US SS form 7162

[ubonjoe]

9 minutes ago, Pib said:

A reoccurring theme in the USPS tracking is the Wilkes Barre Post Office does not physically deliver mail to some organizations (like some federal and country government agencies) with govt facilities in Wilkes Barre. 

All of them I have seen did not mention the Wilkes Barre zip code.

This one from 2019 does not show it.

[rabas]

44 minutes ago, Pib said:

Wow....almost a month "In Transit to Next Facility" time between NYC/Jamaica NY and Wilkes Barre PA. 

 

And to the best of my knowledge/research, after leaving NYC/Jamaica, mail bound for Wilkes Barre goes to the USPS regional Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC) in Scranton PA who then distributes the mail to nearby Wilkes Barre.   The approx distance from NYC/Jamaica to Scranton is 120 miles and Scranton to Wilkes Barre is only 20 miles.   

 

Maybe the USPS uses turtles for registered mail transport between NYC/Jamaica and Wilkes Barre.   Above tracking sure makes it appear the NYC/Jamaica to Wilkes Barre leg of the trip is the black hole, weak link in getting mail to Wilkes Barre from Thailand.

Looking through the thread, I see these examples of in transit delays:

 

1. Jul 15   => Aug 4    20 days  [posed by pmartin  August 2021]

2.Jul 28  => Aug 25  28 days  [posted by bamnutsak just now]

3.Aug 4  => in transit  >26 days  [posted by Ubonjoe, Rabas]

 

Delivery could be pending. Ubonjoe's form was scanned in Jamaica NY just 11 minutes before mine. Are we in the same box?  It will be interesting to see if Ubonjoe's trace makes a difference in delivery. It could speed of the whole box, if there is one cast aside somewhere.

[racyrick]

Everybody keeps talking about their tracking issues.

Why hasn't anyone faxed their form to SSA like they said in the press release?

 

[Pib]

As FYI, for those who may want to contact the Manila SSA Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) at some point about a 7162/7161 issue the Manila SSA website now has an Inquiry Form you submit online.  It has all the info/data fields you need to complete to ask your inquiry, identify yourself, etc.----would probably work better than just sending an email to them.  The Inquiry Form in the "Select Inquiry Reason" field has a 7161/7162 selection.   See links/partial snapshot below.

 

And if past guidance from Manila still stands they really don't want to get involved in accepting any 7162/7161 "until 1 Nov" which is approx 30 days after the 2nd/follow-up 7162/7161 mailing from Wilkes Barre.  FBUs around the world really want you to send the form back to Wilkes Barre for scanning/processing which is the SSA standard process for the annual Are You Dead or Alive Forms unless you have not received the form after the two Wilkes Barre mailings....then the FBUs are willing to accept and process/forward the forms.  

 

Heck, even the SSA regulations guidance says in those cases were the customer might send the 7161/7162 back to a FBU, Payment Center, etc., instead of Wilkes Barre that the FBU/Payment Center needs to forward it to Wilkes Barre.  

 

Gives Manila FBU Contact Info and a Link to their Inquiry Form

https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/social-security/

 

Link direct to Inquiry Form

https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/

 

Partial Snapshot of Inquiry Form

[DJ54]

Sent mine via Thai Post registered mail. As of today 27 days expected delivery Sept 4…. It’s been in USPS hands a long time….

[Pib]

2 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Sent mine via Thai Post registered mail. As of today 27 days expected delivery Sept 4…. It’s been in USPS hands a long time….

It's approx 20 miles from Scranton to Wilkes Barre.  In Kivetoruk's 12 July post showing his USPS tracking his registered mail made it from Scranton to Wilkes Barre in 1 hour 32 minutes on 5 Jul.  See his post below.

 

I expect either your mail has arrived Wilkes Barre probably on 22/23 Aug but was not scanned as received.....OR, the mail has been sent to some other facility for some reason.  I expect it's the former.  

 

 

[Pib]

This Mailbox Master webpage gives a good overview of what the USPS "In Transit to Next Facility" tracking status can mean.

 

https://mailboxmaster.net/n-transit-to-next-facility-usps-meaning/

 

[DJ54]

23 hours ago, Pib said:

It's approx 20 miles from Scranton to Wilkes Barre.  In Kivetoruk's 12 July post showing his USPS tracking his registered mail made it from Scranton to Wilkes Barre in 1 hour 32 minutes on 5 Jul. 

 

 

 

See his post below.

I expect either your mail has arrived Wilkes Barre probably on 22/23 Aug but was not scanned as received.....OR, the mail has been sent to some other facility for some reason.  I expect it's the former.  

 

 

 

 

Thanks Pib… I’ll check status again next week…. worse case I’ll get sent another form….

[Migz]

For those who have not received the Form 7162/7161 this year like myself, here's the reply I received from FBU-Manila when I sent an inquiry regarding the matter:

 

[cusanus]

5 hours ago, Migz said:

For those who have not received the Form 7162/7161 this year like myself, here's the reply I received from FBU-Manila when I sent an inquiry regarding the matter:

That's the reply I got after I was told that they would respond and send a new barcoded form. That's why I send filled out blank forms to Manilla, Wilke's Barre PO and also the street address. Probably overdoing it, but she lost her benefits one year when a form wasn't required and gets constantly put off attempting to have her address changed. It's correct this year, but still no form. In the comment box on back of her form she puts "Can you explain why I never receive a form to return like everyone else?" NOTE: I don't know why anyone in Thailand would skip a year since it is established that a form is required every year for Thailand. Advise you to overlook that response and send one in anyway, but this is not legal advice, of course.  

[Pib]

14 hours ago, Migz said:

For those who have not received the Form 7162/7161 this year like myself, here's the reply I received from FBU-Manila when I sent an inquiry regarding the matter:

 

That response would make me feel very uneasy because some countries are on a biennial (every 2 years) schedule and some every year---Thailand is on the every year schedule per SSA regulation.

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005

 

But if it was me and didn't get a form from the first mailing in late June or the second mailing to occur in September (a person should receive before the end of October I would manually fill-out a 7162 and scan/email to Manila AND also mail it to Wilkes Barre via Regular Airmail which costs Bt49. 

 

Both the wife and I got 7162's this year here in Thailand....received in early-mid July.   Going with Registered Airmail which costs Bt325 does not make it arrive any faster and in fact may slow delivery somewhat (or a LOT) since Registered Airmail must travel by more secure means/undergo tracking scans which can slow things down in comparison to un-registered/regular mail.  And so far this thread has shown that using Registered Airmail will result in arrival at Wilkes Barre within about two weeks OR end up in MIA/In Transit status at some point of it's trek.  A throw of the dice when it comes to registered mail tracking from Thailand to the U.S. with the tracking problem being on the U.S. end.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Pib

[racyrick]

16 hours ago, Pib said:

That response would make me feel very uneasy because some countries are on a biennial (every 2 years) schedule and some every year---Thailand is on the every year schedule per SSA regulation.

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005

 

But if it was me and didn't get a form from the first mailing in late June or the second mailing to occur in September (a person should receive before the end of October I would manually fill-out a 7162 and scan/email to Manila AND also mail it to Wilkes Barre via Regular Airmail which costs Bt49. 

 

Both the wife and I got 7162's this year here in Thailand....received in early-mid July.   Going with Registered Airmail which costs Bt325 does not make it arrive any faster and in fact may slow delivery somewhat (or a LOT) since Registered Airmail must travel by more secure means/undergo tracking scans which can slow things down in comparison to un-registered/regular mail.  And so far this thread has shown that using Registered Airmail will result in arrival at Wilkes Barre within about two weeks OR end up in MIA/In Transit status at some point of it's trek.  A throw of the dice when it comes to registered mail tracking from Thailand to the U.S. with the tracking problem being on the U.S. end.

 

 

Exactly, I felt the same way.

 

I still don't know why nobody has faxed the form to the SSA when they said you can and gave the number in their press release. I would fax, send to Wilkes Barr and scan and email to Manila to cover all bases.

I don't trust anything and sure don't want my benefits to be suspended and go thru hoops to get it back.

[djeetyet]

17 hours ago, racyrick said:

I still don't know why nobody has faxed the form to the SSA when they said you can and gave the number in their press release.

FAX'ed my 7162 and the 7161 for my dependent last Friday. Confirmed FAX rec'd via FaxZero. Is that much different than EMS confirmation? If SS loses it, or doesn't enter it, still have to resend....

[racyrick]

6 hours ago, djeetyet said:

FAX'ed my 7162 and the 7161 for my dependent last Friday. Confirmed FAX rec'd via FaxZero. Is that much different than EMS confirmation? If SS loses it, or doesn't enter it, still have to resend....

With the SSA, you never know.

Did you already mail your forms to Wilkes Barre and just faxed for security?

 I ask because most people got their forms in July and I would assume you would have already sent them back.

[djeetyet]

41 minutes ago, racyrick said:

Did you already mail your forms to Wilkes Barre and just faxed for security?

 I ask because most people got their forms in July and I would assume you would have already sent them back.

I rec'd my Form 7162 in mid-July, but was waiting for my son's Form 7161 so I could return them in one envelope. Form 7161 never arrived, so I sent them both via FAX, and did NOT send either form via mail. 

[Pib]

On 8/30/2022 at 8:11 AM, ubonjoe said:

It is still in limbo. Was showing in transit. Did a request for a check about it not being delivered and shown in transit.

Result was that it is lost or missing. Went through the long process to complete a missing mail request.

It now shows this on tracking.

 

 

Any further update on your MIA 7162 like the USPS couldn't find it, assumed it actually got delivered, abducted by aliens, found as part of seized docs from Mar-a-Lago, etc?  Curious as to if the missing mail search resulted in anything tangible.

[DJ54]

Still waiting for mine to be delivered over a month now… maybe USPS needs to send out internal “are you alive” forms

[Pib]

3 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Still waiting for mine to be delivered over a month now… maybe USPS needs to send out internal “are you alive” forms

Don't be surprised if yours stays in "In Transit" status forever although it was probably delivered to Wilkes Barre SSA...but failure of the USPS to properly accomplish/missing some tracking scans the tracking still shows "In Transit" after it left the Scranton mail center which is only about 20 miles from Wilkes Barre. 

 

But if it didn't arrive then sometime in September is when the SSA is suppose to send out a follow-up notification basically saying we didn't get a response from you on our 1st mailing so this is a 2nd mailing. 

 

Now assuming they don't send that 2nd notice until the very end of September and considering at least a couple weeks mailing time to Thailand, then mid October is probably the earliest any of us would start receiving a 2nd notice if our Are You Dead or Alive form didn't make it back to Wilkes Barre in time from the first mailing.

 

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010

[Pib]

 

I sure hope the  Scranton and/or Wilkes Barre USPS offices don't have problems like the Baltimore USPS offices.  The two short Youtube videos below (each approx  3 minutes) paint a pretty sad picture for mail processing/delivery in Baltimore.

 

 

 

 

[cusanus]

16 hours ago, Pib said:

Any further update on your MIA 7162 like the USPS couldn't find it, assumed it actually got delivered, abducted by aliens, found as part of seized docs from Mar-a-Lago, etc?  Curious as to if the missing mail search resulted in anything tangible.

Why not call the special number to find out if it's been acknowledged? I provided the number a couple of weeks ago. Who wants me to dig it up again?

[ubonjoe]

12 hours ago, Pib said:

Don't be surprised if yours stays in "In Transit" status forever although it was probably delivered to Wilkes Barre SSA...but failure of the USPS to properly accomplish/missing some tracking scans the tracking still shows "In Transit" after it left the Scranton mail center which is only about 20 miles from Wilkes Barre. 

Mine was not updated after it was sent from the Jamaica NY facility.

I am hoping that for some reason it ended up in standard delivery and was not tracked after Jamaica NY and it got to Wilkes Barre. Now waiting for a update on my missing mail request or getting the 2nd notice in the mail here.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

 

I am hoping that for some reason it ended up in standard delivery and was not tracked after Jamaica NY and it got to Wilkes Barre. Now waiting for a update on my missing mail request or getting the 2nd notice in the mail here.

Not being tracked after leaving the USPS International Service Center (ISC) in NY could very well be the issue based on below 2009 USPS "International" Registered Mail policy change which basically says inbound International Registered Mail will no longer be handled as registered mail in the "Domestic" Registered Mail system although the USPS would still obtain a signature upon delivery which I would think would also generate a scan which would update the USPS tracking system.   See below USPS weblink/quote.

https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2009/pb22259/html/updt_004.htm

 

But I also expect the USPS delivery person might not pay as much attention in trying to spot an international registered mail piece when it's not carrying USPS domestic registered mail markings....not being in a separate container/bag used for U.S. Domestic Registered Mail.  The Thailand International Registered mail label may simply be overlooked....or worst yet ignored depending on the USPS delivery person/location.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Pib

[ubonjoe]

35 minutes ago, Pib said:

Not being tracked after leaving the USPS International Service Center (ISC) in NY could very well be the issue based on below 2009 USPS "International" Registered Mail policy change which basically says inbound International Registered Mail will no longer be handled as registered mail in the "Domestic" Registered Mail system although the USPS would still obtain a signature upon delivery which I would think would also generate a scan which would update the USPS tracking system. 

I have sent them for servals years now and all of them were tracked but this year. I don't think USPS would of accepted my inquiry about it in August it they were no longer tracking them.

I have posted the tracking for the one I did in 2019 that showed every USPS office it went through.

[Pib]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I have sent them for servals years now and all of them were tracked but this year. I don't think USPS would of accepted my inquiry about it in August it they were no longer tracking them.

I have posted the tracking for the one I did in 2019 that showed every USPS office it went through.

Above USPS mail change says a person can still submit an inquiry as you did for international registered mail.

 

However, it also says Inbound International Registered mail does not have to be handled like Domestic Registered mail which means hand-to-hand processing (i.e., like tracking/scans) may not be as thorough.  Or said another way Incoming International Registered mail may be treated like Cinderella before she married a prince.      

[racyrick]

3 hours ago, cusanus said:

Why not call the special number to find out if it's been acknowledged? I provided the number a couple of weeks ago. Who wants me to dig it up again?

Yes, please dig up the special phone number. Thanks!!

[cusanus]

21 hours ago, racyrick said:

Yes, please dig up the special phone number. Thanks!!

Office representative of :

Social Security Administration
Office of Earnings & International Operations

Telephone number: 410-965-0160

-------------------------------

Acknowledgment confirmed for me. Less trouble than tracking IMHO. 

[racyrick]

1 hour ago, cusanus said:

Office representative of :

Social Security Administration
Office of Earnings & International Operations

Telephone number: 410-965-0160

-------------------------------

Acknowledgment confirmed for me. Less trouble than tracking IMHO. 

Thanks so much!!!!

[watthong]

Summary of my own 7162 (2022) experience:

 

Did not receive the form in July so I went ahead and downloaded it, filled it then mailed air registered to Wilkes-Barre PO box. This happened in mid August. It took 2 weeks for the letter to go from Swampy to New York, then another 4 weeks from NY to PA. And finally got delivered "to an individual at the address..." early this morning local time in Samut Prakan.

 

Attached is the tracking history from USPS website. (Interestingly, on the Track and Trace EMS of Thai Post website, they disclosed the name of the recipient aka the "individual.")

 

Compared to shipping packages from Oregon to Samut Prakan using Fed Ex, going through Oakland, Anchorage, Guangzhou and finally Swampy, door to door usually takes 4 to 6 DAYS depending whether it travels over the weekend. (It also costs 2 to 300 bucks for shipping alone so you get what you pay for.)

[Pib]

Delivered to the SSA Wilkes Barre agent....OK it has arrived the SSA's "inbox" so to speak....now the SSA must review/process/scan it into their system....I wonder how quickly they do such.

 

Since sometime in Sep is when the SSA is suppose to mail the 2nd notice for those folks who didn't respond within 60 days of the the 1st notice, with that 1st notice being generated/mailed approx 27 Jun.   Now if SSA is sticking to that 60 day cutoff which would have been approx the end of Aug, then any 7162 arriving after the end of Aug or maybe early Sep would not have made it in time to avoid being on the 2nd mailing.  This then means the person is going to have to respond again and again hope their 7162 makes it to Wilkes Barre...the 2nd notice has a 45 day suspense versus 60 days like the 1st notice.  See SSA weblink/partial quote at bottom.

 

Frustrating....especially when a person mails it say a month or so before the suspense but due to it falling into USPS Missing in Action status/getting blogged down between NYC and Wilkes Barre, etc., its final delivery is greatly delayed or simply does not occur.  Yeap...frustrating.   All of my test mailings of registered airmail and quite a few posting in this thread shows the mail get to the USPS New York City International Service Center for incoming foreign mail fair promptly but getting from NYC to Wilkes Barre is where registered mail seems to go MIA, gets blogged down.

 

Well, whether mailing by registered airmail (tracked) or regular airmail (untracked) we'll all know pretty soon if we made the 2nd mailing.  As posted earlier I used regular airmail to mail my and the wife's 7162 back in mid July....hopefully they made it without falling into the USPS blackhole.   Hopefully we will not be on the 2nd notice....but I wouldn't be surprised (just frustrated) at all if we were.

 

Out of curiosity for folks like @ubonjoe and @DJ54 did your 7162s last tracked as "In Transit" somewhere between NYC and Wilkes Barre ever end-up showing delivery to Wilkes Barre? 

 

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010

 

Quote

 

B. The FEQ Follow-Up Process

In September, SSA mails a second notice and FEQ to the beneficiaries and representative payees who did not respond to the first mailing. We request a reply to the second notice within 45 days. To process responses received after the second mailing, follow the procedure in RS 02655.007.

 

 

[rabas]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

Out of curiosity for folks like @ubonjoe and @DJ54 did your 7162s last tracked as "In Transit" somewhere between NYC and Wilkes Barre ever end-up showing delivery to Wilkes Barre? 

Still in transit from Jamaica NY since August 4. Mailed July 19 from Bangkok.

 

UbonJoe was/is also in transit from August 4.  However, he filed a trace and I did not. The final results will be interesting.