Pib

And I fully expect all forms the SSA "received" in July were processed shortly after receipt. But if the mail system, specifically the USPS, is not getting the 7162s delivered to the SSA within a few weeks but many times taking months, well, the SSA can't process what they don't receive.

Yeap...no augment there....Or just putting food on the table...paying for a roof over your head...buying required medications...etc....etc....etc. I'm sure they know it can cause a big, negative impact for some. But at the same time I'm sure the SSA has laws/regulations/rules to comply with (whether we agree with them or not) and would also tell you they provide notices (1st 7162, 2nd 7162, and Suspension Notice over approx a 6 month period that unless they get a 7162 from you your benefits starting with the January benefit (paid early Feb) will be suspended. But once getting that 7162 back from you any and all suspended payments will be paid within a few days to a few weeks.....no loss to you (except maybe food on the table, roof over your head, and meeting monthly income transfers for renewal of your Thailand visa.). It is what it is. It's the way they run the SSA pension railroad.

Anything is possible but the SSA regulation still shows Thailand on an annual schedule. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005

The 80K needs to come from pensions/fixed income; not wages/salary. See snapshot/partial quote below from the BoI LTR website. Read document #4 at the BoI webpage below for full details....this document does a good job of laying out the requirements. You "can" get a work permit as part of the Wealthy Pensioner visa, but it seems few retirees request such since they are retired (no desire to work again) and/or don't want to go thru added required paperwork for a digital work permit. I seriously doubt you could easily transition from a Wealthy Pensioner visa to Work from Thailand Professional visa without reapplying and meeting the requirements of the Work from Thailand Professional requirements which are significantly different from Wealthy Pensioner requirements. Pretty much like you can't switch from a Non-OA visa to a Non-O visa without first killing-off the Non-OA visa and then applying for a Non-O visa. BoI LTR website info regarding Wealthy Pensioner Income Requirements https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/laws-regulations.html

Wow...I applied in late Oct and after two phone calls to the BoI over the last 10 calendar days with the latest call on Monday I think it was I was told both times my application hasn't been looked at yet because they have a "lot" of applications.

Thanks....and where you said earlier it only took them 4 days to contact you, do you mean 4 days after initially applying? If so, they got to your application fast.

OK...thanks. Since self-insuring is one of the three allowable methods to meet the insurance requirement, with an actual policy or social security coverage, being the other two I expect a "Screen 3" entry under the Staff BoI column is a new BoI status coding method to indicate which area of an applicant's application has issues. Now as mentioned I haven't received any heads-up from the BoI yet asking telling me they have an issue with my application and please send additional docs, but my gut (and my luck) is telling me that notice is coming. By the way with the "Screen 3" entry in "Staff Name Column" what does the "Status Column" entry show for you? That is, Pending, In-Process, etc. Mine still says "Pending" like it always has from day 1. Edit: and where you said it only took them 4 days to contact you, do you mean 4 days after initially applying?

That bar code is created by Wilkes Barre. I bet when for whatever reason the person doesn't receive the Wilkes Barre 7162 that Manila emails the person a 2011 edition for completion and return to Manila. In 2019 when I received the Wilkes Barre generated bar coded 7162 but the wife didn't, after the 2nd notice timeframe had passed which Manila said was 1 Nov for them that they would assist in 7162 completion and they did by emailing the wife a 2011 edition (no bar code) with instructions to complete/scan/email back which she did.

So, the BoI actually notified you via LTR acct online notification and/or email your LTR application had a medical insurance issue/problem (i.e., they were not going to accept the insurance for some reason like maybe needing an expiration date at least 10 month out vs it being a group/open ended policy)? If so, about how many working days did it take for them to notify you? For me, I haven't been notified of anything yet after 15 working days....I've only seen a change in the BoIStaff column and that appeared just today/Sat/19Nov. And yea, my Plan B is to try the self-insure option if they refuse to accept my excellent govt/military retiree coverage which as served me so well in Thailand and will continue to do so. I would prefer to qualify under that method since it's basically on auto-pilot for the rest of my life versus going the self-insure method.

I've never been able to find a site that provides the 2020 version; only the 2011 and earlier version. Do you have a link? Even on the main SSA forms download page (link below) doesn't provide any version of the 7162....that's probably their way of trying to get folks from just downloading and returning a 7162 when the person never receives the 7162 mailing. Steers the person to contact SSA to figure out if the correct/complete address is on-file...try to figure out why the person is not receiving the form. Now you can find a version of the 7162 form on other SSA pages; just not the main download page. Main SSA Download Page https://www.ssa.gov/forms/

I don't know what Manila told you or what you think Manila told you, but it was probably a regurgitation of the paragraph on the SSA Office of International Operations which said: https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/ Now to me above paragraph means the SSA is back to using their standard schedule of sending out 7162s on either an annual or biennial basis (i.e., their pre-pandemic schedule) as determined by the foreign country you live in. Some countries like Thailand are on an annual basis and some countries are on a biennial basis. See below SSA regulation as to which schedule a country is on....as mentioned, Thailand is on an annual basis. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005

OK, maybe repeat maybe, "Screen #" is directly linked to the "Upload area #" and now represents an area of a person's application which the BoI has issue with.

Well, you can't send the bar-coded 7162 if you never received it. All you can do is send a downloaded version. Plus if you never received a bar-coded copy and contact Manila for assistance Manila has you send them a downloaded version to them....Manila even emails you a copy (non bar-coded) to complete and return.

Thanks...maybe it's just a programming update. Question: I edited my post above just when your post came it. In my edit I talked about how Screen 3 "might" be linked to Health Insurance which is the #3 Upload area. If so, do you think your health coverage might be the issue as I said mine might be. I'm grasping at straws right now....just guessing....it could simply be a programming change affecting "all" applicants.

Wow...this thread is going silent...been nothing but the sound of crickets for five days. ???? Anyway, my application has now been in the system for 15 business/working days...I'm not counting weekends or holidays like the 3 day special holiday for 16-18 Nov in the Bangkok area....BoI was closed during the 3 day holiday. This morning/Sat/19 Nov I noticed my applications online status changed a little under the STAFF NAME column. Since the application submittal day that column has reflected "StaffBoI 004" but this morning it now shows "Screen 3". This change may simply be a programming update which simply renames some things or maybe it means a BoI rep has now begun looking at my application and it's at a certain point of the review process....like on Screen 3 of 99....who really knows....I'm just guessing. There is no Notification Alert nor have I received any email....just that change under the STAFF NAME column. Would be interested if any other applicants listening-in see a change of status under the "STAFF NAME" column? Edit: I just noticed that "maybe" Screen 3 is related to the "3rd Upload Documents" area which is for health insurance. if so, then maybe the BoI has issue with my U.S. govt/military health care coverage which provides excellent coverage worldwide and has no expiration date. Just guessing.

Nothing wrong in using registered mail, but many times it results in delivery delays as many people have reported, to include yourself. While using registered mail gives a person a "warm fuzzy" (at a price) of where the piece of mail is in its trek, registered mail or regular mail or FedEx delivery or Pony Express Rider delivery does exactly the same thing in terms of getting the 7162 into the hands of a SSA rep who reviews, accepts, and scans the 7162 into the SSA IT system. It's not like showing a registered/EMS delivery confirmation to an immigration officer to support your case that you "did" mail them a 90 day report who then says OK I will not fine you for a late report, but you still must fill out a 90 day address report form right here at my desk so I can process a 90 day report receipt for you. The SSA does not "fine" a person for late delivery of a 7162. But if that SSA rep never opens or rejects the registered envelope for some reason then sending the 7162 via registered mail provides zero added benefit over regular mail because having a tracking number showing delivery does not satisfy the SSA requirement of actually receiving and processing a 7162. The SSA does not care how you get the 7162 to Wilkes Barre---they just need to receive the 7162. If the 7162 never arrives (or is rejected) then a registered mail tracking number does nothing to satisfy the SSA...the only thing that will satisfy them is an acceptable 7162 or possibly going through an identity verification & interview during a phone call in lieu of a 7162. Plus the SSA knows when they suspend a person's benefits due to non-receipt of a 7162 that it's a temporary suspension only....and suspended payments are sent within a few days to a few weeks after satisfying the 7162 requirement. It's not like a person's benefits are terminated....must reapply from scratch to restart the benefits with a total loss of missed payments....the payments are merely suspended pending 7162 receipt. For me, after seeing many posters reporting long delays when using registered airmail for their 7162 and my own personal controlled registered and regular airmail tests over several years I've posted about several times where registered airmail always took 2 to 3 times longer to arrive, I'll continue to use regular airmail to send our (i.e., the wife and I) 7162s to Wilkes Barre. It was my own personal tests that drove it home to me that registered airmail usually results in longer delivery times. And "maybe" even start sending a second copy a week or so later after sending the first....heck, regular airmail only cost Bt49....spend Bt98 to send two copies via regular airmail vs one copy for Bt325 via registered airmail. Just as likely that one or both regular airmail arrives Wilkes Barre just like one registered airmail. I might include a note on the 2nd copy saying this is a duplicate copy in case my first mailing didn't arrive due to poor mail service from my country.

For those concerned that did not receive a 7162 back around July you might want to play it safe and just download & complete a 7162 (download from SSA weblink at bottom) and then mail it via "regular airmail" (not registered airmail) from your local Thai post office....mailing will cost approx Bt49. And it should arrive Wilkes Barre in approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Heck mail it a second time a few days later for another Bt49 to play it safe. Spend Bt49 to Bt98 to avoid possible suspension of benefits staring in Jan 2023 (i.e., no early Feb 2023 payment). Social Security Administration P.O. Box 7162 Wilkes-Barre, PA 18767-7162 U.S.A. https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms/images/SSA7/G-SSA-7162-OCR-SM-1.pdf

In mid 2019 (before the pandemic) I did some 3 test mailings from Bangkok to Texas and California mail forwarding addresses via "registered" airmail and "regular" airmail. Each test mailing was done from the same post office here in Bangkok and both the register and regular mail were sent at the same time with the same postal clerk. When these mailings arrive I would get an immediate email notification of arrival and a snapshot of the arrived mail envelope. The three regular airmails arrived in 11 to 14 days; the three registered airmails arrived in 21 to 32 days...or said another way the registered airmail took 2 to 3 times as long to arrive due to how the USPS handles registered mail. In 2021 I did a registered airmail test to the California address....it took 40 days to arrive. in 2022 I did two regular airmail tests to Texas and California...they took 18 and 10 days, respectively to arrive. Summary: registered airmail to the U.S. is expensive and based on my testing is usually much slower than regular airmail. The problem is "not" on the Thailand end with the Thai Postal System but on the U.S. end with the USPS.

Yea...the SSA mailed the 2nd notice approximately a month later than their normal 2nd mailing schedule.

That sounds like a problem on "your" end of the internet especially since you say an email will not even send. Now if the email would leave your email outbox and then be shortly rejected back to you then that would indicate either a bad email address or the Manila server rejecting it back to you. But you indicate you can't even get a separate email to leave your email outbox. Definitely best to use the inquiry form now vs a separate email as the inquiry gives Manila all of the necessary info they want/need to identity the person contacting them and describe the problem. Heck, their previous "[email protected]" email address may not even work anymore as they now want you to use the inquiry form method.

@Pronto2@oncebefore Both of you mentioned you received the 2nd notice this week (week of 14 Nov). To determine how long it took to get to you thru the mail what date was on the 2nd notice and/or included 7162? Sometimes the date is just a line printed at the "very top" of the form which indicates when it was generated and should have been mailed very shortly after that. And what part of Thailand are you located in as different parts get foreign mail faster/slower than other parts? According to SSA instructions/regulation the SSA is suppose to mail the 2nd notice sometime in September....see partial quote at bottom. But maybe since the SSA hasn't mailed the form for the past two years they took longer to get the 2nd notice mailed out. If you just got the form that seems like a long time in the mail system unless a date on the 2nd notice/7162 indicates it was generated/mailed much later than September...like maybe mid-late Oct. I get mail from the SSA/other govt agencies to my Bangkok home in around two weeks. It may be too early for any of us to feel we are not on a 2nd notice list "if", repeat, if the 2nd notice wasn't mailed in September, but instead mailed recently (like mid-late Oct) and we just haven't received the notice yet. Plus, 16-18 Nov are APEC special holidays here in the Bangkok area which may slow down mail getting delivered all over the country...I sure know the last day I saw the mailman in my Bangkok moobaan was Tuesday/15 Nov as he is now enjoying the special holidays. He might be back to work on Saturday/19 Nov....then again, maybe not until Mon/21 Nov.

Suspension of benefits does not happen until January which means no February payment. A suspension notice is generated in January if failing to respond to the 2nd 7162 request. Of course if SSA mail is not finding a person then the missing February payment will get a person's attention.

No France is not part of APEC, however, the President of France was invited by Thailand as one of the special/government guests to APEC 2022. See webpage below for more info. https://thailand.postsen.com/trends/74052/Keep-an-eye-on-who-is-the-special-guest-in-APEC-2022.html

Due to the COVID pandemic the SSA did not send out/enforce 7162's for 2020 and 2021 which is in the 2 year timeframe you said your & the wife switched to a Thailand address. So, you didn't receive a 7162 in 2020 and 2021 just like the rest of us. But for 2022 the SSA is back into the groove of mailing out 7162 and expecting that 7162 to be completed and returned to them. If they don't get it back they could very well suspend your benefits starting Jan 2023 which is paid early Feb 2023. If I was you (and the wife) I would download/complete a 7162 (two of them...one for you and one for the wife) and then scan/email it to the Manila FBU. Tell them neither of you received a 7162 from Wilkes Barre and ask them to confirm they have your correct Thailand address is on-file. https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms/images/SSA7/G-SSA-7162-OCR-SM-1.pdf

He's the agent from the Wilkes Barre SSA Data Processing Center that goes to the main Wilkes Barre post office to pickup mail and take it back to the data processing center for internal distribution.