For U.S.–Latvian dual citizens who have lived or worked in both countries, Social Security and pension rules can be confusing. The United States and Latvia do have a bilateral arrangement concerning pension payments, but it is important not to confuse that arrangement with a Social Security totalization agreement.
As of 2026, Latvia is not among the countries covered by a U.S. Social Security totalization agreement. The agreement between Latvia and the United States that entered into force on November 5, 1992 concerns the reciprocal payment of certain pensions, principally old-age and survivor benefits. It does not generally combine U.S. and Latvian insurance periods or create the contribution coordination that a full totalization agreement would provide.
This distinction is especially important for dual citizens who divide their careers between the United States and Latvia, work remotely across borders, become self-employed in Latvia, or plan to receive retirement benefits while living abroad.
Does the U.S. Have a Social Security Agreement With Latvia?
Yes, but the scope of the U.S. Latvia social security agreement is narrower than many people expect.
Latvia and the United States concluded an agreement in 1992 concerning mutual pension payments. According to Latvia’s State Social Insurance Agency, the agreement covers old-age and survivor pensions and can facilitate the payment of eligible benefits between the two countries.
However, this agreement is not one of the U.S. international Social Security agreements commonly known as totalization agreements. The Social Security Administration maintains an official list of countries with totalization agreements in force, and Latvia is not currently included.
That difference affects both benefit eligibility and Social Security contributions.
Is There a U.S.–Latvia Totalization Agreement?
No. As of 2026, there is no U.S. Latvia totalization agreement in force.
U.S. totalization agreements normally perform two major functions. First, they can prevent the same employment from being subject to compulsory Social Security contributions in both countries. Second, they can allow insurance periods earned under one country’s system to be considered when determining whether a worker has enough coverage to qualify under the other country’s system.
Those mechanisms do not currently apply between the United States and Latvia.
A person who has worked five years in the United States and fifteen years in Latvia, for example, should not assume that the two periods can simply be combined into twenty years of pension coverage. Eligibility generally has to be established independently under each system unless another applicable coordination rule covers the particular periods involved.
This is one of the most important distinctions for dual citizens planning a career across both countries.
How U.S. and Latvian Pension Credits Are Treated
The United States determines Social Security eligibility according to U.S. coverage rules. For retirement benefits, a worker normally needs 40 Social Security credits. A maximum of four credits can be earned in one year. In 2026, one credit is earned for each $1,890 in covered earnings, although the earnings threshold changes over time.
Latvia applies its own insurance requirements. In 2026, the standard Latvian retirement age is 65, and an old-age pension generally requires at least 20 years of qualifying insurance history.
Because there is no U.S.–Latvia totalization agreement, Latvian insurance periods generally cannot be used simply to make up missing U.S. Social Security credits. Likewise, U.S. Social Security credits do not automatically satisfy Latvia’s minimum insurance requirement.
This can matter significantly for someone who divides a relatively short career between the two countries. A worker may have substantial combined employment history while still failing to satisfy the independent eligibility threshold of one system.
Can You Collect U.S. Social Security While Living in Latvia?
In many cases, yes.
A U.S. citizen who is otherwise entitled to Social Security benefits can generally continue receiving those benefits while living in Latvia. The Social Security Administration states that eligible U.S. citizens may receive Social Security payments outside the United States, subject to applicable payment restrictions and continued eligibility.
Latvia also participates in the Social Security Administration’s international direct deposit program. Eligible beneficiaries residing in Latvia can arrange for U.S. Social Security monthly benefits to be deposited into a qualifying Latvian financial institution.
Therefore, the answer to “can I collect U.S. Social Security in Latvia?” is generally yes for a U.S. citizen who has already qualified for the benefit.
Moving to Latvia does not itself create entitlement, however. The person must first satisfy the underlying U.S. eligibility requirements for retirement, disability, survivor, or another applicable Social Security benefit.
Different rules can also apply to dependents, survivors, non-U.S. citizens and certain other categories of beneficiaries, so individual payment eligibility should be checked separately.
Can a U.S. Resident Receive a Latvian Pension?
A person living in the United States may potentially receive a Latvian pension if the requirements for the relevant Latvian pension have been satisfied.
Under the 1992 arrangement, a U.S. citizen residing in the United States who has accumulated qualifying insurance history in Latvia may claim a Latvian old-age pension subject to Latvian retirement-age and insurance-period requirements. Latvia calculates the pension on the basis of the insurance history recognized under Latvian rules.
For people asking “can I receive a Latvian pension in the United States?”, residence in the United States therefore does not necessarily prevent payment of an otherwise valid Latvian pension.
The important issue is whether the person actually qualifies under Latvian pension law.
Current Latvian rules generally require age 65 and at least 20 years of qualifying insurance for a standard old-age pension. The exact treatment of historical insurance periods can be more complicated, particularly where employment occurred decades ago or involved periods connected with other countries.
A dual citizen should therefore distinguish between having worked in Latvia, having made Latvian social insurance contributions, and having enough recognized insurance history to qualify for a pension.
Does Dual Citizenship Change Social Security Eligibility?
Dual citizenship itself usually does not create Social Security or pension entitlement.
For most retirement-benefit questions, the decisive factors are where and how a person worked, whether the employment was covered by the relevant Social Security system, how long contributions were made, and whether the statutory eligibility conditions have been satisfied.
A person can therefore be a Latvian citizen without having earned a Latvian pension. Similarly, holding U.S. citizenship does not replace the requirement to earn sufficient U.S. Social Security credits.
Dual citizenship becomes relevant primarily because it can affect a person’s ability to live and work in either country and may affect certain rules concerning payments abroad. It should not be treated as a substitute for an insurance record.
For someone researching Latvian citizenship by descent, this is an important practical distinction. Acquiring or restoring Latvian citizenship does not retroactively create Latvian social insurance contributions for years spent working in the United States.
Latvia Social Security Contributions for U.S. Citizens
A U.S. citizen working in Latvia may become subject to Latvian mandatory state social insurance contributions depending on the employment arrangement and applicable Latvian rules.
For an employee insured for all standard categories of Latvian social insurance, the general mandatory contribution rate in 2026 is 34.09% of the applicable contribution base. The standard split is 23.59% for the employer and 10.50% for the employee. Different rates can apply in certain circumstances, including some pension-age and other categories of workers.
Latvia also applies minimum contribution rules. For 2026, the minimum contribution base is generally tied to the minimum monthly wage of €780, producing a quarterly minimum base of €2,340 in situations where the minimum-contribution rules apply.
Citizenship alone does not determine whether Latvian contributions are due. The person’s employment status, employer, work location and other circumstances must be considered.
Could a Dual Citizen Face U.S. and Latvian Social Security Contributions?
Potentially.
One major purpose of a totalization agreement is to prevent workers from being required to contribute to two Social Security systems on the same earnings. Because there is no U.S.–Latvia totalization agreement, workers cannot rely on such an agreement to allocate Social Security coverage automatically between the two countries.
The actual result depends heavily on the employment structure.
A U.S. citizen working outside the United States for a foreign employer is generally not subject to U.S. Social Security and Medicare withholding on those foreign-employer wages. By contrast, wages paid to a U.S. citizen or resident working abroad for an American employer are generally subject to U.S. Social Security and Medicare taxes unless an applicable exception applies.
The situation can be particularly important for self-employed individuals. The IRS states that U.S. citizens and residents generally remain subject to U.S. self-employment tax on qualifying self-employment income even when they live abroad. Totalization agreements can provide an exemption from one country’s system in covered cases, but Latvia currently has no such agreement with the United States.
As a result, a self-employed U.S.–Latvian dual citizen living and working in Latvia may need to examine potential obligations under both systems rather than assuming that paying into one system automatically eliminates liability under the other.
Working for a Latvian Employer vs. a U.S. Employer
The identity of the employer can materially change the analysis.
If a U.S. citizen moves to Latvia and becomes an employee of an independent Latvian company, wages for services performed outside the United States for that foreign employer are generally not subject to U.S. Social Security and Medicare withholding. Latvian social insurance rules may instead apply to the employment.
If the same person remains employed abroad by an American employer, U.S. Social Security and Medicare taxes generally continue to apply to wages paid by that American employer. Latvian obligations may also need to be considered because there is no totalization agreement coordinating the two systems.
More complex rules may apply to foreign affiliates of U.S. companies, corporate owners, remote workers, directors and self-employed individuals. These cases should be assessed according to the actual employment relationship rather than citizenship alone.
Can You Receive Both U.S. Social Security and a Latvian Pension?
It is possible to receive benefits from both systems when a person independently qualifies under both.
For example, someone who completed enough U.S.-covered work to earn the required Social Security credits and separately accumulated sufficient Latvian insurance history may potentially qualify for a U.S. retirement benefit and a Latvian old-age pension.
The absence of totalization does not prohibit receiving two independently earned pensions. It primarily means that the two countries generally do not combine U.S. and Latvian coverage periods to establish eligibility under a U.S. totalization agreement.
An additional change is relevant for people receiving foreign pensions. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset for benefits payable for January 2024 and later. SSA specifically notes that this change affects some people who receive pensions based on work covered by foreign Social Security systems.
Therefore, a Latvian pension based on employment not covered by U.S. Social Security no longer triggers a WEP or GPO reduction for U.S. benefits payable for January 2024 and later.
Pension Payments and Taxation Are Separate Questions
Eligibility for a pension, the ability to receive it abroad, Social Security contribution liability and income taxation are separate legal questions.
The United States and Latvia have an income tax treaty in addition to the 1992 pension-payment arrangement. The treaty contains specific provisions dealing with pensions and payments made under Social Security or similar legislation.
That tax treaty should not be confused with a Social Security totalization agreement. A tax treaty can determine which country has taxing rights over certain income without combining pension insurance periods or eliminating Social Security contributions.
Someone moving between the United States and Latvia may therefore need to analyze several different issues independently: whether contributions are required, whether pension eligibility has been established, whether benefits can be paid abroad, and how the resulting payments are treated for tax purposes.
What This Means for U.S.–Latvian Dual Citizens
For most dual citizens, the central rule is that the U.S. and Latvian systems remain largely separate.
The United States and Latvia have a bilateral pension-payment arrangement, but not a U.S. totalization agreement. U.S. Social Security benefits may generally be paid to eligible U.S. citizens living in Latvia, and qualifying Latvian pensions may be payable to individuals residing in the United States. However, each country normally determines pension eligibility using its own insurance requirements.
For workers, the absence of totalization is particularly important. A U.S. citizen working in Latvia should not assume that Latvian contributions automatically eliminate U.S. Social Security obligations or that U.S. contributions eliminate Latvian obligations. The result depends on whether the individual is employed by a U.S. or foreign employer, is self-employed, and how the work is structured.
For retirees, the key question is different: whether enough qualifying insurance history has been accumulated independently under each system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the U.S. have a Social Security agreement with Latvia?
Yes. Latvia and the United States have had an agreement concerning mutual pension payments since November 5, 1992. However, it is not a U.S. Social Security totalization agreement and does not provide the same broad coordination of contributions and insurance periods.
Does Latvia have a totalization agreement with the United States?
No. Latvia is not included on the Social Security Administration’s current list of countries with U.S. totalization agreements in force.
Can I collect U.S. Social Security in Latvia?
An eligible U.S. citizen can generally receive U.S. Social Security benefits while residing in Latvia. Latvia also participates in international direct deposit for U.S. Social Security benefits. Individual rules may differ for dependents, survivors and non-U.S. citizens.
Can Latvian work credits be used to qualify for U.S. Social Security?
There is currently no U.S.–Latvia totalization agreement allowing Latvian insurance periods to be combined with U.S. coverage for purposes of qualifying under the U.S. totalization system. A worker normally needs to satisfy the applicable U.S. Social Security credit requirements independently. Retirement benefits generally require 40 U.S. credits.
Can I receive a Latvian pension while living in the United States?
Potentially. A person with sufficient qualifying Latvian insurance history may be able to receive a Latvian pension while residing in the United States. Eligibility is determined under Latvian pension rules, and the 1992 U.S.–Latvia arrangement addresses mutual pension payments.
Do U.S.–Latvian dual citizens have to pay Social Security contributions in both countries?
Not necessarily, but dual contributions can be a concern because there is no totalization agreement allocating coverage between the United States and Latvia. The result depends on whether the person works for a U.S. employer, a Latvian or other foreign employer, or is self-employed.
Does receiving a Latvian pension reduce U.S. Social Security benefits?
The Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset no longer reduce Social Security benefits for months payable from January 2024 onward. The repeal also affects people receiving certain foreign pensions based on employment that was not covered by U.S. Social Security.
Does Latvian dual citizenship automatically give me Latvian pension rights?
No. Citizenship and pension entitlement are separate matters. Latvian old-age pension eligibility generally depends on factors such as age and recognized insurance history. In 2026, the standard retirement age is 65 and the general minimum insurance period for an old-age pension is 20 years.
English [EN]