Government & Civic

Intermediate

9 min read 7 stepsMay 8, 2026Verified May 2026

How to Claim Social Security if You Worked Some Years in Mexico

Detailed guide for seniors on combining US and Mexican work credits to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits.

At a Glance

Check Your US Social Security Earnings Record

~56s

The first step is to confirm exactly how many years of US work credit you have. Go to ssa.gov and create a free my Social Security account. The website has a Spanish version that you can switch to using the language link at the top of the page. Once logged in, you can see every year of US earnings, every employer who paid into Social Security on your behalf, and a current estimate of your monthly retirement benefit. You need 40 credits, or about 10 years of US work, to qualify for retirement benefits. One credit equals 1,810 dollars of earnings in 2026. And you can earn up to 4 credits per year. If you see any year missing or any earnings that look too low, write down the details for the next step.

Quick Tip

Print a copy of the earnings statement and save it in a folder labeled Social Security at home. The Social Security Administration limits how far back you can correct missing earnings, so an early check is much better than waiting until retirement age.

Fix Missing or Incorrect US Earnings

~58s

If you see missing years or wrong amounts on your US earnings record, you can ask the Social Security Administration to correct them. The deadline is 3 years, 3 months, and 15 days from the date of the earnings, but exceptions allow corrections after the deadline if you have proof. Bring old W-2 forms, pay stubs, or tax returns to any Social Security office. You can also call 1-800-772-1213, which offers Spanish-language service. Ask for the Earnings Correction Department. The agent will open a case and tell you what proof to send. Common reasons for missing earnings include name changes after marriage, Social Security numbers entered incorrectly by an employer, and earnings paid in cash that an employer failed to report. The fix usually takes 4 to 6 months and adds the missing money to your record.

Warning

Never give your Social Security number to anyone who calls you and claims to be from the Social Security Administration. The real agency does not call you to ask for your number. If you need to speak with the agency, you call them, not the other way around.

Check Your Mexican IMSS Pension Eligibility

~57s

Mexico runs its own retirement system through the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, called IMSS. If you worked at least 500 weeks for an employer in Mexico that paid IMSS contributions on your behalf, you may qualify for a Mexican pension under the IMSS 1973 law. If you started work in Mexico after July 1997, you fall under a different system called the Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro, or SAR, where your contributions went into a personal retirement account at an AFORE company. To check your status, go to imss.gob.mx and create an account using your Mexican CURP number. You can also call IMSS toll-free in Mexico at 800-623-2323. If you are in the United States, you can visit any Mexican consulate, which can help you contact IMSS and verify your eligibility. Bring your old Mexican pay stubs, IMSS receipts, or employer letters if you have any.

Quick Tip

If you do not remember your AFORE company, call the Consar national hotline at 800-500-0747. They keep a master list of every Mexican worker and the AFORE that holds their retirement account.

Apply for US Social Security Retirement Benefits

~55s

If you have at least 40 US credits, you can apply for retirement benefits as early as age 62, although your monthly payment is higher if you wait until age 67 or even 70. You can apply online at ssa.gov, by phone at 1-800-772-1213 with Spanish service, or in person at any Social Security office. The online application takes about 30 minutes. You will need your Social Security number, your date of birth, your bank account number for direct deposit, your most recent W-2 or self-employment tax return, and the names and birth dates of any current or former spouses. If you are not a US citizen but you are a lawful permanent resident, you can still receive benefits as long as you have the 40 credits. After you apply, the first payment usually arrives within 1 to 3 months.

Quick Tip

Set up direct deposit to your US bank account during the application. The Social Security Administration no longer mails paper checks for new claims, and direct deposit is much safer than waiting for mail.

Apply for Your Mexican IMSS Pension Separately

~2 min

Your Mexican pension is paid separately from your US Social Security benefit. And you must apply through Mexico to receive it. If you live in the United States, the easiest path is to visit your local Mexican consulate. There are over 50 Mexican consulates in the United States, including in major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston, Phoenix, Dallas, Miami, and San Francisco. The consulate offers a free service called Mi Pension that helps Mexican citizens apply for an IMSS pension from abroad. Bring your Mexican birth certificate, your CURP, your old IMSS card if you have one, any Mexican work documents, and proof of identity. The consulate will start the application and submit it to IMSS on your behalf. The process takes 4 to 12 months and the monthly pension is paid in Mexican pesos. You can have it deposited into a Mexican bank account or, for a small fee, transferred each month to a US bank account.

Warning

Some private companies advertise that they can speed up your IMSS pension application for a fee. The consulate service is free and equally fast. Never pay a third-party company for an application that the consulate handles for you at no cost.

Understand the Removal of the Windfall Elimination Provision

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Before 2025, a rule called the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, reduced US Social Security benefits for people who also received a pension from work not covered by US Social Security, including Mexican IMSS pensions. The reduction could cost as much as 600 dollars per month. The bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law in January 2025, fully repealed WEP for all current and future retirees. As of 2026, if you qualify for US Social Security based on your US work alone, you receive your full benefit even if you also receive an IMSS pension. Many retirees who had reduced benefits before 2025 received back-payments and a recalculated higher monthly amount starting in early 2025. If you are not sure whether you were affected, log into your my Social Security account or call 1-800-772-1213 in Spanish and ask for a benefit recalculation.

Quick Tip

Save the original Fairness Act notice that Social Security mailed in 2025 in case you need to prove the recalculation later. Many seniors threw away the notice thinking it was a routine letter.

Plan for Living Between Both Countries

~2 min

If you plan to spend part of your retirement in Mexico and part in the United States, both your US Social Security and your Mexican IMSS pension can follow you. The Social Security Administration mails or directly deposits payments to most countries, including Mexico, with no reduction. You must keep your address on file up to date and respond to occasional questionnaires that confirm you are still alive. The IMSS pension can be deposited into a Mexican bank or sent abroad with a small fee. Medicare, however, does not generally cover medical care in Mexico. So you should keep a US address and US health coverage if you split your time. Many retirees use a US relative address as their official mailing address for Social Security and Medicare. Talk to a Mexican immigration lawyer if you plan to spend more than 6 months per year in Mexico, because long absences can affect your US residency for tax and immigration purposes.

Warning

Never use a vacant property or an old address you no longer own as your Social Security address. The agency mails important notices that you must respond to within 30 days, and missing those notices can lead to suspended benefits.

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Many Hispanic seniors who lived and worked in both Mexico and the United States face a confusing question when they retire. Did my time working in Mexico count toward US Social Security, and did my time in the United States count toward the Mexican Social Security system, called IMSS? The honest answer in 2026 is mixed. The United States and Mexico signed a totalization agreement in 2004 that would let workers combine credits from both countries to qualify for retirement benefits, but the agreement has not yet been put into force by Congress. As a result, you currently cannot combine US and Mexican credits the way you can with countries like Canada, Spain, Italy, or 30 other partner nations.

However, this does not mean your work in either country was wasted. The United States Social Security system requires 40 credits, which is about 10 years of covered work in the United States, to qualify for retirement benefits. If you worked at least 10 years in the United States and paid Social Security taxes, you qualify for US benefits regardless of any work in Mexico. If you worked fewer than 10 years in the United States, you may still receive a small refund of taxes paid. But you do not qualify for a monthly benefit. Mexican IMSS pensions follow their own rules and are paid separately from US Social Security based only on time worked in Mexico.

This can feel unfair, especially for people who worked 8 or 9 years in the United States and 25 years in Mexico. The bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act passed in early 2025 removed the Windfall Elimination Provision, which used to reduce US benefits for people who also received foreign pensions. Now, if you qualify for US Social Security based on your US work alone, your full benefit amount is paid even if you also receive an IMSS pension from Mexico. This change is one of the biggest improvements for Hispanic retirees in decades.

This guide walks through how to check your US Social Security earnings record, how to contact the Mexican IMSS to claim a Mexican pension, what documents you need from both countries, how to apply for benefits in Spanish, and what changes in the totalization agreement might still come during the next few years. We also cover how to handle a denied claim, how to fix missing earnings, and how to make sure the bipartisan rules are applied to your benefit calculation.

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Official Resources

USA.gov — Government Services SSA — Social Security Benefits.gov IRS Free File

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