Social Security Service News For Americans

[ThaiWai]

 

NOTICE REGARDING SOCIAL SECURITY SERVICES

 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has consolidated its overseas operations into several regional offices that provide a full range of SSA services for U.S. citizens residing outside of the United States.  Effective October 1, 2017, individuals residing in Thailand who require social security services or have questions about SSA benefits must contact the SSA Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) located in the U.S. Embassy Manila, Philippines, rather than the U.S. Embassy, or U.S. Consulate in Thailand.

 

Please be advised that as of October 1, 2017, the U.S. Embassy, and U.S. Consulate in Thailand can no longer accept telephone calls, emails, or walk-in consultations regarding Social Security issues.

 

For more information or any questions about the services provided at the FBU in the U.S. Embassy Manila, Philippines and how to contact them, please visit their webpage at: http://ph.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen -services/social-security/. You can also reach them at (+ 63 2) 301-2000 ext. 9 , or [email protected] .

 

For comprehensive information on SSA’s services abroad, please visit SSA’s webpage, “Service Around the World” https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/. If you are already receiving SSA benefits payments, there will be no change in the method of distribution of those payments.

[Minnehaha]

I guess it is easier to find staff in PPines / cheaper to find staff in PPines ?

[ubonjoe]

56 minutes ago, Minnehaha said:

I guess it is easier to find staff in PPines / cheaper to find staff in PPines ?

I don't think it has anything to with that. The regional  Social Security office has been in Manila for many years.

The embassy is just telling people to contact them instead of US citizens services.

Really no big change. For most things they would tell you to contact Manila before.

[Pinot]

I've been using the contact in the Phils for the last five years. Not that there have been many issues, but my contact has been in the Philippines. Always a quick response, so I don't know why they're announcing this. 

[smotherb]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think it has anything to with that. The regional  Social Security office has been in Manila for many years.

The embassy is just telling people to contact them instead of US citizens services.

Really no big change. For most things they would tell you to contact Manila before.

And there are many more recipients of SS benefits in the Philippines--Americans and Filipinos; thus, the need for more SSA staff and facilities in Manila; which is one reason most issues were sent to there before.

[connda]

This isn't a change. FBU in Manila has always been the SSA contacts.

[ThaiWai]

4 hours ago, Pinot said:

I've been using the contact in the Phils for the last five years. Not that there have been many issues, but my contact has been in the Philippines. Always a quick response, so I don't know why they're announcing this. 

I think the crux of it is this

 

"Please be advised that as of October 1, 2017, the U.S. Embassy, and U.S. Consulate in Thailand can no longer accept telephone calls, emails, or walk-in consultations regarding Social Security issues."

 

Someone is tired of redirecting people.

[serpent32]

On 10/2/2017 at 3:32 PM, ubonjoe said:

I don't think it has anything to with that. The regional  Social Security office has been in Manila for many years.

The embassy is just telling people to contact them instead of US citizens services.

Really no big change. For most things they would tell you to contact Manila before.

The office in the Philippines is great it's their headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland that sucks.  

[Pib]

I expect it's a combination of things such as the State Dept which controls U.S. embassies and the Social Security Agency (SSA) not being able to come to agreement on what support embassies could provide...or the State Dept wanted some manpower/funds reimbursement from the SSA for support provided.

 

And as already mentioned the Manila office has been the regional office for many years.  About 6 months when I helped a dual citizen Thai-American apply for his social security pension with Manila during the telephone interview when I asked why it took so long to get the telephone interview scheduled the Manila SSA rep mentioned they support Social Security beneficiaries in 50 countries and they are just very busy.

 

Now I sure hope the Bangkok U.S. Embassy will continue to do one thing regarding social security applications with Manila and that is reviewing/certifying/relaying to Manila a copy of a Naturalized U.S. citizen's U.S. Passport or Naturalization Certificate as requested by Manila....and continue to do that at no cost versus he $50 per notarization  they charge.   

 

When a Naturalized U.S. citizen applies for social security benefits it is come for the SSA to ask for a certified copy or original be mailed to them for review so they can finalize/approve the application (they do mail the original back but I don't think anyone like the idea of mailing critical documents unless an absolute necessity/no other way to do it).   This very thing happened when I helped my Thai-American apply for social security pension.  As requested during the Manila telephone interview he made an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to take his U.S. passport and/or Naturalization Certificate for the Embassy to review/certify/relay to Manila at no cost which the U.S. Embassy happily did....and the Bangkok Embassy did such at no charge.

 

Yeap, sure hope the new State Dept policy for U.S. Embassies don't result it that now being another $50 per document charge for the individual...or should I say another $50 profit for the embassy.

[serpent32]

On 10/3/2017 at 4:23 PM, serpent32 said:

The office in the Philippines is great it's their headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland that sucks.  

The Social Security Office in the Philippines has a headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland and they have a few employees there who are absolutely useless by the name of Rodney Epps, and Laurie Bartlett.   Mr. Epps is the section chief he's a total moron, and Ms. Bartlett needs to be fired but unfortunately her boss is Rodney Epps who has absolutely no control over his office.  My wife who is a United States Permanent Resident was permanently disabled when we were still living in the United States and I've provided them with all the evidence from several different doctors which verifies that she's permanently disabled but apparently the word of all of her doctors is not enough for them.  They sure are good at taking the Social Security taxes out of our paychecks but when it's time for them to pay what they owe us they make it extremely difficult.  Classic example of the government mismanaging our tax money.  Both of us her and I have worked in the United States all our lives and have been paying taxes for over 30 years.  I'm just glad that my pension is un-taxable :) so they won't get another damn cent of my money ever again.  

[Pib]

On 10/4/2017 at 10:19 AM, Pib said:

And as already mentioned the Manila office has been the regional office for many years.  About 6 months when I helped a dual citizen Thai-American apply for his social security pension with Manila during the telephone interview when I asked why it took so long to get the telephone interview scheduled the Manila SSA rep mentioned they support Social Security beneficiaries in 50 countries and they are just very busy.

 

 

I my earlier post I made above statement that the Manila SS rep said they support 50 countries.  I went to this SSA website regarding SSA international operations that shows what SS offices support what countries outside the U.S., and jotted down the countries Manila is responsible for.  I scanned it pretty fast...jotted them down which I list below....with the quick scan I may have missed a few countries.   Manila definitely has a full plate. 

 

The headquarters for the SSA's  International Operations is in Baltimore which is where a person's application goes for final processing/approval/disapproval after the Manila takes the application from a person.  If you even need to talk to Baltimore they can be had to get  live person on the other end of the phone...you'll normally need to leave a voice mail and they say they will call you back within 2 business days....a call back that may or may not occur for the voice mail you leave based on my personal experience. 

 

And to the best of my knowledge there is no central email address you can send to at Baltimore regarding the status of your application...instead they expect you to call them or contact your support SS office which is Manila for us folks in Thailand or the  Social Security Call Center 1800 number in the U.S.   But both Manila or the Call Center will only be able to tell you what they see in their online system as to whether Baltimore has approved, disapproved, or hasn't acted on the application yet.  Baltimore has 60 days from initial receipt of an application from a SS office such as Manila before Baltimore needs to open the application for review/final processing.....not 60 days from the day Manila took your application but 60 days from the day that Manila forwards it to Baltimore within their electronic system.  

 

Here's the countries I jotted down that Manila has responsibility for/supports:

Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, China, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, Nepal, New Calidonia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thaiti, Tawain, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor) Tanga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.   

 

That totals up to 41 countries...getting close the 50 the Manila rep said they support...and I expect there are some areas of the world they support they just may not be listed on the website above.   

 

Yeap, Manila seems to have a full plate of countries to support....and they only have a small staff.  So don't even think they support just the Philippines, Thailand and a few more countries in this part of the world. 

 

For me, my dealings with Manila for old age pension benefit applications (not disability applications) has generally been very good although they can be slow or fast in how responsive they are in replying to questions/emails you send them....once again, that's just based on my personal experience....my own application and one other person I helped/led thru the process.  And I've only sent them a few emails/questions which I simply could not find the answer for relating to applications.  You can call them also but getting a live person is a 50-50 chance.   Sometimes I've got an email response within a few days; other times after several weeks of no response I had to do a follow-up email (or two) to get a response.  Over the years in reading various TV posts regarding Manila support it seems some folks get quick response; other have not....guess it depending on how busy the Manila office is at the time or the nature of the question asked....who knows.

 

But fortunately, a person generally don't need to deal with their local security office too much...probably their initial pension application for benefits and maybe an occasional direct deposit account change will be the great majority of reasons to contact the office.   But I'm sure disability benefit applications are a whole different animal which can easily require much more contact with and providing documents to social security offices.

 

Yeap, generally I've been happy with the support provided by the Manila office but how fast they can respond to your questions/request for assistance, schedule the telephone application interview, process your applications etc., can vary greatly.... so when possible don't wait to the last minute to interface with Manila.

 

 

 

[sirineou]

On 10/4/2017 at 11:23 AM, serpent32 said:

The Social Security Office in the Philippines has a headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland and they have a few employees there who are absolutely useless by the name of Rodney Epps, and Laurie Bartlett.   Mr. Epps is the section chief he's a total moron, and Ms. Bartlett needs to be fired but unfortunately her boss is Rodney Epps who has absolutely no control over his office.  My wife who is a United States Permanent Resident was permanently disabled when we were still living in the United States and I've provided them with all the evidence from several different doctors which verifies that she's permanently disabled but apparently the word of all of her doctors is not enough for them.  They sure are good at taking the Social Security taxes out of our paychecks but when it's time for them to pay what they owe us they make it extremely difficult.  Classic example of the government mismanaging our tax money.  Both of us her and I have worked in the United States all our lives and have been paying taxes for over 30 years.  I'm just glad that my pension is un-taxable :) so they won't get another damn cent of my money ever again.  

Not sure from your post as to whether or not your wife's application for disability SS  was eventually approved or not .

If it was rejected and you think you have a legitimate case , you need to get a social security lawyer. 

  It seems that they automatically reject most applications regardless of merit. My Dad's application was rejected even though he had an obviously legitimate case documented by medical records,  ho obtained the services of an attorney specializing in such cases , the case took two years to resolve in my Dad'd favor, and he received payments retroactive to the day he filed.  The attorney got paid a percentage of what my Dad received for those two years.