42 U.S.C. § 414 — Insured status for purposes of old-age and survivors insurance benefits

This section defines two terms used elsewhere in this part of the law (this "subchapter") about old-age and survivors insurance: "fully insured individual" and "currently insured individual." Both definitions are built around a term this section itself does not define: "quarter of coverage." (a) "Fully insured individual" defined A person counts as a "fully insured individual" if they meet at least one of these three tests: (1) They earned at least one quarter of coverage for every calendar year that passed after 1950 (or after the year they turned 21, if that's later) and before the year they died, or before the year they turned 62, whichever came first. But no one counts as fully insured under this test unless they earned at least 6 quarters of coverage total. (2) They earned 40 quarters of coverage; or (3) If the person died before 1951, they earned 6 quarters of coverage. When counting the years that "elapsed" for test (1), skip any year that included any part of a "period of disability," as that term is defined in section 416(i) of this title. A person must also meet the citizenship or immigration criterion in (c) below to qualify under any of these three tests. (b) "Currently insured individual" defined A person counts as a "currently insured individual" if they earned at least six quarters of coverage during the 13-quarter period ending with whichever of these applies: (1) the quarter they died, (2) the quarter they became entitled to old-age insurance benefits, (3) the quarter they became entitled to "primary insurance benefits" under the rules of this subchapter as they existed before August 28, 1950, or (4) for someone entitled to disability insurance benefits, the quarter they most recently became entitled to those disability benefits. When counting this 13-quarter period, skip any quarter that included part of a period of disability, unless that quarter still counts as a quarter of coverage on its own. A person must also meet the criterion in (c) below. (c) Criterion described This criterion applies to a person under (a) and (b) only if the person is not a United States citizen or national. Such a person meets the criterion if either: (1) they were assigned a Social Security account number that satisfied the requirements of subclause (I) or (III) of section 405(c)(2)(B)(i) of this title, either when they were assigned the number or at any later time; or (2) at the time they earned the quarters of coverage being counted— (A) they fit the description in subparagraph (B) or (D) of section 1101(a)(15) of title 8, (B) they were lawfully admitted to the United States temporarily for business (if they fit subparagraph (B)) or to work as a crewman (if they fit subparagraph (D)), and (C) the business they engaged in, or the crewman service they performed, stayed within the scope of what their admission to the United States allowed.