cusanus

Returned in just one day over three weeks. Zippo!

This is my 3rd time using the online method (two friends I walk through as well). FIrst time took about a month. Second time they didn't like the photo and took 3-4 weeks to let me know. Got it about a week before visa extension deadline. Third time I mailed it a week ago (16 Jan) but embassy was closed for two days. As usual I get only "Status not available" when checking online, but it says status updates will be sent using the email on your application. I'm worried because 90 day deadline is 10 March and visa extension 17 March (8 weeks) but everyone says they got the new one within 2-4 weeks. Knock on wood. What happens if you don't have it by 90 day deadline or visa extension? I couldn't use a debit card to pay the 100 baht fee, so I used the 1-2-3 service and took the receipt and phone to the bank and the teller used the bank app to finish payment. I had no idea how to do it.

Why is the application not being delivered? Oops, Google says it's closed 19 Jan 2026 for some holiday. What holiday? Oh, MLK day. Guess I can relax.

Gave up on debit cards and used 123 Service which issued a bill for 100 baht with QR code. Had no idea how to pay it but lady at the bank used my phone and Bangkok Bank app to pay it. Got home to the computer and it was paid, also two emails sent with the details.

HELP PLEASE! I have made eight different 100 baht orders for the envelope using two different Bangkok cards. It says charge was successful but then immediately cancels the order. Any ideas or any other way to get the envelope? The checklist says this is the ONLY way. But if it doesn't work? Now tried again, but requires a tax ID number. Who has one of those?

Damn. As soon as I make the 100 baht Postmart payment it says order processed but then cancels the order. I have now eight cancelled 100 baht orders. Lady at Bangkok Bank could not figure it out, either.

So when you run out of bucks you could get a government job, huh.

Try to understand that us SS recipients are getting more senile by the day and the only hope we have is to blame the gummint. Even if you do make perfect sense, they may be ignoring you if you've pissed them off because that's how gummint works. Ask yourself, "Have I said something the gummint wouldn't like?" A master's degree with a 4.00 gpa was all it took to set them off for me and my life was in constant danger, so I got out of Dodge when the coast was clear. It took only one phone call to Manila and my checks have come every month since because the SSA doesn't know I have a master's degree and 4.00 gpa. Anyway, clearly the entire US of A is it's own cracker factory, not just gummint. The only Americans I know who aren't insane are you and me, and I'm beginning to wonder about you...

If SS can't process forms, then it makes sense that mailing them in isn't going to work, and zzzzz's email from Manila is probably right that benefits won't be suspended in any case next February. To be extra safe, you could still try the attestation method if you haven't done it already and ask the agent if it's worth doing. AI isn't trustworthy, but it's right arm some of the time, so this is what I got: Due to a federal funding lapse, the Social Security Administration has temporarily suspended the mailing and receiving of the 2025 Foreign Enforcement Questionnaires (Forms SSA-7161 and SSA-7162). This suspension means rrrecipients should not mail the forms to the processing center in Pennsylvania. However, for those who need to complete these forms, the SSA has introduced a new attestation process through signature proxy, available via phone or in-person through a U.S. Embassy's Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) or the SSA.

That's what I said. Undocumented = illegals

The census and other data collected by thousands of government workers are the real world. $25+ billion a year SS contributions by undocumented workers is an accurate assessment by people who are qualified to know such things, however critical you may rightly be of government. These are intelligent people who are not trained to lie. It must be you who doesn't live in the real world. I lived in the US for 57 years, BA Botany, MS Soils/Chemistry, nearly perfect gpa, MCSE 1999. I suggest you enroll in a university, flush the dream world out of your head and learn something about the real world. What is your point re KhunLA's post? He was trying to tell you the same thing I am. It may be illegal to hire undocumented migrants, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. God I feel sorry for your mamma.

Maybe not. Unable to confirm this with Internet search. Just one email from a lacky in Manila. Maybe it's not official. The usual advice is that if you haven't got the form, download the blank, fill it in, and mail to Wilkes-Barre. Not much effort just in case.

DAMN!

The topic is social security, not guns. Read to the end of the paragraph and read this: https://pewrsr.ch/47qCSnu You have a friend and claim without documentation to have extensive work hiring hundreds of people, but you aren't in the business of census work or research dealing with the official records of millions of people and definitely are not qualified to call the thousands of professionals who do such work liars.

Hey, Slow. Who said anything about guns? Try to stay on topic. The number of immigrants in the workforce and SS paid in isn't based on lies. It's based on careful research and good record keeping. Do you actually live in the US? The many hundreds of staff you say you were "involved" in placing must not have been involved in agriculture or construction. Where did you say they work? What was your involvement? Here's a starting point for your educational enlightenment: https://pewrsr.ch/47qCSnu

Staffing hundreds of people? And you don't know that illegals constitute a major workforce in the US and contribute 25+ billion a year into Social Security? Those are the facts so maybe you aren't involved enough to know them. So, no one uses illegal drugs in the US either?

You clearly do not understand how payroll taxes work. Yes, undocumented immigrants pay billions of dollars into the Social Security Trust Fund each year through payroll taxes, even though they are generally ineligible to collect the benefits themselves. Here's how it works: Tax Withholding: Many undocumented workers are employed and have federal, state, and local taxes, including Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes (FICA), automatically withheld from their paychecks. Use of SSNs/ITINs: This often occurs when workers use a borrowed, fraudulent, or previously valid Social Security Number (SSN). Others use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which the IRS issues for tax purposes only and does not grant eligibility for Social Security benefits. Ineligibility for Benefits: The law generally prohibits the Social Security Administration (SSA) from paying benefits to individuals who are not lawfully present in the U.S. at the time of application and lack a valid SSN with work authorization. Net Positive Effect: Because these individuals pay into the system but cannot draw from it, their contributions actually help bolster the finances and solvency of the Social Security program for eligible beneficiaries. The SSA itself has noted that the presence of unauthorized workers has a positive effect on the program's financial status. In 2022, for example, undocumented immigrants contributed an estimated $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes.

It's worth adding that illegal immigrants PAY into SS payroll taxes, but they do NOT qualify for SS payments, so we've been riding heavily on their backs in that and other ways for many decades. Of course Mr. Trump's rabid racism is killing off that contribution as quickly as possible. SS is paid for directly from payroll tax deductions, NOT income or sales tax dollars. In 2023, immigrants contributed an estimated $26.2 billion to the Social Security Trust Fund, even though most will never receive benefits.

"Healthcare" in the US was always nothing more than quick financial ruin and death. Democrats weren't getting it done, but the MAGA agenda will make it far worse. Insurance is paid for by the worker so you can't up front argue against delay tactics, willful misdiagnosis, hidden diagnostics, felony breach of privacy and exorbitant overcharges There's little of chance of finding a competent doctor which there isn't much except for routine broken bones or such. There are laws on the books to protect victims but they are trampled underfoot. Here the system is non profit so it isn't much of a concern. Millions in the US have lost health insurance and Medicare and will lose everything in social security if this nonsense continues.

Wishful thinking...

Is mail to the US from Thailand still suspended?

They ask for date and place of birth, SSN, mother's maiden name. The impression given is that when the email is sent from they're Wilkes-Barre office to the receiving Wilkes-Barre office you can assume the form will be processed. There is no way other way to find out at this time, but perhaps in December you could get an answer from Manila or the US.

No, no passport or ID. I missed DOB and place of birth. Other than that, just SSN and mother's maiden. I've gone through this three times counting friends I help out since many of us don't function so well given their ages. The agents all knew what to do except the first one took a long time trying to figure out if her email was enough to finish the job, but the others insisted there was no reason to doubt.

Yeah, don't expect much in the way of efficiency. The painfully obvious plan is to overturn the system, not make it work. Trump intends to fan the flames with exaggerated rhetoric and a torrent of outright lies with the eventual goal of driving the USA into rampant civil war and economic disaster, perhaps even leading to nuclear war. His followers are poorly educated, racist, mean spirited religious freaks with closet gays, swindlers and child molesters seeping from the woodwork Trump has been cramming with cash and pardons. The democrats weren't all that great, either. Now they're struggling to regain control of the ball but not likely to get it back in time. They don't call it Gen Z for nothing. We're the lucky ones because we'll likely be gone by the time everything goes entirely to hell.

Just your name, SSN and mother's maiden. They ask if you understand you must tell the truth under penalty of perjury. Then she asks the questions on the form first page. If you mark X for NO on the first three questions, you're done, if not then you need to tell the same info further asked as on the form. Then it's electronically signed by your attestation and she emails the form. Don't say you've mailed the form earlier or you might get turned down. That's supposed to 100% foolproof. Knock on wood. Wouldn't take more than ten minutes total if not for wait times and such.