American On Ss Disability Needs Question Answered...

[westbounder]

Hi,

After spending the past 2 years in Thailand , I have decided to make it my home now.

I am getting Social Security dissability now and my U.S. home address is listed with the Soc.Sec. office in the States.

I was told by a man at my local Soc. Security office in the States that when I move to Thailand in August I musty report to the Embasy or U.S. Consulate immediately and give them my new address in Thailand (since I will now be living there). From that point on, any information from S.S. will be mailed to me at my new Thailand address.

Getting re-evaulated every so many years by Soc. Sec. while on Dissability is a standard thing for all while living in the States.

I was also told by the same man at my local Soc. Sec. office that my chances of getting re-evaluated again would be highly unlikely with a Thailand address.

Can any Americans living in Thailand verify any of this for me and it is it easy to give Social Security my new address via the US Consulate or Embasy in Thailand?

Thank you kindly

[noahvail]

I've gone through, in the recent past, what you're going through now.

First step, if you haven't already done so, is to register yourself online with the US Embassy/Consulate. By doing that, you can automatically receive email notices about such things as warden alerts (such as happened with BKK recently).

The next step is to contact the US SSA office in Manila by phone (sorry, don't have the number in front of me, it's on their website). They will tell you which form(s) to download and mail in to register your new address with SSA.

It doesn't matter where in the world you are registered, the SSA has the right to re-evaluate you at their discretion. I was in NZ for the 8 years prior to moving to LoS 18 months ago. I went through 2 re-evals during that time in NZ, both of which required me to fill out a form and have my doctor fill out a (different) form.

Just this week I got the simplest re-eval form I've ever gotten, about 8 questions that applied to me. It came in the mail, and there is no doctor's form. So it seems that if you're on 100% disability and relatively advanced in your years, that the process becomes simpler. I was told by my US SSA office that because of my prior occupation and age, they would not expect me to either go back to work or to enter into training for future employment.

It's really a painless procedure, just make sure you fill out the forms properly - after you've completed them, double-check. The SSA (as with most all government departments) don't like to have to manually deal with your form - it's much easier for the machine to read it.

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out.

[cougar52]

Hello,

I am an American and I have been here in LOS for many years. I have been on Disability Social Security since 2005.

You do need to register at the Embassy and the State Department and with the Social Security Office. I deal with Manila, Philippines concerning the Social Security, it is the local office if you live in Thailand.

You will receive a form from the SSA in sometime Nov to Jan each year to continue to receive your benefits. When you receive it, fill it out soon. (You have 30 or 60 days to comply) according to the letter, however, you must remember that it takes 3 to 4 weeks to get the form.

What I do now is, 1. I make three copies of the completed form,I scan and send a copy as an attachment to the Philippines in an e-mail. 2. Send the original (completed) to the SSA in the States. Send a hard copy to the Philippines, 3. Keep a copy for my records.

In the last 5 years I have had my Benefit suspended twice, once because I never received a request in the mail (lost or whatever), and once because I never received the first request and then I did get a "second" request to be completed with in 30 days and it was to late because the second request was due in 1 day do to the mail system.

You will more than likely receive two request twice a year, I receive mine in May or June and again in Nov. or Dec. I have not have a problem lately, because if I don't receive a request at those times I send a request to the Philippines and ask if there a request for me to notify SSA, and if there is I just download the form and sent it myself.

If you have direct deposit in you Bank in the U.S. use it or request it before you move here. You can have your check sent to the Embassy and pick it up there but the easiest way and fastest is the have it deposited in you US bank account. You have easy access through ATM's or local Banks.

I hope this helps you. And let me one of the first to welcome you to our expat community.

Bob

[Hans Brix]

Hello,

I am an American and I have been here in LOS for many years. I have been on Disability Social Security since 2005.

You do need to register at the Embassy and the State Department and with the Social Security Office. I deal with Manila, Philippines concerning the Social Security, it is the local office if you live in Thailand.

You will receive a form from the SSA in sometime Nov to Jan each year to continue to receive your benefits. When you receive it, fill it out soon. (You have 30 or 60 days to comply) according to the letter, however, you must remember that it takes 3 to 4 weeks to get the form.

What I do now is, 1. I make three copies of the completed form,I scan and send a copy as an attachment to the Philippines in an e-mail. 2. Send the original (completed) to the SSA in the States. Send a hard copy to the Philippines, 3. Keep a copy for my records.

In the last 5 years I have had my Benefit suspended twice, once because I never received a request in the mail (lost or whatever), and once because I never received the first request and then I did get a "second" request to be completed with in 30 days and it was to late because the second request was due in 1 day do to the mail system.

You will more than likely receive two request twice a year, I receive mine in May or June and again in Nov. or Dec. I have not have a problem lately, because if I don't receive a request at those times I send a request to the Philippines and ask if there a request for me to notify SSA, and if there is I just download the form and sent it myself.

If you have direct deposit in you Bank in the U.S. use it or request it before you move here. You can have your check sent to the Embassy and pick it up there but the easiest way and fastest is the have it deposited in you US bank account. You have easy access through ATM's or local Banks.

I hope this helps you. And let me one of the first to welcome you to our expat community.

Bob

I hope we can get some more experiences on this important issue

[phomsanuk]

Hello,

I am an American and I have been here in LOS for many years. I have been on Disability Social Security since 2005.

You do need to register at the Embassy and the State Department and with the Social Security Office. I deal with Manila, Philippines concerning the Social Security, it is the local office if you live in Thailand.

You will receive a form from the SSA in sometime Nov to Jan each year to continue to receive your benefits. When you receive it, fill it out soon. (You have 30 or 60 days to comply) according to the letter, however, you must remember that it takes 3 to 4 weeks to get the form.

What I do now is, 1. I make three copies of the completed form,I scan and send a copy as an attachment to the Philippines in an e-mail. 2. Send the original (completed) to the SSA in the States. Send a hard copy to the Philippines, 3. Keep a copy for my records.

In the last 5 years I have had my Benefit suspended twice, once because I never received a request in the mail (lost or whatever), and once because I never received the first request and then I did get a "second" request to be completed with in 30 days and it was to late because the second request was due in 1 day do to the mail system.

You will more than likely receive two request twice a year, I receive mine in May or June and again in Nov. or Dec. I have not have a problem lately, because if I don't receive a request at those times I send a request to the Philippines and ask if there a request for me to notify SSA, and if there is I just download the form and sent it myself.

If you have direct deposit in you Bank in the U.S. use it or request it before you move here. You can have your check sent to the Embassy and pick it up there but the easiest way and fastest is the have it deposited in you US bank account. You have easy access through ATM's or local Banks.

I hope this helps you. And let me one of the first to welcome you to our expat community.

Bob

I hope we can get some more experiences on this important issue

I lived in France when I went on SS, went to the embassy there and still recieve my monthly payment direct to a french bank, still do, never tried to change to my Thai bank. Access through ATM or SWIFT.

[bunta71]

I am also on S.S. Disability. Most of all you have read is true on this thread. When you are first approved, and depending on your particular disability the SS folks decide if a medical review is necessary at all for example, blindness, paraplegics,etc. that have zero chance of recovering will have no review. Others fall into a one year, three year or five year reviews. It is extremely important to notify the SS Admin of your mailing address overseas. If they send the review out to a former address and you never receive it you will be cut off until it gets sorted out.When I got my initial award letter it specified that I would be reviewed in three years which is coming up any day. They send this stuff out through regular mail and as noted by others here, the mail gets here so slow and you only have a few or less days to complete the forms and get them back into their hands that it is typical for them to suspend your benefits.I just went through this pertaining to my seven year olds' benefits. I sent the forms three times and it still got there late and was suspended temporarily. The problem came down to the fact that when I notified the Embassy in Manila of my address change, they failed to ask and I failed to read their minds about whether or not my daughter lived with me. Hope this helps and if anyone has any specific questions that I may know, just PM me.

[Hans Brix]

Hello,

I am an American and I have been here in LOS for many years. I have been on Disability Social Security since 2005.

You do need to register at the Embassy and the State Department and with the Social Security Office. I deal with Manila, Philippines concerning the Social Security, it is the local office if you live in Thailand.

You will receive a form from the SSA in sometime Nov to Jan each year to continue to receive your benefits. When you receive it, fill it out soon. (You have 30 or 60 days to comply) according to the letter, however, you must remember that it takes 3 to 4 weeks to get the form.

What I do now is, 1. I make three copies of the completed form,I scan and send a copy as an attachment to the Philippines in an e-mail. 2. Send the original (completed) to the SSA in the States. Send a hard copy to the Philippines, 3. Keep a copy for my records.

In the last 5 years I have had my Benefit suspended twice, once because I never received a request in the mail (lost or whatever), and once because I never received the first request and then I did get a "second" request to be completed with in 30 days and it was to late because the second request was due in 1 day do to the mail system.

You will more than likely receive two request twice a year, I receive mine in May or June and again in Nov. or Dec. I have not have a problem lately, because if I don't receive a request at those times I send a request to the Philippines and ask if there a request for me to notify SSA, and if there is I just download the form and sent it myself.

If you have direct deposit in you Bank in the U.S. use it or request it before you move here. You can have your check sent to the Embassy and pick it up there but the easiest way and fastest is the have it deposited in you US bank account. You have easy access through ATM's or local Banks.

I hope this helps you. And let me one of the first to welcome you to our expat community.

Bob

I hope we can get some more experiences on this important issue

I lived in France when I went on SS, went to the embassy there and still recieve my monthly payment direct to a french bank, still do, never tried to change to my Thai bank. Access through ATM or SWIFT.

I think what people need to note is:

1. When do you change your address

2. obviously keep a direct deposit going with a USA bank if you can

3. a guy above said he got cut off twice because they couldnt get ahold of him (how scary is that)

4. how often do they get ahold of you (is it really twice a year or yearly)

[Hans Brix]

I am also on S.S. Disability. Most of all you have read is true on this thread. When you are first approved, and depending on your particular disability the SS folks decide if a medical review is necessary at all for example, blindness, paraplegics,etc. that have zero chance of recovering will have no review. Others fall into a one year, three year or five year reviews. It is extremely important to notify the SS Admin of your mailing address overseas. If they send the review out to a former address and you never receive it you will be cut off until it gets sorted out.When I got my initial award letter it specified that I would be reviewed in three years which is coming up any day. They send this stuff out through regular mail and as noted by others here, the mail gets here so slow and you only have a few or less days to complete the forms and get them back into their hands that it is typical for them to suspend your benefits.I just went through this pertaining to my seven year olds' benefits. I sent the forms three times and it still got there late and was suspended temporarily. The problem came down to the fact that when I notified the Embassy in Manila of my address change, they failed to ask and I failed to read their minds about whether or not my daughter lived with me. Hope this helps and if anyone has any specific questions that I may know, just PM me.

So if you get a review in Thailand, where is that done?