I have a dual citizenship. Lived in Germany for 4 years. Worked and paid into the German Rentenverschierung for 3 to 3 1/2 years. Returned to the States. Lived and worked here ever since then. Do i qualify for a refund or no because of my dual citizenship. If no, should i try the totalization for the German pension since i had paid in enough to the American pension at age 38, only wasnt of age to retire. How do i find out if it would be worth it scince itll be subject to the windfall. Im retired an going to be 69.

Hi. My expertise is limited to U.S. Social Security benefits, so I don't know if you could qualify for a refund from the German program. I do know that you can't get a refund of Social Security taxes paid in the U.S., but I don't know about Germany's rules.

The other thing that I can tell you is that if you do qualify for a totalization benefit from Germany, it would not adversely affect your U.S. Social Security benefits. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) doesn't apply to totalization benefits (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605386). I have no way of knowing whether or not you meet the requirements for a German totalziation benefit, though, nor how much you might qualify for. If you want to apply for benefits from Germany, U.S. Social Security offices can take claims for German benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreement_Pamphlets/documents/Germany.pdf).

Best, Jerry