Pib

Above USPS mail change says a person can still submit an inquiry as you did for international registered mail. However, it also says Inbound International Registered mail does not have to be handled like Domestic Registered mail which means hand-to-hand processing (i.e., like tracking/scans) may not be as thorough. Or said another way Incoming International Registered mail may be treated like Cinderella before she married a prince.

Not being tracked after leaving the USPS International Service Center (ISC) in NY could very well be the issue based on below 2009 USPS "International" Registered Mail policy change which basically says inbound International Registered Mail will no longer be handled as registered mail in the "Domestic" Registered Mail system although the USPS would still obtain a signature upon delivery which I would think would also generate a scan which would update the USPS tracking system. See below USPS weblink/quote. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2009/pb22259/html/updt_004.htm But I also expect the USPS delivery person might not pay as much attention in trying to spot an international registered mail piece when it's not carrying USPS domestic registered mail markings....not being in a separate container/bag used for U.S. Domestic Registered Mail. The Thailand International Registered mail label may simply be overlooked....or worst yet ignored depending on the USPS delivery person/location.

I sure hope the Scranton and/or Wilkes Barre USPS offices don't have problems like the Baltimore USPS offices. The two short Youtube videos below (each approx 3 minutes) paint a pretty sad picture for mail processing/delivery in Baltimore.

Don't be surprised if yours stays in "In Transit" status forever although it was probably delivered to Wilkes Barre SSA...but failure of the USPS to properly accomplish/missing some tracking scans the tracking still shows "In Transit" after it left the Scranton mail center which is only about 20 miles from Wilkes Barre. But if it didn't arrive then sometime in September is when the SSA is suppose to send out a follow-up notification basically saying we didn't get a response from you on our 1st mailing so this is a 2nd mailing. Now assuming they don't send that 2nd notice until the very end of September and considering at least a couple weeks mailing time to Thailand, then mid October is probably the earliest any of us would start receiving a 2nd notice if our Are You Dead or Alive form didn't make it back to Wilkes Barre in time from the first mailing. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010

Any further update on your MIA 7162 like the USPS couldn't find it, assumed it actually got delivered, abducted by aliens, found as part of seized docs from Mar-a-Lago, etc? Curious as to if the missing mail search resulted in anything tangible.

Yea....who knows....walking into an immigration office can often result in surprises. In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle:

TG, In late June 2022 I went to CW to transfer stamps to my new/renewed U.S. passport. I'm on an OA based "marriage" vs retirement extension...I use the bank deposit method which only has to be up to Bt400K at least two months before extension renewal application....after extension approval the deposit balance amount can go to zero if desired. All they required was the items listed in your post above which is really just the Transfer form, a few pages from the old and new passports (every page not req'd; just the relevant pages), TM Arrival/Departure card, and the letter the U.S. embassy includes with the new passport. It took about 20 minutes to get done. No fee...didn't want to see anything regarding bank info....didn't ask to look at bank book....didn't require copies of any bank book info.

This type of sidewalk, bricks laid on sand, is very, very common in Thailand. And then within a few years max they will start to become uneven, sink, etc., requiring repair/replacement of the side. I don't know construction of this nature is due to: 1. Considered good construction "but" a lower cost than a more sturdy/costly construction like solid concrete 2. Easier access to water/sewer/electrical lines possibly under the sidewalk takes priority over a more sturdy construction 3. No desire for the construction to be sturdy/long lasting so new contract money can be spent year after year after year to repair/replace the sidewalk with "new stuffed envelopes" flowing year after year after year. Ditto to above when it comes to road landscaping where a new road/intersection is built along with some very nice landscaping....and that landscaping seems to be well kept for only around one year and then care-and-feeding of the landscaping seems to vanish....the landscaping then dies or turns into a jungle. It seems the "construction" contract for that new road/intersection only included landscaping maintenance for one year and unless a new landscaping maintenance contract is awarded that landscaping just dies/turns into jungle. So, the govt "intentionally" does not award a new landscaping maintenance contract allowing the landscaping to die/the jungle to return which drives the need for a new contract which comes with new stuffed envelopes. The corruption cycle continues.

Or, the contractor runs out of money at the 80-90% completing point and claims unforeseen/Force Majeure costs overruns....need another 10-20% of money to complete the project. The contract is written so weak (intentionally) to not absolutely bind the contractor to the contracted price the government will give the contractor more money to finish the project versus cancelling the contract. Then some of this money finds its way back to key government officials who approved the initial contract and/or the amended (extra money) contract.....all part of corruption that makes government contracts and working in certain government positions so lucrative. Construction projects--especially sidewalks, roads, street lights, and landscaping--are great money makers for corrupt contractors/government officials.

Yea, there are no laws I know of....either in Thailand or my home country of the U.S....that governs whether a person has the right by law "to open a package before paying the delivery/post man"....be that delivery man a govt postal employee, FedEx, DHL, Lazada Express, Flash Express, or just whatever delivery companies of which there are MANY! Delivery companies only delivery a person's package....they are only an intermediary between the seller and buyer...their only job is deliver a package as addressed....they don't get involved in waiting for a person to open a package in front of them and checking out the contents before paying COD. I can just see the numerous arguments/complaints that would occur during the daily deliveries. The delivery person's ability to deliver say a 100 packages per day to a 100 different addresses reduced to almost half of that because I read that around 40-50% of Lazada/Shopee deliveries are paid via CODs. This would cause delivery delays, higher delivery costs, and a host of other issues. These folks that casually say say "just give the delivery person a tip so you can open and check the contents before deciding to accept or pay" have probably never done that in their life although they give out such advice.

Good luck in calling the Manila office....a hard bunch of folks to get on the phone. You might want to submit an online inquiry at below U.S. Embassy-Manila SSA FBU weblink....the inquiry form even has a reason for the inquiry being "Applying for Social Security Benefits." I know you have already applied and just wanting for Manila to contact you....maybe you should go knocking on their door with an online Inquiry to them...do it now...probably better than an email to them.....and good luck with the call. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/ Partial Snapshot from above weblink

Good luck in calling the Manila office....a hard bunch of folks to get on the phone. You might want to submit an online inquiry at below U.S. Embassy-Manila SSA FBU weblink....the inquiry form even has a reason for the inquiry being "Applying for Social Security Benefits." I know you have already applied and just wanting for Manila to contact you....maybe you should go knocking on their door with an online Inquiry to them...do it now...probably better than an email to them.....and good luck with the call. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/ Partial Snapshot from above weblink

OK....my total passport renewal time was 18 days....TallGuy's 18 days also...CMBob's 11 days. 18+`18+11 = 47 divided by 3 gives an average 16 day turn around time. Pretty good. But I will have to say that around 10 years ago when the wife and I renewed at the same time the total turnaround time for both of us was around 12 days....for some reason some archived brain cells are saying the wife got her's in 9 days and me around 14 days. So, a little slower than a decade ago...but getting a total turnaround time of 2 to 3 weeks is good service considering after the embassy receives your package they upload it to a U.S. Passport Center....back in the U.S. a Passport Center prints and mails the new passport to your embassy...and then the embassy remails to you. The embassy getting the passport from the Passport Center is the longest pole in the tent which occurs thru the U.S. mail system to the embassy Diplomatic Post Office (DPO), but fortunately it's not too long.

That response would make me feel very uneasy because some countries are on a biennial (every 2 years) schedule and some every year---Thailand is on the every year schedule per SSA regulation. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005 But if it was me and didn't get a form from the first mailing in late June or the second mailing to occur in September (a person should receive before the end of October I would manually fill-out a 7162 and scan/email to Manila AND also mail it to Wilkes Barre via Regular Airmail which costs Bt49. Both the wife and I got 7162's this year here in Thailand....received in early-mid July. Going with Registered Airmail which costs Bt325 does not make it arrive any faster and in fact may slow delivery somewhat (or a LOT) since Registered Airmail must travel by more secure means/undergo tracking scans which can slow things down in comparison to un-registered/regular mail. And so far this thread has shown that using Registered Airmail will result in arrival at Wilkes Barre within about two weeks OR end up in MIA/In Transit status at some point of it's trek. A throw of the dice when it comes to registered mail tracking from Thailand to the U.S. with the tracking problem being on the U.S. end.

I've bought around 250 items off Lazada and have needed to do around a half dozen refunds---all refunds were without incident...and all refunds occurred over the last year or so. For the first 50 or so of those 250 total orders I played the COD game, but that can get painful in needing to be around to receive/pay at our house. Heck, for around 20 or those 50 COD orders (each less than a Bt1,000) I started leaving the money in an envelope just inside the gate where the delivery guy could reach and get it....we (the wife or I) would tell the delivery man this when he called in advance about the delivery sometime during the day. But for the last 200 or so orders they have all been paid in advance from my Lazada Wallet or bank transfer at time of order. As it turns out the half dozen or so refunds have all been within the last year and everything went smoothly. I used the Lazada refund system...none of this playing ping-pong via chat with the seller....all refunds processed efficiently, zero return shipping fees, and all refund received within approx one week of shipping the item back to the seller. The Lazada return/refund process is pretty efficient and you are kept well informed of the return/refund status which usually takes about 5 to7 days with the great majority of that time being the return shipping time and seller review time. And for one refund just a few weeks ago for a Bt500 pair of jeans as soon as I dropped it off at Kerry (I choose Kerry for the return shipment) I got my refund "immediately" after drop off with Kerry...refund immediately to my Lazada Wallet....didn't have to wait until it got back to the Seller for review...the Lazada SMS called it an Early Refund. I figure this was authorized by the Seller....a good Seller. I've also had a few cases of an order for multiple different items where one item may be completely missing. I apply for a refund....simply say it was not in the package received....upload a picture showing what "was" in the package making it clear in the words an item was completely missing....and Lazada refunded the amount within about 3 days. All of these cases was for small items only costing around Bt100. Yea, knock on wood (my head)....the Lazada refund process has worked well for me...and playing the COD can be a pain and offer less scam protection....paying Lazada in advance is a better way I think for both ease of delivery/receipt and refund purposes.

This Mailbox Master webpage gives a good overview of what the USPS "In Transit to Next Facility" tracking status can mean. https://mailboxmaster.net/n-transit-to-next-facility-usps-meaning/

It's approx 20 miles from Scranton to Wilkes Barre. In Kivetoruk's 12 July post showing his USPS tracking his registered mail made it from Scranton to Wilkes Barre in 1 hour 32 minutes on 5 Jul. See his post below. I expect either your mail has arrived Wilkes Barre probably on 22/23 Aug but was not scanned as received.....OR, the mail has been sent to some other facility for some reason. I expect it's the former.

The wording at the Customs website has always been somewhat vague/can be interpreted in different ways as to whether a foreigner coming to Thailand on a long term non immigration visa, like an O or OA Retirement Visa, was allowed X-amount of Customs-free personal effects/household goods. In one area it states/implies simply having a non immigrant visa would be enough OR, repeat OR if arriving and not having a non immigrant visa yet then having certain docs confirming you will be allowed to work in Thailand is good enough. See partial quote below and notice where I bolded the OR part. But then at the bottom of the Customs website it implies a non immigration visa "and" work permit will be needed for nonresidents. See partial quote below And then if a person reviews many ThaiVisa/Aseannow posts over the past decade or more you will see where some foreigners entering Thailand on a long stay non immigrant visa that some got before arriving and some got right after arriving were able to escape any customs charges on shipment of household goods/personal affects....like shipping over a couple hundred or even thousands of pounds....or a whole 20 ft by 20 ft container. But I think generally the number of folks who posted their experience who "did" get charged customs fee far out-numbered those folks who escaped any customs fees....and then there are some posts where you scratch your head as to if the poster really knew whether he escaped customs or not. As mentioned earlier when the Thai wife and I moved/retired to Thailand from the U.S. we shipped everything under her name...using her Thai passport although see is a dual Thai/US citizen with Thai and US passports. And even then Thai customs wanted to personally see her current Thai passport and previous/expired Thai passport before releasing the shipment here in Bangkok for final delivery to our Bangkok home versus just accepting the copy of her current Thai passport which was part of the shipping docs. Then they released the shipment without any additional customs fee other than the one Bt3,000 "customary fee" shown on the receiving agent's invoice before Customs asked to see her Thai passport---we did not contest/ask what this Bt3,000 (about $100) was really for because we were too durn happy to escape any serious customs fees of the thousands of dollars worth of household goods/personal effects we shipped over which even included to electronics gear. But I expect the fee was what the shipper's receiving agent used on most all shipments to help speed customs clearance. Good luck in your move....definitely bring over that you simply can't bear to part with as I know certain things, expensive or in-expensive, can carry a lot of sentimental value like I had around 50 pounds of some of my deceased Dad's tools which were passed to him by his Dad....to me they were a family heirloom and by gosh they will remain with me until I die regardless of where I live on planet Earth. But as I mentioned earlier both the wife and I shipped over stuff we couldn't bear to depart with "before leaving the U.S." (mostly it was stuff the wife couldn't bear to part with). However, after completing the move to Thailand both of us would quickly say we should have never shipped over certain things because we ended up buying new stuff in Thailand, just didn't really need or use a lot of stuff we did ship over, etc. Hindsight is a great thing. Good luck on your move....only bring stuff you simply MUST keep for whatever reason.....be it a practical and/or sentimental reason.

When my new passport was received I did have to sign for it since I happened to be standing in my driveway when the post mail pulled up...and it does reflect that signature in the EMS tracking. But when I initially mailed my renewal package to the Bangkok Embassy via EMS and they received it on a Sunday there was no signature on the tracking. It was probably dropped off at the guard shack and the guards are probably are not authorized to sign for deliveries. And from my experience is years upon years of mailing my 90 days address reports to CW/Bangkok Immigration the great, great, great majority of the time (say 90%) there was no delivery signature. Seems obtaining a signature for standard EMS is not a hard core requirement; more of preferred requirement....but I guess there is probably some option to "definitely require a signature" at some added cost.

TG, And don't expect any update on that St Dept website even months after you received the new passport. As of today/1 Sep that website still shows 25 May for me although I received the new passport 7 Jun which the U.S. Embassy-Bangkok remailed to me on 6 Jun. But that St Dept website does say if your new passport was mailed back to the your embassy to handle the final leg of delivery (i.e., the embassy remails to you via EMS) then you have to check with the embassy for passport pickup info. Summary: at least for passports being mailed from one of the U.S. Passport Centers back to an embassy the St Dept tracking/updates stop once they mail it back to your embassy. Once the US Embassy-Bangkok receives the new passport from the Passport Center the embassy will send you an email saying they are mailing your passport and that email will include the Thailand Post EMS tracking number it's being mailed under. Although that EMS number may not show the passport already mailed when you the email it should shortly after....within hours to a day. AND if your Thai Postal System EMS tracking turns out the same as mine the "Posting/Collection" date will reflect the "much earlier date" that is reflected on the St Dept site. Somehow the date the embassy remails your passport is backdated to the date the Passport Center mailed it to the embassy. Like in my case the St Dept site said 25 May and that is the first date shown on the Thai Postal EMS tracking although tracking also shows 6 Jun is when the U.S. Embassy-Bangkok remailed it and I got it on 7 Jun.

OP, Ubonjoe's post/link above to Thai Customs gives the correct info....basically for someone like you there is no customs-free shipment of household goods. The Thai wife and I moved to Thailand in 2008 and the words on that customs sites are pretty much the same now as they were in 2008. We shipped everything under the Thai wife's name as a returning resident to avoid customs on the 16 larges boxes of junk we couldn't stand to leave behind/sell....around 2,000 pounds.....which was about 1800 pounds of stuff we should not have shipped. For each box we shipped over each box contained a rough inventory of items enclosed and the estimated "used/personal effects" value. And each box was labelled as "Used/Second Hand Household Effects" which was buzz words from the Thai Customs website. Anyway, we pretty much escaped any customs charges except for a Bt3,000 "customary charge" as they called it. Even in 2008 it was not cheap to ship stuff from the U.S. to Thailand....and of course costs a lot more now. We used a shipping broker company named "XS Baggage" who brokers with many shipping companies....using XS Baggage was by far the cheapest after making a half dozen of some comparisons with other shipping companies. Using XS Baggage made the move a lot easier and cheaper. Here is their web site...still in business: https://xsbaggage.com/ Believe me I know it's hard to leave some stuff behind....sell it...give it away....yes, I know very well. I also know very well after we (i.e., the wife and I) made the move and shipped over a lot of stuff we thought we couldn't live without, bear to give-up, or replace/buy in Thailand that we finally realized we should have shipped over a LOT less as we simply really didn't need to bring over and lot of stuff we did bring over. Live and learn. Have a good trip over...try not to stress out too much.

As FYI, for those who may want to contact the Manila SSA Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) at some point about a 7162/7161 issue the Manila SSA website now has an Inquiry Form you submit online. It has all the info/data fields you need to complete to ask your inquiry, identify yourself, etc.----would probably work better than just sending an email to them. The Inquiry Form in the "Select Inquiry Reason" field has a 7161/7162 selection. See links/partial snapshot below. And if past guidance from Manila still stands they really don't want to get involved in accepting any 7162/7161 "until 1 Nov" which is approx 30 days after the 2nd/follow-up 7162/7161 mailing from Wilkes Barre. FBUs around the world really want you to send the form back to Wilkes Barre for scanning/processing which is the SSA standard process for the annual Are You Dead or Alive Forms unless you have not received the form after the two Wilkes Barre mailings....then the FBUs are willing to accept and process/forward the forms. Heck, even the SSA regulations guidance says in those cases were the customer might send the 7161/7162 back to a FBU, Payment Center, etc., instead of Wilkes Barre that the FBU/Payment Center needs to forward it to Wilkes Barre. Gives Manila FBU Contact Info and a Link to their Inquiry Form https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/social-security/ Link direct to Inquiry Form https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/ Partial Snapshot of Inquiry Form

A reoccurring theme in the USPS tracking is the Wilkes Barre Post Office does not physically deliver mail to some organizations (like some federal and county government agencies) with govt facilities in Wilkes Barre. Instead a representative from the mail section of those govt organizations periodically visit the main post office to pickup mail which results in USPS tracking coding saying the mail was turned over to a delivery agent for final delivery....that agent is a representative from that govt organization. I'm sure this is per agreement between the USPS and those organizations. Example: take a look at below 7 May 2022 local newspaper story talking about Luzerne County government offices mail delivery....Wilkes Barre is part of Luzerne County. Basically, for the Luzerne County government, a representative from the county mailroom at the courthouse visits the Wilkes Barre main post office to periodically pickup mail and then takes that mail back to the county mailroom for internal delivery to the different Luzerne County government organizations in various building. I expect the Wilkes Barre SSA does the exact same thing....that is, sends a rep to the Wilkes Barre Post Office to pickup mail sent to any SSA unique ZIP code. Full news article https://www.timesleader.com/news/1554754/luzerne-county-mail-ballot-delivery-protocols-discussed Partial Quote of article

Although Wilkes Barre SSA office has a unique ZIP code of 18767 the mail still goes to the main Wilkes Barre Post Office for delivery/pickup as the Wilkes Barre main post office has 15 ZIP codes under its purview/area of responsibility with 10 of them being "unique" ZIP codes assigned to organizations such as the SSA unique ZIP code of 18767 used for 7162 form return.

Wow....almost a month "In Transit to Next Facility" time between NYC/Jamaica NY and Wilkes Barre PA. And to the best of my knowledge/research, after leaving NYC/Jamaica, mail bound for Wilkes Barre goes to the USPS regional Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) in Scranton PA who then distributes the mail to nearby Wilkes Barre. The approx distance from NYC/Jamaica to Scranton is 120 miles and Scranton to Wilkes Barre is only 20 miles. Maybe the USPS uses turtles for registered mail transport between NYC/Jamaica and Wilkes Barre. Above tracking sure makes it appear the NYC/Jamaica to Wilkes Barre leg of the trip is the black hole, weak link in getting mail to Wilkes Barre from Thailand.