Changing US Social Security mailing address

[Suradit69]

I want to change my Social Security mailing address.

 

Based on a Google search, during the government shutdown SS offices as still functioning ...in addition to payments being sent out.

 

I emailed the Manila office in late December and, aside from the automated response, have heard nothing further.

 

Again using Google it seems if you live outside the US you need to contact your local office or call a 1-800 number.

 

If I get no response from Manila, is the only option to phone the US and (probably) sit for hours waiting to speak to a human and then painfully spell out a longish Thai mailing address?

 

TIA

[Pib]

You got it right.  Either contact SSA in the US or Manila.  And yes, it's hard to get a timely (or any) response from Manila now days depending on the Manila rep assigned your social security number.  They have also cut back on their phone hours from 5 days a week all day to only on Tue and Thr from 8-11am (Manila time).  

 

Now if your have a mySSA online account you "may" be able to change your address that way.  Once you go into the area of your mySSA account where you can possibly change your address you will know.  But for us folks who have a mySSA account "and" Thailand address onfile you can not longer use mySSA to update your address....gotta call SSA.

 

Also, if you have a mySSA account you can logon and ask for a call back to a US phone number if maybe you have a US number like maybe using MagicJack, some similar U.S. VOIP service, or a mobile US number.   SSA calls you.  I used it just last week....got a call back to my US VOIP number within 15 minutes.  I'm in Bangkok.

[Suradit69]

16 hours ago, Pib said:

You got it right.  Either contact SSA in the US or Manila.  And yes, it's hard to get a timely (or any) response from Manila now days depending on the Manila rep assigned your social security number.  They have also cut back on their phone hours from 5 days a week all day to only on Tue and Thr from 8-11am (Manila time). 

Thanks. I do have a MySSA account, but I use a Thai address and my new address will be in Thailand.

 

I was trying to remember ... when you get the annual letter from SS  in June (checking to see if you're still alive) can you change your mailing address on that?

 

I'll probably have to try calling SS, but I don't look forward to that.

[Jingthing]

I recall hearing that the government shutdown has shut down new S.S. applications so are you really sure the foreign service offices are really functioning now? Of course functioning is a relative term in this case. 

[Pib]

10 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

Thanks. I do have a MySSA account, but I use a Thai address and my new address will be in Thailand.

 

I was trying to remember ... when you get the annual letter from SS  in June (checking to see if you're still alive) can you change your mailing address on that?

 

I'll probably have to try calling SS, but I don't look forward to that.

You can only have two addresses on file with SSA....your physical address and mailing address.   Your mailing address will be used to deliver "all" SSA mailed correspondence to you.    You can't have like a special mailing address just for the "are you dead or alive letter?" and then another mailing address for all other correspondence.

[Suradit69]

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I recall hearing that the government shutdown has shut down new S.S. applications so are you really sure the foreign service offices are really functioning now? Of course functioning is a relative term in this case. 

Well I did Google that in the form of a question and according to whatever I found ... can't remember which site I clicked on ... it said the offices were still functioning, but of course that could easily be incorrect.

 

Also if office staff is being forced to work without pay, they may not be working at their usual high level of efficiency.????

 

I've heard that an increasing number of TSA officers, for example, who are forced to work without pay, have been calling in sick, so that may be true of the crack SS office staff as well.

 

Amazing that the Manila SS office only answers the phone two days a week for 3 hours even when they are running at full tilt.

[Pib]

12 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I recall hearing that the government shutdown has shut down new S.S. applications so are you really sure the foreign service offices are really functioning now? Of course functioning is a relative term in this case. 

SSA is not affected by the shutdown for administrative or payment actions.  In fact, I talked to the Baltimore Int'l Operations Office on 2 Jan regarding an issue.  And one of the questions I asked out of curiosity was if SSA was impacted by the shutdown....answer was no.  And the Manila SSA office is working also, although it's getting harder and harder to get them to answer any mail.....plus they reduced their phone hours from 5 days a week all day to only on Tuesday and Thursday from 8am to 11am.

[Suradit69]

2 minutes ago, Pib said:

You can only have two addresses on file with SSA....your physical address and mailing address.

I only use the one mailing address in Thailand that is also my physical address. My physical address and thus mailing address will be changing, but if I don't manage to do the address change before June I could still collect the annual letter from my current condo office. They'd keep it for me if I asked. Very nice people in the office.

[rumak]

25 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

I was trying to remember ... when you get the annual letter from SS  in June (checking to see if you're still alive) can you change your mailing address on that?

i emailed SS in Manila and did not get a response.  Can't remember what i did after that BUT when the annual letter comes in June you can change it on that.   There is a place to put in your NEW address if it has changed.

[Suradit69]

6 minutes ago, rumak said:

i emailed SS in Manila and did not get a response.  Can't remember what i did after that BUT when the annual letter comes in June you can change it on that.   There is a place to put in your NEW address if it has changed.

Thanks. I knew you could change some things on that letter before mailing it back, but wasn't sure if that included the address.

 

I'll probably make an attempt to change by phone, but the thought of trying to read out a Thai address to someone in Baltimore ... including a number separated by a stroke followed by another number and then followed by an "M" for Moo with another number etc seems destined to be an unhappy event for all concerned.

[rumak]

10 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

Thanks. I knew you could change some things on that letter before mailing it back, but wasn't sure if that included the address.

 

I'll probably make an attempt to change by phone, but the thought of trying to read out a Thai address to someone in Baltimore ... including a number separated by a stroke followed by another number and then followed by an "M" for Moo with another number etc seems destined to be an unhappy event for all concerned.

If i remember correctly......Manila DID make the change .  I emailed them to ask for a confirmation after not hearing from them.  I THINK that they did then email me back.    But at any rate...writing it yourself (as i did) is the surest way they won't screw it up by putting things on the wrong line  ( tambon, ampur, changwat, lots of ways they can get it wrong.

Been a few years since i did it....just got my cost of living increase in the mail.  Hate to be counting on that increase if paying for things in the states

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, rumak said:

If i remember correctly......Manila DID make the change .  I emailed them to ask for a confirmation after not hearing from them.  I THINK that they did then email me back.    But at any rate...writing it yourself (as i did) is the surest way they won't screw it up by putting things on the wrong line  ( tambon, ampur, changwat, lots of ways they can get it wrong.

Been a few years since i did it....just got my cost of living increase in the mail.  Hate to be counting on that increase if paying for things in the states

Yes, I'd much rather put it in writing than try to orally transmit the address over the phone. I really can't see why SS personnel would prefer to have to listen to someone on the phone changing his address instead of just copying it off an email or some form.

 

I'll try emailing Manila a few more times to see if I eventually get a reaction. 

 

I did a change of address once before. Don't remember exactly what I did but I seem to remember it being a fairly easy, straight forward process.

 

Yes, there's little chance of anyone running amok with all the extra cash in his pocket after the cost of living increase.

 

 

 

[lexilis]

I changed my SS mailing address last year by e-mailing the Manila office. It took about 4 weeks to get a response but the change was made and all mail now comes to me new address.

[JimGant]

If the SSA has your address as a US address -- because you initiated SS payments using such an address -- don't bother trying to change your address to your Thai address. Yes, you can read about the requirement to notify the SSA about any new address being outside the US. But, if you're receiving a standard retirement SS payment, and thus entitled to receive such when living abroad, you're completely above board to not notify them -- they're only interested in stopping payments to SSI recipients who move abroad.

 

Now, per the above paragraph, you can easily change your MySSA online account address to a mail forwarding address. I did this when I moved to Thailand, changing my old physical/mailing US address to my Texas mail forwarding address. And no problem -- like when I tried to do this with Capital One, and they came back with "nope, we need your physical address." Now, all my SS correspondence goes to my mail forwarding address (even tho' they say I'm supposed to be paperless....).

 

But, of course, the one correspondence I don't receive is the annual "are you alive" letter. And, I sure don't ponder the ethics of that omission, since when I croak, the wife notifies the Air Force (in order to begin her survivor benefit payments), and they in turn notify the SSA.

 

Anyway, just a 'heads up' for those who began SS payments using a US address.

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, lexilis said:

I changed my SS mailing address last year by e-mailing the Manila office. It took about 4 weeks to get a response but the change was made and all mail now comes to me new address.

I did it that way a few years ago and had the same results.

[Danthai]

Your still alive SS letter can be downloaded, printed out, and mailed anytime and changing your  address.

 

 https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms/images/SSA7/G-SSA-7162-OCR-SM-1.pdf

[Rhys]

..I once got through on the phone...  but the end result was the same still waiting...for the process to occur.

 

[Suradit69]

On 1/8/2019 at 7:29 PM, JimGant said:

If the SSA has your address as a US address -- because you initiated SS payments using such an address -- don't bother trying to change your address to your Thai address. 

 

 

 

But, of course, the one correspondence I don't receive is the annual "are you alive" letter. And, I sure don't ponder the ethics of that omission, since when I croak, the wife notifies the Air Force (in order to begin her survivor benefit payments), and they in turn notify the SSA.

 

Anyway, just a 'heads up' for those who began SS payments using a US address.

I've had a Thai address since I started receiving SS payments about 12 years ago. As Pib said earlier, if you have a MySSA account you can only change your address there if the address is in the US, which won't work for me.

 

According to SSA, if you don't return the annual "are you still alive" letter sent in June, they'll send a second in September and if that's not returned you could have your payments stopped.  Not sure if that's true, but I don't want to experiment to see.

 

[Suradit69]

On 1/8/2019 at 9:31 PM, Danthai said:

Your still alive SS letter can be downloaded, printed out, and mailed anytime and changing your  address.

 

 https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms/images/SSA7/G-SSA-7162-OCR-SM-1.pdf

Wow. That's great. I'll give that a try. Thanks

 

It states: Return this form in the envelope enclosed. Any idea about which address to use since there isn't one shown ... at least I didn't find one skimming through the form.

 

 

[Pib]

14 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

According to SSA, if you don't return the annual "are you still alive" letter sent in June, they'll send a second in September and if that's not returned you could have your payments stopped.  Not sure if that's true, but I don't want to experiment to see.

 

Per better SSA regulation at their weblink below regarding the "are you dead or alive letter" they mail in May/Jun, will send a second notice in Sep if no response to the first mailing.  And then if still no response to the 2nd/Sep notice, in Jan they send you a benefit suspension notice saying you will not get your Feb and forward payments until you contact them to prove you are: (1) still alive, (2) did not pass-away, (3) was not discretely barbecued at the local temple, (4) still complaining about frequent ThaiVisa website slowness, and (5) explain why you didn't answer their mail until they cut your allowance off.    Once providing such answers/proof they will re-institute your monthly payment.

 

RS 02655.010 Follow-ups and Suspensions — Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP)

 

[Suradit69]

24 minutes ago, Pib said:

Per better SSA regulation at their weblink below regarding the "are you dead or alive letter" they mail in May/Jun, will send a second notice in Sep if no response to the first mailing.  And then if still no response to the 2nd/Sep notice, in Jan they send you a benefit suspension notice saying you will not get your Feb and forward payments until you contact them to prove you are: (1) still alive, (2) did not pass-away, (3) was not discretely barbecued at the local temple, (4) still complaining about frequent ThaiVisa website slowness, and (5) explain why you didn't answer their mail until they cut your allowance off.    Once providing such answers/proof they will re-institute your monthly payment.

 

RS 02655.010 Follow-ups and Suspensions — Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP)

 

Typical I suppose. Require compliance with the need for an address change and then ensure that the process for doing that is annoyingly difficult to accomplish.

[Suradit69]

On January 7, 2019 at 10:06 PM, Pib said:

You got it right.  Either contact SSA in the US or Manila.  And yes, it's hard to get a timely (or any) response from Manila now days depending on the Manila rep assigned your social security number.  They have also cut back on their phone hours from 5 days a week all day to only on Tue and Thr from 8-11am (Manila time).  

 

On January 8, 2019 at 8:49 PM, ubonjoe said:

I did it that way a few years ago and had the same results.

 

On January 8, 2019 at 5:13 PM, lexilis said:

I changed my SS mailing address last year by e-mailing the Manila office. It took about 4 weeks to get a response but the change was made and all mail now comes to me new address.

Amazingly, today I received an email from Manila saying that my address had been changed. Took about a month and two emails from me.

 

Oddly, until i opened the email there was no indication that it came from SS or the FBU. The name of the sender shown was simply the name of the official who sent it.

 

Anyway perseverance and patience paid off.