to pay contributions, the request must be submitted to the government office acting as the competent health insurance administration body for the place of employment in Hungary.

SUBMITTING A CLAIM FOR PENSION BENEFITS

Residence in Hungary:

for a claim for old age pension benefit, the form called “In the case of a claim for international old-age pension and other benefits in own right for service periods acquired in a contracting party of the agreement”
for a claim for survivor’s pension, depending on the type of claim, the following forms are relevant:
- for widow(er)’s pension or an work accident-related widow(er)’s pension “Claim for widow(er)'s pension or work accident-related widow(er)'s pension under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement” or
- for orphan's allowance or a work accident-related orphan's allowance the so called „Claim for orphan's allowance or work accident-related orphan's allowance under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement” or
- for parental pension or work accident-related parental pension „Claim for parential pension or work accident-related parential pension under the scope of Act LXXXI of 1997, Act LXXXIII of 1997 and social policy or social security agreement”

The forms required for submitting a claim can be obtained from the pension insurance bodies or downloaded from the "Related forms" menu point next to this information tab.

The claim form must be accompanied by all available documents relating to the insurance periods completed in the United States of America.

The claim can be submitted in person or by post.

It may be submitted in person at the customer service of the government office of the capital or county according to the place of residence or stay.

If it submitted by post, the envelope must be addressed to the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest and marked with the uniform postal address 1916 Budapest.

The claim may be submitted by the applicant's legal representative (guardian) or by their authorised representative, accompanied by a document proving the representation.

In the case of an application for a survivor's benefit, if a survivor's pension has already been established in relation to the deceased insured person or if the application is for the revival of a survivor's pension previously paid, the claim may also be submitted at the customer service of the Pension Payment Directorate of the Hungarian State Treasury (1139 Budapest Váci út 73.).

The date of submission of the claim in the United States of America is also the date on which the claim is submitted to the Hungarian pension insurance body.

The application, the documents enclosed by the applicant and the certificate of the period of service recognised under Hungarian legislation will be forwarded by the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest to the US Consulate General FBU (ul. Stolarska 9, 31-043 Kraków, Poland, Tel.: +48-12-424-5128, fax: +48-12-424-5120, e-mail: FBU.Krakow@ssa.gov).

In the case of US residence:

In case of any questions regarding the way to apply for US pension or any questions regarding the entitlement for US pension, it is advisable to contact the US pension administration body of the place of residence.

Designated US body for forwarding Hungarian pension claims:

Social Security Administration OEIO, DIO-Totalization

Address: P.o. Box 17769 Baltimore, MD 21235-7769 USA

FAX: +410-597-1800

website: www.ssa.gov/retirement

In this case, in addition to the required US forms, the following Hungarian form corresponding to the benefit claimed must also be completed:

for old age pension claims, the form USA-HU202,
for survivor's pension, the form USA-HU203.

The application thus submitted will be forwarded by the US body to the Government Office of the Capital City Budapest, together with proof of the periods of insurance completed there.

THE DETERMINATION OF THE PENSION BENEFIT

If the entitlement for the benefit applied for by the applicant exists on the basis of the Hungarian service periods, the insurance periods certified by the US Pension Administration Body shall not be taken into account for the determination of the Hungarian pension.

The minimum periods required for a Hungarian pension are as follows:

15 years of service period for old age pension,
40 years of eligibility period for women's preferential pension,
for survivor's pensions, the period of service corresponding to the age of the deceased insured person.

If the entitlement for the benefit cannot be established solely on the basis of the Hungarian service period, the insurance periods certified by the US pension administration body shall also be taken into account for the pension as if they had been completed under Hungarian legislation, provided that they do not fall within the same period.

The Agreement precludes the possibility of double insurance, but Hungarian and US service periods prior to its entry into force may overlap. These periods may be taken into account only once when applying the aggregation rule.

If the applicant has at least 15 years of service period required for a Hungarian pension only by adding up the insurance periods, the amount of the pension must be calculated on the basis of the Hungarian and US insurance periods. In the case of a survivor's pension, the US insurance period should be taken into account if the deceased insured person does not have the Hungarian period of service corresponding to their age.

The pension to be determined is the proportion of the insurance periods completed under Hungarian legislation in relation to the total insurance periods. The amount of the Hungarian pension is determined solely on the basis of earnings and income in Hungary.

If the service period completed in Hungary is less than one year, no Hungarian pension can be established.

PAYMENT OF PENSION BENEFITS

Pension benefits are paid directly to the beneficiary in accordance with the legislation of the country that established them. The amount of the established benefit shall remain unchanged for the beneficiary living in the territory of the other country.

The established Hungarian benefits are paid by the Pension Payment Directorate of the Hungarian State Treasury (1139 Budapest, Váci út 73., postal address: 1820 Budapest), detailed information on which can be found in the information " Payment options for beneficiaries living abroad".

Hungarian State Treasury