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.

Is that his head in the bag?

On 12/1/2025 at 7:27 PM, exant said:

all you happy minded readers enjoy and hope your  United State Of America  Internal Revenue Taxed  Federal Income Collected Assets   FICA over the years for  your SSA.GOV benfits shall continue past 2032 end of life reductions if you continue to ignore the International SSA.GOV waste of FICA money under untrained FBU agents. Have a wonder full day enjoy your International Direct Deposit tonight eat drink sleep sht and have sex... 

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

On 11/18/2025 at 2:41 PM, exant said:

I do not work for FBU and do not work for SSA.GOV my purpose like all you here was to retire in peace and collect my FICA paid SSA approved pension. The only single mistake I made was to apply starting 18 years ago under the order of FBU Robert Jocson. Same as all you I ran around like a monkey stamping and phone calls and postage at the USA Embassy ordered to verify all  from inspector XYZ at Manila FBU.

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. 

1 hour ago, flexomike said:

Legal or illegals 

That's what I said. Undocumented = illegals

2 hours ago, zzzzz said:

Due to a lapse in federal appropriations, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is unable to process the 2025 Foreign Enforcement Questionnaires. The mailing and receiving of the Forms SSA-7161 and SSA-7162 are temporarily suspended. At this time, no further action is needed from you. SSA will not suspend your benefits if you have not completed and returned the form in 2025.
so thats that   🙂

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.

1 hour ago, zzzzz said:

Due to a lapse in federal appropriations, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is unable to process the 2025 Foreign Enforcement Questionnaires. The mailing and receiving of the Forms SSA-7161 and SSA-7162 are temporarily suspended. At this time, no further action is needed from you. SSA will not suspend your benefits if you have not completed and returned the form in 2025.  🙂

DAMN! 

1 hour ago, Slowhand225 said:

Careful research by who ? Certainly you know that information is only as good as the information thats given. I can tell you for a fact the numbers are wrong. 

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.  

17 hours ago, Slowhand225 said:

I know that you and AI don't have a clue still. 
Get that source for the "Millions of illegal guns" yet ?
No, you didn't because you made it up

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

3 hours ago, Slowhand225 said:

As someone whos been involved in staffing many hundreds of people and several different states and many trades, thats a lie.
It is illegal to hire an undocumented immigrant in America
From the DOJ's web page:
Title 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(a)(1)(A) makes it unlawful for any person or other entity to hire, recruit, or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien, as defined in subsection 1324a(h)(3)."
So now explain to me how they're having taxes withheld ?Theres more to it but more than one question at a time confuses many of you on here so we'll just start here. lol

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?  

"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. 

On 9/29/2025 at 3:26 AM, Mitkof Island said:

My hunch before Christmas is a Trump shutdown. Meaning GONE! 

Wishful thinking...

Is mail to the US from Thailand still suspended?  

1 minute ago, MJoe said:

Thanks so much for the info - you are super helpful!  What do you mean “I missed DOB and place of birth” — did they ask for that?

Also, when you say they “insisted there was no reason to doubt”, do you think the agents were inferring they believe the phone attestation will actually be successful in getting the form processed?  Not sure if I’ve missed something, but I thought all the agents were really able to do is complete the form and email it to another department and hope that department processes it?  Or does the agent actually process it themselves and confirm that?

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.

10 hours ago, MJoe said:

Thanks for the info - much appreciated.  Do you have to give your passport as ID?  I wonder if these few remaining SSA reps who have a clue, will be gone come the end of September.

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. 

3 hours ago, ricklev said:

This long article makes it a little easier to understand why the paper form has not been replaced with an online form.   https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-doge-social-security-takeover-leland-dudek

But instead of facilitating this effort at greater efficiency, Coulter told Dudek to close the office, according to Dudek, claiming it was wasteful. Agency staff joked that DOGE shut it down because its name included a word that began with “trans.”

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.