U.S. SSA Form 7162 delivery difficulties

[paulbrow]

I FedEx mine to the local SSA office in Wilkes Barre. It's the only physical address available when searching.  Seems to work fine. Personally, I'd rather spend couple of dollars more to rest assured it gets there. 

[Pib]

As FYI, below SSA weblink is the operating procedure SSA uses for the Foreign Enforcement Questionnaires (FEQ)....their fancy name for 7162's.   Look under the FBU (Federal Benefits Unit) paragraph for Manila duties in the process.

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

[thirdculture]

With the Track and Trace EMS Thai Postal Service who is the individual below (J DEPASCALE) that is indicated as receiving my 7162?  Is it the postmaster or is it an employee of SS?

20/10/2565 15:21International (United States)Final delivery (J DEPASCALE)

[wwest5829]

2 hours ago, rwill said:

The wife and I have never received this form.  So far no interuption in our payments.  Should I submit one anyway?

Do you use a USA address?

[Pib]

10 minutes ago, thirdculture said:

With the Track and Trace EMS Thai Postal Service who is the individual below (J DEPASCALE) that is indicated as receiving my 7162?  Is it the postmaster or is it an employee of SS?

20/10/2565 15:21International (United States)Final delivery (J DEPASCALE)

He's the agent from the Wilkes Barre SSA Data Processing Center that goes to the main Wilkes Barre post office to pickup mail and take it back to the data processing center for internal distribution.

[HuskerDo2]

2 hours ago, Pronto2 said:

This is something that I am considering, actually.  By chance and luck, a friend from the U.S. will visit next week for a short vacation.  I had been thinking of asking him to carry it back with him and put it in the mail there.  I'm wondering if the actual post mark (then being the U.S. and not Thailand) would raise their eyebrows any.  Yes, I know - maybe a bit odd to worry about that, but with their quite confused operation, who knows!

You are overthinking it. Just put it in a different envelope and address it to the Wilkes-Barre address and hand it to your friend to take back to the US. They can put a postage stamp on it upon their return and it's all over. BUT, you mentioned the time constraints so make sure your friend drops it in the mail immediately upon their return to the US.

[Zenwind]

I don't have much success either sending or receiving mail here in Nonthaburi, but I did receive that SSA mailing earlier this year. I mailed the form and its envelope to my sister in the USA via DHL, and she re-mailed it to SSA. (Although she said the DHL envelope had been opened.) She remailed it Registered. 

 

[ifmu]

15 hours ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

 

I once had a registered letter to Wilkes Barre returned as undeliverable even though I used the envelope that came with the 7162 form. It got as far as the USPS facility in New York and was then sent back to me. 

 

Back in July, I emailed the FBU in Manila with a scan of my completed 7162 attached and mentioned that I was going to send the original by post to Wilkes Barre. They replied that it was not necessary to send the original. You might try emailing them with a scan along with an explanation of your situation. Perhaps also send a copy by regular airmail to Wilkes Barre.

 

[email protected]

IM MY opinion manila ssa is 100 x worse than usa office ... 

[Bill97]

Thai post air mail not registered, never a problem 10++years

[Pronto2]

4 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Make sure you are not sending the form to the local SSA office in Wilkes Barre...it needs to go to the 7162 Processing/Data Processing office in Wilkes Barre.  

 

See below weblink for some address/options to get the 7162 to Wilkes Barre to include delivery by private delivery service

 

 

https://pasoamjournal.blogspot.com/2020/07/options-for-submitting-your-7162-proof.html

 

Excellent link and great info!  Thank you very much!

 

 

 

[Pronto2]

4 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Make sure you are not sending the form to the local SSA office in Wilkes Barre...it needs to go to the 7162 Processing/Data Processing office in Wilkes Barre.  

 

See below weblink for some address/options to get the 7162 to Wilkes Barre to include delivery by private delivery service

 

 

https://pasoamjournal.blogspot.com/2020/07/options-for-submitting-your-7162-proof.html

 

Courier the Form SSA-7162
Private Delivery Service (FedEx (Air-21), UPS, LBC, etc.)
 

Social Security Administration
Data Operations Center
Attn: SSA-7162 Process
1150 E. Mountain Drive
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18767-7162
U.S.A.

 

Excellent info.  Thanks very much for the link!

[RxDan]

I used Thai registered mail and it took 3 months for them to acknowledge it.  I went to the website and found their fax number and faxed the form to them after 30 days of not receiving a delivery acknowledgment. Another safeguard was to call an agent at the websites number and explain the delivery problem and then inform then that I faxed the form..  The agent made a note and said since I talked to her by phone it would suffic. Therefore the form wasn't a problem in the timeframe posted on the for.

[RxDan]

You may send inquiries and forms to us by fax at 833-719-0632.

 

[rwill]

8 hours ago, Pib said:

I'm going to guess you do "not" have your Thailand address on-file with the SSA; but have your U.S. mailing address on-file with SSA. 

 

If so, that's why neither of you have been getting the annual 7162 since the 7162 is sent to those with overseas addresses on-file.   Those with U.S. addresses do not get the annual form unless maybe you are at least 90 years old.

We both have our Thai address on file with the SSA.  When my SS payments started about 2 years ago it was thru Manila.  They made my wife switch her address to the local one too at that time.  I don't maintain a US address.  The payments are sent to a US account though.

Edited November 17, 2022 by rwill

[Pib]

1 hour ago, rwill said:

We both have our Thai address on file with the SSA.  When my SS payments started about 2 years ago it was thru Manila.  They made my wife switch her address to the local one too at that time.  I don't maintain a US address.  The payments are sent to a US account though.

Due to the COVID pandemic the SSA did not send out/enforce 7162's for 2020 and 2021 which is in the 2 year timeframe you said your  & the wife switched to a Thailand address.   So, you didn't receive a 7162 in 2020 and 2021 just like the rest of us. 

 

But for 2022 the SSA is back into the groove of mailing out 7162 and expecting that 7162 to be completed and returned to them.  If they don't get it back they could very well suspend your benefits starting Jan 2023 which is paid early Feb 2023.

 

If I was you (and the wife) I would download/complete a 7162 (two of them...one for you and one for the wife) and then scan/email it to the Manila FBU.   Tell them neither of you received a 7162 from Wilkes Barre and ask them to confirm they have your correct Thailand address is on-file.   

 

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

Edited November 17, 2022 by Pib

[DJ54]

In my case it seems they are held at the post office for pick up. It was probably 2 months….. if I recall

cor UbonJoe called and must of shook the tree because within a few days a lot of people replied it finally arrived… I sent via Thai Post registered mail and even up here in the sticks Wilkes Burrow is already loaded in their system…

[Srikcir]

On 11/16/2022 at 10:22 PM, HuskerDo2 said:

The National Number for the SSA is 1-800-772-1213. Might be worth a call to explain the situation and find a resolution.

I called that number. Eventually got a live person.

The Agent said that the 7162 must be mailed to P.O. Box 7162, Wilkes Barre, PA 18767-7162. Sent to any other address is unlikely to arrive for administrative processing.

Although I sent my form via Thailand Post EMS on July 4, 2022, SSA has no record of receipt.

[JimTripper]

UPS-FedEx etc do deliver to P.O. Boxes. You just put the street address of the post office and the box number and pick it up at the post office counter. They leave a slip in your P.O. Box.

 

I would check with that particular post office, they may not all be drop off locations.

 

Most gov’t offices go buy postmark date, not received date, so the one sitting there has a chance of being valid when it is received.

Edited November 17, 2022 by JimTripper

[Srikcir]

13 hours ago, Pib said:

He's the agent from the Wilkes Barre SSA Data Processing Center that goes to the main Wilkes Barre post office to pickup mail and take it back to the data processing center for internal distribution.

Yes!

I just talked to an agent at 800-772-1213 who said the P.O. Box is the only destination for the form. Agent said that the processing Center itself is not set up to directly receive the form. 

[Skeptic7]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:30 PM, RhodeIslandRed said:

I agree ...you will never be able to talk to a live person...only a phone menu

Not true. Have called 3 times recently and spoke with a "live person" each time. Had to wait on-hold 35 minutes once, but other 2 were answered quicker. Best to call immediately after they open. 

[caughtintheact]

Sent to SSA at the PO Box address (PO Box 7162) by Fedex in July. Signed for at SSA 5 days later. Cost was B1403.  No hassles. 

[Dante99]

Have there been any problems reported as a result of the SSA claiming they did not receive the form or that it was late?  Like have anyone's benefits been cancelled?

 

It is my experience that after I receive the second notice and my mailing them the form a second time that they go quiet.

[Pib]

Suspension of benefits does not happen until January which means no February payment.  A suspension notice is generated in January if failing to respond to the 2nd 7162 request.   Of course if SSA mail is not finding a person  then the missing February payment will get a person's attention.

[jerrymahoney]

My 2022 7162 Form at least made it this far --

 

[oncebefore]

I received 2nd notice this week too. Tried to contact Manila by their inquiry form, then got access denied message when clicked to send it. Tried to e-mail them and it does not send. Says cannot send now. Useless. My 1st one was sent July 25, arrived USA international sorting center August 7. Sat there for 2.5 months before it was finally received on Oct. 19.  Why is this useless form not available online in this day and age? Everything is done electronically and it would be so simple to do it from your MY SS online account. It would prevent all these lost mails and long delays. They need to get up to speed. Very behind in the times. Have outdated technology.

[connda]

17 hours ago, DJ54 said:

In my case it seems they are held at the post office for pick up. It was probably 2 months….. if I recall

cor UbonJoe called and must of shook the tree because within a few days a lot of people replied it finally arrived… I sent via Thai Post registered mail and even up here in the sticks Wilkes Burrow is already loaded in their system…

I've sent the form via registered mail before.  It took about 10 days to get to the US (NY).  Then a few weeks to get to Wilkes-Barr USPS.  Then it sat at Wilkes-Barr USPS until after the due date on the form.  Then it was delivered. 

There is something very wrong with USPS as the form gets stuck in THEIR system for upwards of two months.

[connda]

1 hour ago, oncebefore said:

I received 2nd notice this week too. Tried to contact Manila by their inquiry form, then got access denied message when clicked to send it. Tried to e-mail them and it does not send. Says cannot send now. Useless. My 1st one was sent July 25, arrived USA international sorting center August 7. Sat there for 2.5 months before it was finally received on Oct. 19.  Why is this useless form not available online in this day and age? Everything is done electronically and it would be so simple to do it from your MY SS online account. It would prevent all these lost mails and long delays. They need to get up to speed. Very behind in the times. Have outdated technology.

I've had the same thing occur when tracking it via registered mail.  It sat in Wilkes-Barr USPS facility for two months and then was delivered after the due date.

[Pib]

@Pronto2@oncebefore

 

Both of you mentioned you received the 2nd notice this week (week of 14 Nov).   To determine how long it took to get to you thru the mail what date was on the 2nd notice and/or included 7162?   Sometimes the date is just a line printed at the "very top" of the form which indicates when it was generated and should have been mailed very shortly after that.

 

And what part of Thailand are you located in as different parts get foreign mail faster/slower than other parts?

 

According to SSA instructions/regulation the SSA is suppose to mail the 2nd notice sometime in September....see partial quote at bottom.   But maybe since the SSA hasn't mailed the form for the past two years they took longer to get the 2nd notice mailed out.   If you just got the form that seems like a long time in the mail system unless a date on the 2nd notice/7162 indicates it was generated/mailed much later than September...like maybe mid-late Oct.   I get mail from the SSA/other govt agencies to my Bangkok home in around two weeks.

 

It may be too early for any of us to feel we are not on a 2nd notice list "if", repeat, if the 2nd notice wasn't mailed in September, but instead mailed recently (like mid-late Oct) and we just haven't received the notice yet.  Plus, 16-18 Nov are APEC special holidays here in the Bangkok area which may slow down mail getting delivered all over the country...I sure know the last day I saw the mailman in my Bangkok moobaan was Tuesday/15 Nov as he is now enjoying the special holidays.   He might be back to work on Saturday/19 Nov....then again, maybe not until Mon/21 Nov.

 

 

Quote

 

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.

 

 

[Bill97]

You come to Thailand to do this?

[Pib]

3 hours ago, oncebefore said:

I received 2nd notice this week too. Tried to contact Manila by their inquiry form, then got access denied message when clicked to send it. Tried to e-mail them and it does not send. Says cannot send now.

That sounds like a problem on "your" end of the internet especially since you say an email will not even send. 

 

Now if the email would leave your email outbox and then be shortly rejected back to you then that would indicate either a bad email address or the Manila server rejecting it back to  you.   But you indicate you can't even get a separate email to leave your email outbox.

 

Definitely best to use the inquiry form now vs a separate email as the inquiry gives Manila all of the necessary info they want/need to identity the person contacting them and describe the problem.  Heck, their previous "[email protected]" email address may not even work anymore as they now want you to use the inquiry form method.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Pib