Received Form 7162 From SSA

[wayned]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Same for mine but since the 7th.

It was the same for previous ones. Stayed in transit until they processed it at the SSA in Wilkes Barre.

Mine was mailed on the 7th of June.

How do you ever know that they processed it" at the SSA.  Mine shows delivered to the SSA but there is no way that you can track processing once it is there unless you don't receive another mailing in September.  You are at the mercy of a dyslexic SSA clerk!

[tutsiwarrior]

7162 dispatched registered airmail from my local post office 29 June in the pm and now advised by the USPS that the item has been processed thru their ISC in New York on 14 July in the am...a moon landing and a giant leap fer mankind...

 

 

[ubonjoe]

7 hours ago, wayned said:

How do you ever know that they processed it" at the SSA.

The zip code 18767-7162 is the SSA processing center. When it shows delivered there that is a good indication that is was scanned as being delivered at the same time it was processed.

Apparently they distribute the bags or trays of incoming mail to a workstation to do everything at the same time. That can be the only reason for it being in transit for several days (9 days now for mine) from Scranton (about 20 miles) to Wilkes Barre.

I have seen the long transit time when I sent them before.

[wayned]

8 hours ago, wayned said:

You are at the mercy of a dyslexic SSA clerk!

It was meant as a joke.  Just because it arrived at the SSA facility doesn't mean that the SSA processed it!

[ubonjoe]

46 minutes ago, wayned said:

Just because it arrived at the SSA facility doesn't mean that the SSA processed it!

I think it does.

I think it is a one step process of scanning the tracking number, opening the envelope looking that the form is is completed, signed and then scanning the barcode on the 7162 form.

[Pib]

I expect registered mail is delivered to the mail receiving unit at the Wilkes Barre SSA facility who are surely receiving thousands of such registered mails daily but consolidated in bags/bundles.  At that point the USPS codes the mail as delivered and reflected as such in the USPS tracking system. 

 

The registered mail being sent is not being sent to a "specific person requiring a specific SSA person to sign"....it's being sent to an organization---the SSA mail receiving point at Wilkes Barrel.  I expect the USPS delivers "bags/bundles" of registered mail which has a bar code on that bag/bundle which is linked to each individual registered mail in that bag/bundle.  Just like how a master bar code on a large container of mail links to each individual piece of registered mail in that shipping container....could be hundreds to thousands of individual pieces of mail in that shipping container.   The SSA signs for bags/bundles of registered mail.  

 

At that point the USPS is done...finished.  Your registered mail is now been delivered...the baton handed off.   It's now within the SSA facility to begin it's conveyor belt type processing....that is, whatever process they use inside the SSA facility to then open/review/process/trash the 7162 form which could all happen days after they actually received the 7162 at their mail receiving point.   

[wayned]

32 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I think it does.

I think it is a one step process of scanning the tracking number, opening the envelope looking that the form is is completed, signed and then scanning the barcode on the 7162 form.

That's a lot to do between breaks!

[ubonjoe]

57 minutes ago, Pib said:

At that point the USPS codes the mail as delivered and reflected as such in the USPS tracking system. 

I don't think there is a single USPS employee at the office the 18767 zip code is for. The USPS drops off the mail and the SSA takes care  it from there.

How else could you explain the week or more it takes it to be scanned as delivered after leaving the Scranton distribution center.

This is the last 2 updates shown for mine.

Search for zip code 18767 shows this.

 

 

Source: https://www.zip-codes.com/zip-code/18767/zip-code-18767.asp

[Pib]

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't think there is a single USPS employee at the office the 18767 zip code is for. The USPS drops off the mail and the SSA take it from there.

How else could you explain the week or more it takes it to be scanned as delivered after leaving the Scranton distribution center.

This is the last 2 updates shown for mine.

 

 

That possibility exists...that is, Wilkes Barre SSA goes to the Wilkes Barre post office periodically to pick up mail....would depend on what agreement they have with the USPS since post office boxes are frequently used for for agencies that receive tons of mail.   Then they take the mail back to the Wilkes Barre facility for processing.   

 

Also, the status you show above I have seen many times when I was tracking mail that was being delivered to me at my APO P.O. box address or in mail I was sending to an address in the US.  That is, the mail actually gets delivered...but it will never show delivered...never show that final final delivery status.  Example...see last snapshot below of a registered mail I sent to an address in Houston TX...that mail did indeed arrived it final Houston address o/a 24 June however the USPS tracking still shows it transit as of 15 July.  It will never show "delivered" because of a missed scan/glitch in the USPS tracking process. 

 

Wilkes - Barre  Zip 18767

 

Wilkes - Barre SSA Zip 18767

 

 

USPS tracking of registered mail sent to an address in Houston...that mail did indeed arrive o/a 24 June however the USPS tracking still shows it in transit as of 15 July.  It will never show "delivered" because of a missed scan/glitch/etc., in the USPS tracking process....but as mentioned it has been delivered.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

14 minutes ago, Pib said:

That possibility exists...that is, Wilkes Barre SSA goes to the Wilkes Barre post office periodically to pick up mail....would depend on what agreement they have with the USPS since post office boxes are frequently used for for agencies that receive tons of mail.   

You were a little slow posting your quote of my post since I did an edit (15 minutes before) while you were preparing it.

See my edit that shows zip code 18767 is classified as a unique one. The UPS drops off the mail there.

 

As I wrote before this is not the first time I have seen a long period of time between being in transit and it being shown as delivered at Wilkes Barre. It will eventually be shown as delivered.

[Pib]

 

Final update on those three test mailings I did on different dates over two months.   Each test mailing was one envelope via airmail and then another "registered" airmail envelope...mailed at the same time at my local Bangkok post office to a Houston Texas address where I get immediate notification via scanned image upon delivery.

 

1st mailing - 3 May

- Air Mail: Delivered 14 May.  Total 11 days

- Registered Air Mail: Delivered 24 May.  Total 21 days

Note: Registered airmail delay in New York City Customs/USPS Center caused the extra 10 days for the registered air mail.  Apparently to the US they mail westward thru the Middle East/Europe....or maybe fly a North Pole route.  USPS tracking did show final delivery to the Houston address.

 

2nd mailing - 15 May

- Air Mail: Delivered 29 May.   Total 14 days

- Registered Air Mail: Delivered 17 Jun.  Total 33 days.

Note: the registered airmail only had a 2 day delay in NYC USPS Center & Customs but it took 26 days to get from the Bangkok airport to NYC....kinda went MIA off the US and Thai postal tracking systems for 26 days.  Additionally, USPS Tracking does "not" show final delivery but it did arrive on 17 Jun.  However, USPS tracking just shows in-transit to its final destination in the Houston area....it will never show final delivery probably due USPS not accomplishing a final delivery scan. 

 

3rd mailing - 14 June

- Air Mail: Delivered 25 Jun.   Total 11 days

- Registered Air Mail: Delivered 16 Jul.  Total 32 days.

Note: the registered airmail only had a 1 day delay in NYC USPS Center (didn't go into Customs like the above two registered airmails) but it took 24 days to get from the Bangkok airport to NYC....kinda went MIA off the US and Thai postal tracking systems for 24 days....similar to how the 2nd test mailing went MIA for a similar long period.   Additionally, USPS Tracking does not show final delivery but it did arrive on 16 Jul....USPS just shows in-transit to its final destination in the Houston area...it will never show final delivery probably due USPS not accomplishing a final delivery scan. 

 

Summary: plain old airmail took 11 to 14 days to arrive.  Registered airmail took 21 to 33 days to arrive....roughly twice as long as plain old air mail.   2 of the 3 registered airmails did not show final delivery.

[connda]

Lordy, what a joke USPS is.  <laughs>

My registered letter left Northern Thailand June 17 and was processed at through the airport on June 18.  Arrives in NYC on June 1.

Then -- disappears into the USPS Black Hole in Scranton on July 15. 
Today is day 39 with no notification of delivery - stuck on "In Transit" via the USPS tracking app.  Definitely a new record for abysmal service. 

Just wondering if I'll be receiving another SSA Form 7162 later this year?  USPS must be using three-legged miniature horses which have been hobbled in order to move mail across the US.  I personally could have walked the letter from New York City to Wilkes-Barre in less than a week, and probably still have time to visit relatives in PA. 
I think the next time I receive a SSA 7162 I'll make 5 copies or so and fire them all off via first-class mail and have my wife make merit to the Post Office gods and perhaps one of the letters will make it to SSA in Wilkes-Barr in a timely manner.  Talk about pathetic.

[albertik]

Don't feel too bad. I have yet to receive my 7162, so now I have to wait until September or October to possibly find out it has been lost in the mail somewhere along the way. I did receive a notice from the IRS today advising me that I might need to renew my wife's ITIN. Arghhhhh.

[marcusarelus]

8 minutes ago, albertik said:

Don't feel too bad. I have yet to receive my 7162, so now I have to wait until September or October to possibly find out it has been lost in the mail somewhere along the way. I did receive a notice from the IRS today advising me that I might need to renew my wife's ITIN. Arghhhhh.

If I don't get mine I send them a copy of last years with the date changed.  Never had a problem.

[marcusarelus]

On 7/16/2019 at 8:33 AM, wayned said:

It was meant as a joke.  Just because it arrived at the SSA facility doesn't mean that the SSA processed it!

Mine was signed for by a person and I have his name.  Easy to track.

[albertik]

7 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

If I don't get mine I send them a copy of last years with the date changed.  Never had a problem.

I Know.... my bad. I did not make a copy from last year but to be sure I will next year. I did receive one for my daughter, so all is not lost. Since she is a minor and I am her recipient you would think that if they received a 7162 filled out (for her) by me that it follows that I am in fact alive. but then again logic is not necessarily in play here.

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, connda said:

Lordy, what a joke USPS is.  <laughs>

My registered letter left Northern Thailand June 17 and was processed at through the airport on June 18.  Arrives in NYC on June 1.

Then -- disappears into the USPS Black Hole in Scranton on July 15. 
Today is day 39 with no notification of delivery - stuck on "In Transit" via the USPS tracking app.  Definitely a new record for abysmal service. 

Just wondering if I'll be receiving another SSA Form 7162 later this year?  USPS must be using three-legged miniature horses which have been hobbled in order to move mail across the US.  I personally could have walked the letter from New York City to Wilkes-Barre in less than a week, and probably still have time to visit relatives in PA. 
I think the next time I receive a SSA 7162 I'll make 5 copies or so and fire them all off via first-class mail and have my wife make merit to the Post Office gods and perhaps one of the letters will make it to SSA in Wilkes-Barr in a timely manner.  Talk about pathetic.

I have pretty much the same scenario.

I'm not really expecting it ever to show as delivered now yet I assume that it is still "probably" delivered. I guess I'll know when I do (or don't) get the next mailing and/or later benefits delay.

Why can't they have an online check it page?

Sometimes cynicism about the efficiency of government services is well warranted.

[marcusarelus]

14 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I have pretty much the same scenario.

I'm not really expecting it ever to show as delivered now yet I assume that it is still "probably" delivered. I guess I'll know when I do (or don't) get the next mailing and/or later benefits delay.

Why can't they have an online check it page?

Sometimes cynicism about the efficiency of government services is well warranted.

Why not just use EMS?  Tracking all the way and SS signs for it and you get a receipt. 

[Pib]

As of today/28 July my family member hasn't received the 7162. Thailand address is perfect in the SSA system...in fact member got a letter from SSA in early July notifying of IDD enrollment.

I received my 7162 in early June...I have the exact same address as my family member.

Wouldn't be surprised if the SSA never mailed my family member a 7162.

[Migz]

I used to receive Form 7162 about third week of June, but I still haven't received the form this year, either.  I emailed the US Embassy in Manila and was told to wait until November before contacting them again.  The SSA in Wilkes Barre PA must have failed to send the forms to some of us this year for whatever reason.  I don't know why they can't give us a clear directive for an alternative to send the form to them, e.g., completed blank form or copy of previous year's barcoded form, if we opt not wait until November. 

[Furryman]

Every year I have gotten this form, I have sent it back regular mail, no problem. 8 years or so now.

 

This year, I guess the first one never turned up, as I got another dated Oct 3. Second notice.

 

Second one I sent with tracking and USPS has it in limbo since Oct 29. Says it cleared customs but no activity after that at all. Wondering what can be done besides sending in another copy.

 

On hold with SS phone assistance to ask them as I write this. Second call tonight. First lady accidentally hung up when she tried to put me on hold, only waited 20 minutes to get her, but now waits are estimated at an hour  ????

 

I don't even try to talk to Manila, they have never once answered an email or picked up the phone when I have tried to contact them.

[wayned]

I'd send an email to the USPS explaining your problem.  I once had a package of equipment sent from Minnesota that was tracking fine until it ended up in Taiwan rather than Thailand.  I thought that was the end of it but sent an email to USPS explaining the problem and they retrieved the package and sent it to Thailand.  Worth a try.

[4evermaat]

How often is this 7162 sent?  Yearly?  Every few years?

 

What happens if the person is incapacitated (but still alive)?

 

---

 

edit:  what is the grace period to respond to the 7162?

[wayned]

2 hours ago, 4evermaat said:

How often is this 7162 sent?  Yearly?  Every few years?

 

What happens if the person is incapacitated (but still alive)?

 

---

 

edit:  what is the grace period to respond to the 7162?

The way that I understand it, the first notice is sent out the end of May which you receive in June.  If they do not get a response, they send out a second notice in late September which you receive in October.  If they do not receive a response they stop your monthly SSA payments starting with February the next year and they are not reinstated until you contact them and successfully convince them that you are still alive.  What that  takes is a mystery to me, since I have successfully completed and returned the first notice for the past 12 years.  The notice is sent every year as is the  notification of the amount of your monthly payments for the next year in December and a tax statement in February.

[Furryman]

9 hours ago, wayned said:

I'd send an email to the USPS explaining your problem.  I once had a package of equipment sent from Minnesota that was tracking fine until it ended up in Taiwan rather than Thailand.  I thought that was the end of it but sent an email to USPS explaining the problem and they retrieved the package and sent it to Thailand.  Worth a try.

That's a good idea. I will contact the USPS.

 

Second lady I spoke with at SS was much more proficient. She advised that when the return envelope eventually turns up they consider the postmarked date as the date you returned it, not the date it arrives.

 

If I don't see any movement before the 60 day clock is about to run out, I'll go ahead and pony up the 800 baht to send another copy of it ems express.

[albertik]

Never received 7162 this year, so last week contacted Manila and was sent a blank 7162 form from them  to be filled out and returned to Manila.  So I filled out the form and returned it to them via Manila email.

Only time will tell, but I suspect problem has been rectified. Manila office was very helpful and responded to me in a timely fashion.

 

[Pib]

On 11/21/2019 at 10:41 AM, albertik said:

Never received 7162 this year, so last week contacted Manila and was sent a blank 7162 form from them  to be filled out and returned to Manila.  So I filled out the form and returned it to them via Manila email.

Only time will tell, but I suspect problem has been rectified. Manila office was very helpful and responded to me in a timely fashion.

 

Ditto for a family member.  Two Manila reps provided the blank form for completion.  One rep was clear to complete and mail the form to Wilkes Barre not to Manila.   Family member did that and mailed it off to Wilkes Barre.  Actually mailed two copies...one via regular airmail and one via registered airmail.  Did this since registered airmail usually takes 2 to 3 times longer to arrive than regular airmail for unknown reasons....well, one reason is registered airmail usually gets bogged down at the US international arrival port Customs for a few days or even up to 10 days based on past test mailings of registered airmail and regular airmail.....unregistered airmail simply arrives a lot faster.  

 

Then a few days later another rep responded saying complete the form, scan, and email back to Manila.  Family member did that also.

 

Nothing like getting conflicting guidance from different reps at Manila.  Anyway, the completed 7162s completed/scan/emailed to Manila "and" also mailed to Wilkes Barre.  Still won't surprise me if the benefits stop for the family member's 3 Feb payment....hope not, but I won't be surprised if it happens.

 

 

[Furryman]

On 11/19/2019 at 9:13 AM, Furryman said:

That's a good idea. I will contact the USPS.

 

Second lady I spoke with at SS was much more proficient. She advised that when the return envelope eventually turns up they consider the postmarked date as the date you returned it, not the date it arrives.

 

If I don't see any movement before the 60 day clock is about to run out, I'll go ahead and pony up the 800 baht to evensend another copy of it ems express.

I got an email from USPS telling me that mail going to SS gets batched differently, so the tracking can display oddly, but that it should show up as delivered eventually.

 

It actually did just jump to delivered status just a few days later, so I'm guessing all is well.

 

I have to call to change my mailing address in the next few weeks, so I'll double check when I call then.