If someone comes to the U.S. late in life after working most of their career in their home country:
If their country has a U.S. Social Security Totalization Agreement, their foreign work credits may be combined with U.S. credits to help them qualify for a partial U.S. Social Security benefit.
They generally must have at least 6 U.S. Social Security credits (roughly 1½ years of U.S. work) before the U.S. can use the foreign credits for this purpose.
The foreign work credits don’t become U.S. credits. The person can potentially receive a pension from their home country and a partial U.S. benefit.
If their country doesn’t have an agreement with the U.S., working there generally does not give them U.S. Social Security credits
The countries with Social Security Totalization Agreements with the U.S., grouped by geographic region, are :
Australia, Japan, South Korea
Slovak Republic, Slovenia
Brazil, Chile, Uruguay
Canada
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Denmark, Finland, Iceland (Welcome !), Norway, Sweden