[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 156 (Friday, August 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50283-50284]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20489]


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SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

[Docket No. SSA-2011-0067]


Finding Regarding Foreign Social Insurance or Pension System--
Bulgaria

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Notice of finding regarding foreign social insurance or pension 
system--Bulgaria.

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    Finding: Section 202(t)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
402(t)(1)) prohibits payment of monthly benefits to any individual who 
is not a United States citizen or national for any month after he or 
she has been outside the United States for 6 consecutive months. This 
prohibition does not apply to such an individual where one of the 
exceptions described in section 202(t)(2) through 202(t)(5) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(t)(2) through 402(t)(5)) affects his 
or her case.
    Section 202(t)(2) of the Social Security Act provides that, subject 
to certain residency requirements of Section 202(t)(11), the 
prohibition against payment shall not apply to any individual who is a 
citizen of a country which the Commissioner of Social Security finds 
has in effect a social insurance or pension system which is of general 
application in such country and which:
    (a) Pays periodic benefits, or the actuarial equivalent thereof, on 
account of old age, retirement, or death; and
    (b) Permits individuals who are United States citizens but not 
citizens of that country and who qualify for such benefits to receive 
those benefits, or the actuarial equivalent thereof, while outside the 
foreign country regardless of the duration of the absence.
    The Commissioner of Social Security has delegated the authority to 
make such a finding to the Associate Commissioner of the Office of 
International Programs. Under that authority, the Associate 
Commissioner of the Office of International Programs has approved a 
finding that Bulgaria, beginning January 1, 2000, has a social 
insurance system of general application which:
    (a) Pays periodic benefits, or the actuarial equivalent thereof, on 
account of old age, retirement, or death; and
    (b) Permits United States citizens who are not citizens of Bulgaria 
to receive such benefits, or their actuarial equivalent, at the full 
rate without qualification or restriction while outside Bulgaria.
    Accordingly, it is hereby determined and found that Bulgaria has in 
effect, beginning January 1, 2000, a social insurance system which 
meets the requirements of section 202(t)(2) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 402(t)(2).
    In 1982, it was determined that while Bulgaria continued to meet 
the requirements of section 202(t)(2)(A), it no longer met the 
requirements of section 202(t)(2)(B). The effective date of the 
determination was July 7, 1981. Notice of the decision appeared in the 
Federal Register August 4, 1982. Based on this decision, citizens of 
Bulgaria could not meet the exception provided under section 202(t)(2) 
of the Social Security Act, nor could they meet the limited exceptions 
under section 202(t)(4).
    Bulgaria instituted a new social insurance law that entered into 
force on January 1, 2000. The law incorporates the social insurance 
system as a modified first pillar. It adds a second pillar of mandatory 
individual accounts and a third pillar of voluntary individual 
accounts. The Bulgarian social insurance system provides old age, 
disability, and survivor's benefits, as well as other types of social 
insurance. Information recently obtained from Bulgaria contains 
detailed information on the country's social insurance system and its 
provisions. This information required a new determination under the 
section 202(t)(2) provisions.

[[Page 50284]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donna Powers, 3700 Robert Ball 
Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401, (410) 965-
3558.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: Program Nos. 96.001 Social 
Security--Disability Insurance; 96.002 Social Security--Retirement 
Insurance; 96.004 Social Security--Survivors Insurance)

Diane K. Braunstein,
Associate Commissioner, Office of International Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-20489 Filed 8-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4191-02-P