SSA to scrutinize overseas travel of Social Security beneficiarie

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has revised its rules to more closely monitor Social Security overseas travel, allowing the agency to verify beneficiaries’ international movements using federal travel data. The change, which took effect in early January, marks a significant shift in how overseas stays by benefit recipients are tracked.

Under the updated policy, the SSA can use travel records collected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confirm whether beneficiaries have left or reentered the United States. Previously, the agency relied largely on self-reporting by recipients. As a result, the revision could affect millions of people receiving Social Security retirement benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

According to SSA data, about 75 million people were receiving Social Security benefits as of December last year. Of those, roughly 11 million were disability benefit recipients under age 65. In addition, about 5 million people received SSI only. Because the new rule applies to both Social Security and SSI programs, a wide range of recipients could be subject to increased scrutiny.

Under existing rules, beneficiaries were required to report overseas stays of more than 30 days. U.S. citizens may continue receiving Social Security retirement benefits while living abroad. However, SSI payments are limited to residents of the United States and U.S. territories. Therefore, overseas travel has direct implications for eligibility, especially for SSI recipients.

With the rule change, the SSA aims to reduce its dependence on beneficiary reporting. Instead, it will cross-check reported information against DHS entry and exit records. The agency has described the change as a compliance measure designed to reduce improper payments.

Therefore, beneficiaries planning extended overseas travel, or anticipating changes in income, employment, or health status that could affect benefits, are advised to keep accurate records and promptly notify the SSA. In addition, regularly reviewing one’s online SSA account is recommended to ensure personal records remain accurate, since automated systems can still contain errors.

However, the expanded use of travel data has raised concerns among privacy advocates. Some critics argue that transparency remains limited regarding how travel data are collected, stored, and shared across federal agencies. As monitoring becomes more automated, they warn that the boundary between eligibility enforcement and personal privacy could become increasingly blurred.

The SSA has stated that the expanded use of overseas travel data is unrelated to immigration enforcement. Even so, public unease has grown over the broader use of sensitive personal data within the federal government.

Recently, Politico reported that court documents linked to the Department of Justice suggest two members of a government efficiency team worked inside the SSA early last year and may have accessed Social Security data to compare it with voter rolls in certain states. Separately, Wired reported that the SSA and other federal agencies had shared sensitive personal information with the DHS for months, and that some data were used in visa enforcement or deportation screening. Federal authorities later formalized this data sharing through a public notice.

The policy think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has warned that linking Social Security data to immigration enforcement could expose sensitive information for more than 500 million individuals who have applied for Social Security numbers. Some of these records, the group noted, may be outdated or inaccurate. As a result, concerns have emerged that erroneous data could lead to improper restrictions on voting rights ahead of upcoming elections.

BY YOOHOE AHN / Guest reporter