srowndedbyh2o

I’m a U.S. citizen currently in the U.S. applying for a 90-day NON-O to visit family in Thailand. The e-visa application is asking for Covid insurance and also for ASQ hotel booking confirmation. I thought these were required for the Thai pass, not a visa application. I don’t want to pay for 90 days insurance and then not be approved for the NON-O visa.

My style of sarcasm. Yes, I know. Most don’t get it

When I know I have important events throughout the year, I mark them in my calendar to remind me to take care of them.

What options change? Even with a Thailand physical address on file with the SSA, a person can still choose to signup with Medicare Part A and Part B. Yes?

I took a look at the SSA Form 7162. It looks to be a simple form that would take less than a minute to complete, then just mail it out. It certainly doesn’t appear to be something so difficult that someone would feel it necessary to avoid. Am I missing something?

I was unaware of the $6 wire transfer and the “qualify for "Emeritus Status” if maintaining direct deposit with SDFCU. Back in Nov. 2020 I tried to open a joint account with SDFCU, and we were declined. Actually, they told me that my wife was declined, but that I could open an account alone. My wife has been a U.S. citizen since 2006 and never had any negative financial issues. When I asked SDFCU why my wife was being denied an account, they said “…we are not privy to the specifics regarding what information could not be verified or authenticated due to the proprietary nature of the software being used for that verification/authentication process”. One of the main reasons we had applied with SDFCU was because they were ok with us having a physical address in Thailand, and they have an international wire service. I hadn't thought about a 'domestic' wire through BKK Bank NY. Maybe we should reapply.

Thank you very much for that tip. We both have a financial power of attorney and had (incorrectly) assumed that was all we needed if one of us could no longer make our own financial decisions, including dealing with Social Security. After reading your post, I looked into it further and found that a financial power of attorney “…(does) not give legal authority to negotiate and manage a beneficiary's Social Security…”. I just logged into ‘my Social Security’ and took care of it. Thanks again!

I believe BKK Bank NY and BKK Bank Thailand both charge fees for those transfers, however, @Pib posted a good comparison between ACH and IDD transfers ( here ) and ACH comes out slightly ahead, as far as net Baht. For my own situation, the unrestricted bank in Thailand with the IDD method still outweighs the small amount of extra Baht the ACH method offers. YMMV.

When you say “…I changed my deposit numbers online to a Thai bank…”, are you saying you logged into the “my Social Security” website and made the change there?

Just curious; If a person is living in Thailand, what benefit would there be to “posing” as a U.S. resident for SS benefits?

This is why I posted the question to @mrweb8825 as to why he chose to use the ACH BKK Bank NY routing number. I did not know there was a choice. I was under the impression that for those already receiving benefits deposited to their Thai bank prior to the implementation of the IDD system, the SS dept. just stayed with that, and all newer applicants automatically went into the the IDD system. I thought that rather than going through the hassle of changing everyone over to IDD, the SS was just going to allow all of the ‘ACH’ accounts to “drop away”, eventually leaving only those in the IDD system. But it sounds like you can still choose. @Pib. I’ve read your posts comparing net Baht using ACH vs IDD, but for me personally, I think the advantages of the IDD account outweighs the small difference in Baht. If I was already receiving deposits through the ‘ACH’ system, I might just leave it alone, but since I will be changing over from deposits to our U.S. bank to our Thai bank, I think we will go with the IDD. I’m trying to keep things as simple and seamless as possible for my wife once I pass away. If we are both receiving our SS benefits IDD to the same Thai bank account, that is one less thing my wife will have to deal with.

Just curious; Why did you chose to use the DD through BKK Bank NY, with its account restrictions as apposed to the IDD to your BKK Bank in Thailand?

Excellent. Thank you.

Thank you for the heads up, but we are not trying to “deceive” the SS department. We are using the ‘Virtual mail’ address at this time as we sold our home in the U.S. and are living in an apartment temporarily. I also have a pension from my last employer and that can only be direct deposited into a U.S. Bank, so we wanted a U.S. mailing address on file with them and also with our U.S. banks. During this transition of addresses, we thought it best to just use the virtual address so everything, Banks, SS, Pension, IRS, etc. are all going to the same mailing address. Once we are settled with a ‘permanent’ address, we will make further address changes as necessary.

Thank you. That's good to hear. On the DD sign-up- form, just below where you put in you SS number it says “THIS BOX IS FOR ALLOTMENT PAYMENT ONLY (if applicable)” What does the “Type” and “Amount” refer to?

Thank you. My wife has worked in the U.S. for many years, but her SS benefit will be less than half of what I receive, so spousal benefits will increase her benefit amount.

We do have two Google Voice numbers and also an Ultramobile PayGo number, so hopefully one of those would work. Perhaps it would be better for us to just go directly through the Manila office.

I currently have a U.S. address on file with the U.S. Social Security Dept. (it’s a Virtual mail service address) and my SS is direct deposited to a bank in the U.S. My wife already has a “my Social Security” account online, but is not yet collecting SS. When it comes time for my wife to sign up for her SS benefits we will be living in Thailand. Since we will still have a U.S. mailing address on file with the SS dept., would it be best for her to just log in (using a VPN) to her “my Social Security” account and apply for benefits there, with direct deposit going to our U.S. bank? She will be filing for ‘Spousal’ benefits and I just want to make sure she gets started off with the correct benefits. I’ve read posts of people having issues with filing with the Manila office. Once her benefits are coming in with no issues, we plan on doing a change of address for both of us to our Thailand address, and implementing IDD to our Thai bank account.

Can the Thai cell phone services be set to allow wifi calling, so that you could receive bank codes etc. without a cell connection as long as you are connected to wifi?

The 1.2M is still listed on the L.A. Thai Consulate website: https://thaiconsulatela.org/en/non-o/

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, when I would go into the settings there was no option to ‘Use Face ID to log in’. That was the problem. With the help of Wise customer service, we finally realized that the first option listed in settings (where the Face ID option should be) was a setting called ‘Social disconnect’. When I clicked on that, ‘Google’ was listed as an option. I clicked on the ‘Google’ and disconnected it. Once ‘Google’ was disconnected, the ‘Social disconnect’ option was replaced with the ‘Use Face ID to log in’ option, and the 'Sign in with Apple' on the front of the app was replaced with 'Login with Face ID.' Odd that, as I typically used either Face ID or email and password to login. I don’t use ‘Google’ to login. Anyway, it’s working fine now.

I’m in Hawaii and when I got vaccinated I was given a CDC card with hand written names, dates, times and lot numbers. I can’t even read some of the hand written ‘scribble’. Luckily I registered with the Vaccine Administration Management System’ (VAMS). I now can login online and pull up my vaccination information. There is also a QR code provided. I generated a pdf of the info and QR code and put it in a folder on my ‘notes’ app on my phone for quick access, and no need to login to a website. The CDC site states: “States and jurisdictions across the United States are using different web-based applications for vaccination clinic management. Contact your health department to find out which vaccination management system they are using”. If you could get registered with your local health department management system you would have quick access to your vaccine information in digital format.

I just updated to an iPhone 13 pro running iOS 15.0.2 and WISE v.7.31. I can find no option to use Face ID to login to my WISE app. Where it used to say “Log in with Face ID”, it now says “Sign in with Apple”. If I choose “Sign in with Apple” it just creates a new blank account. The only way I can log in to my current WISE app account is by physically typing in my email and password every time. Not ideal. Any one else run into this issue? Ps; my old iPhone 11 with WISE v.7.30 still has the option to use face ID.