SS Foreign Enforcement Questionnaire 2022

[OnMyWay]

I was just going through my e-mail communications with SS in Manila, and came across this informative e-mail from 2019.  Sharing FYI.

Dear Mr. L,

 This refers to the annual questionnaire (SSA-7162 or SSA-7161).

Please be informed that this form is initially released every June 1 of each year. It is mailed to the address that is currently shown in your benefit record. If you have changed your address but have not reported such a change to Social Security, then the form will not be mailed to the new address until your benefit record is updated.

There is an annotation on top of this form that reads: “Failure to complete and return this form within 60 days will result in suspension of benefits.” Please do NOT worry about it because the schedule of such a suspension is during the first week of February of the following year. It does not necessarily mean that the benefit will be suspended on the 61st day. Just treat it as an instruction to submit the completed form immediately and simply by regular mail. Also, the form was originally designed for those residing in the USA. The agency knows that if a foreign address is involved, it may take a while before it is received and then returned.

If the form released on June 1 is not received back by the SSA Wilkes Barre Office, a second form will be released every October 1 of the same year. This is to provide another chance prior to suspending a benefit record. If the first form was returned and received prior to October 1, you will probably not receive this second form anymore. In case you do, simply fill it out again and re-send it to the SSA Wilkes Barre Office by regular mail.

The crucial information or date for you to remember is the first week of February. If you have not received your benefit during the first week of February, the most frequent reason for such a suspension is the failure to return the annual questionnaire. Therefore, it is suggested that prior to sending the original, completed SSA-7162 or SSA-7161, please scan and save a copy. In the event your benefit record is suspended during the first week of February, you can email us the copy of the form you sent and we can use such a scanned copy as a work around to immediately reinstate a suspended benefit record. IMPORTANT: Do NOT send us the copy if your benefit is not suspended because we normally cannot take any action on it. SSA Manila office does not have a barcode reader.

Hope this gives you a clearer information on this specific form. Thank you very much.

Note: To prevent suspension of benefits in February, the appropriate time/month to report that you or your wife has not received the form is in November of each year. Email a message expressing non-receipt of the annual questionnaire by November to FBU.Manila@ssa.gov.

[Jollygoodfellow]

On 9/7/2022 at 11:25 AM, OnMyWay said:

SSA Manila office does not have a barcode reader.

Gee, at such a small cost some ss people should chip in a few pesos. 

[Snowy79]

4 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Gee, at such a small cost some ss people should chip in a few pesos. 

If only there was free Apps you could download to a smart phone that reads barcodes. 

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

If only there was free Apps you could download to a smart phone that reads barcodes. 

Well, I will give them a little break on that.  I suspect that they mean that their computers are not set up to scan the form barcode and insert the data into the software.

[WaltG]

My wife and I did not receive our forms SSA-7162.  We each wrote to FBU-Manila on Nov. 2 advising them.  She got this reply: "We understand that you have received the reporting form SSA-7162 / SSA-7161. To avoid the suspension of your benefits, please complete the form as soon as possible and mail it back to Wilkes-Barre, PA using the enclosed business reply envelope....To ensure that your benefits continue without interruption, please do not submit the completed form to the Federal Benefits Unit in Manila or to a U.S. Embassy/Consulate."  This is incorrect as it ignores everything she wrote in her email about non-receipt of the forms.

In previous years, FBU-Manila would accept our downloaded forms (with no barcode) in November and either forward them to Wilkes-Barre or somehow let Wilkes-Barre know that we are alive-and-well and should not get our benefits cut off.  But so far this year, we are getting no help.  Any suggestions?  Our mailing the physical forms to Wilkes-Barre is a waste of time because they're downloaded forms, no bar codes, and W-B has never honored them in all years past.  Our faxing the downloaded forms to Wilkes-Barre or to the SSA Office of Earnings & International Operations also produces the same result--zero.

 

[Ram1957]

For us that have been living in the Philippines this has been a hassle every year. You may or may not receive the form, it all depends on your local post office. I really feel the only way Social Security is going to fix this problem is to have the option to complete the form at the My Social Security Account website.

[Sting]

On 9/7/2022 at 11:25 AM, OnMyWay said:

I was just going through my e-mail communications with SS in Manila, and came across this informative e-mail from 2019.  Sharing FYI.

Dear Mr. L,

 This refers to the annual questionnaire (SSA-7162 or SSA-7161).

Please be informed that this form is initially released every June 1 of each year. It is mailed to the address that is currently shown in your benefit record. If you have changed your address but have not reported such a change to Social Security, then the form will not be mailed to the new address until your benefit record is updated.

There is an annotation on top of this form that reads: “Failure to complete and return this form within 60 days will result in suspension of benefits.” Please do NOT worry about it because the schedule of such a suspension is during the first week of February of the following year. It does not necessarily mean that the benefit will be suspended on the 61st day. Just treat it as an instruction to submit the completed form immediately and simply by regular mail. Also, the form was originally designed for those residing in the USA. The agency knows that if a foreign address is involved, it may take a while before it is received and then returned.

If the form released on June 1 is not received back by the SSA Wilkes Barre Office, a second form will be released every October 1 of the same year. This is to provide another chance prior to suspending a benefit record. If the first form was returned and received prior to October 1, you will probably not receive this second form anymore. In case you do, simply fill it out again and re-send it to the SSA Wilkes Barre Office by regular mail.

The crucial information or date for you to remember is the first week of February. If you have not received your benefit during the first week of February, the most frequent reason for such a suspension is the failure to return the annual questionnaire. Therefore, it is suggested that prior to sending the original, completed SSA-7162 or SSA-7161, please scan and save a copy. In the event your benefit record is suspended during the first week of February, you can email us the copy of the form you sent and we can use such a scanned copy as a work around to immediately reinstate a suspended benefit record. IMPORTANT: Do NOT send us the copy if your benefit is not suspended because we normally cannot take any action on it. SSA Manila office does not have a barcode reader.

Hope this gives you a clearer information on this specific form. Thank you very much.

Note: To prevent suspension of benefits in February, the appropriate time/month to report that you or your wife has not received the form is in November of each year. Email a message expressing non-receipt of the annual questionnaire by November to FBU.Manila@ssa.gov.

Thank you Sir. Me and my wife were just a few minutes ago talking and the last one we did fill out was in 2017. We even went through all our documents. We save everything. We have the receipt for that in 2017. .And we know we did not get sent the forms in 2018 or 2019. 

Your responce have made me feel alot better about this situation. And looking back to 2018 and 2019 it is taken alot fear from me. I am so grateful I found this blogg room. 

[Migz]

Latest advisory from FBU-Manila:

[jaroad]

My FBU is Manilla. I am in Asian country other than Philipines. My benefits were suspended in Feb, 2023. Never received form in the mail. Have just FedExd SSA-7162 to Manilla and one to Wilkes-Barre. No hopes for the one in WB as FedEx cannot send to a PO Box and I used the PO Box address rather than the street address. Waiting to see if either reaches destination. Not sure what else to do. 

Should I schedule appointment online with Manilla? Does that do any good? Or wait a couple weeks to see if they can do anything?

[Migz]

Email FBU-Manila using the inquiry form (link below). Confirm with them if they received your completed Form 7162 you've sent thru Fedex.  

FBU Inquiry Form - U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (usembassy.gov)