The document is described as an "Agreement" with the understanding that for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) the German Parliament ratified it as a formal treaty and for the United States it is an executive agreement under authority of section 233 of the Social Security Act (Act). The Agreement has the effect of law in both countries and is binding on both countries. The U.S. - German Social Security Agreement and Final Protocol (30 UST 6099; TIAS 9542) were signed on January 7, 1976, and entered into force on December 1, 1979. These were amended by a First Supplementary Agreement and a First Supplementary Administrative Agreement that were signed October 2, 1986, and that entered into force March 1, 1988. The current U.S.-German Social Security Agreement incorporates a Second Supplementary Agreement and a Second Supplementary Administrative Agreement. These were signed on March 6, 1995 and entered into force May 1, 1996. They amend the original Agreement, Final Protocol and Administrative Agreement, as well as the First Supplementary Agreement and First Supplementary Administrative Agreement.

The primary purpose of the second Supplementary Agreement was to permit payment of German social security benefits to certain ethnic German Jews who formerly resided in Eastern Europe and subsequently moved to the United States. In addition, the second Supplementary Agreement revises the original Agreement to take account of changes in U.S. and German law that have occurred in recent years and to conform the original agreement more closely to other social security agreements concluded by the two countries.

* On January 1, 1999, the Council of the European Union set an irrevocable exchange rate for Deutsche Marks to Euros of DM 1.95583 = €1. The annotations for the original and both Supplementary U.S.-German Agreements texts displayed German benefit amounts and computations in Deutsche Marks (DM), the official FRG currency through February 27, 2002. Effective February 28, 2002, the FRG uses as its exclusive legal tender Euro (€) notes and coins. Where German benefit amounts and computations noted in the annotations for the Agreement include currency amounts, these annotations display them in both currencies, with Euro amounts based on the January 1, 1999 irrevocable exchange rate.