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My husband is an American. He moved with me to Canada two years ago and started collecting his social security at that time. He was 62. My husband commenced working in Canada and was working part time at 84 hours a month. My husband was careful not to exceed the income limit that applies to recipients under full retirement age. My husband was conversing with Social Security in September and he was asked about his employment and additionally how many hours he worked in a month. He advised them it was 84. They then informed him that since he lived out the of the country that he is limited to 44 hours in a month. My husband was unaware of this. Prior to leaving the USA for Canada he had a stroke and his attention to details since has been clearly lacking. They advised my husband that he would owe for any months that his hours exceeded 44. My husband did not gain a lot of income from this job - he made more from social security. Since then they have cut off his social security. We sent in the information they requested in early October but have not heard from them since. I am now sharing my job with my husband so that his hours do not exceed 44 in a month and we have advised Social Security of this. We have been without his social security for 3 months now. We are living on his small income from our part time job as well as a very small pension that I receive. Is there anyone who could help us with this problem. There are definitely mitigating circumstances at play with this situation. Any help would be appreciated!

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OK Thank you Pam. Wasn't sure who I could see about this. I really appreciate your advice.
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Deb you are right. Per ssa.gov: "We withhold benefits for each
month a beneficiary younger than full retirement age works more than
45 hours outside the United States in employment or self-employment
not subject to U.S. Social Security taxes. It does not matter how much
you earned or how many hours you worked each day."
So you are in a penalty period. If I were you, I would go to the nearest US Consulate and ask for help.
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Apparently it is different if you live in Canada Pam. We thought there was only an income limit but have discovered that if you live in Canada you can only work 44 hours a month. We only discovered this after collecting it for two years. Who is going to hire someone for 11 hours a week! It's a crazy law!
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According to my SS statement, the limit is not hours, but dollars. For the year 2016, this limit on earned income is $15,720 ($1,310 per month). The amount goes up each year. If you are collecting Social Security retirement benefits before full retirement age, your benefits are reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn over the limit.
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Does anyone know of a lawyer or agency who could help with this?
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