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This morning I was emailed a scanned copy of a letter written by the Social Security Administration to the very old mother of a friend of mine who lives with her and take scare of her here in Costa Rica.
The first paragraph of the letter reads as follows:
“We have been trying to Contact you since 4/20/12 to verify correct payment of your benefits. In response to our letters, We have received several messages from your
relative stating that you are no longer living in the United States, but we have not been able to speak with you and identify you by telephone. [b]You are required to report
to Social Security any time that you leave the United States for more than 30 days.[/b] I am enclosing a form that you can complete and submit to your nearest US Embassy in order to correct the address on your Social Security record.”Can anyone verify that this is in fact correct?
That “You are required to report to Social Security any time that you leave the United States for more than 30 days.”
?????
Scott
I did a quick search and found this: http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10137.html I didn’t read it all, but it looks as though it might be addressing your concern…
oh, yes, and if you don’t report and if they don’t have a number to reach you, they will cut your benefits until you check in. i spent exactly one hour on the phone changing an address last week. the poor woman kept asking me which STATE costa rica was next to. i had to give her a geography lesson. she had never heard of costa rica. you can call the 800 number and do this over the phone, but after my ordeal, going to the embajada might be easier.
[quote=”maravilla”]oh, yes, and if you don’t report and if they don’t have a number to reach you, they will cut your benefits until you check in. i spent exactly one hour on the phone changing an address last week. the poor woman kept asking me which STATE costa rica was next to. i had to give her a geography lesson. she had never heard of costa rica. you can call the 800 number and do this over the phone, but after my ordeal, going to the embajada might be easier.[/quote]
We are no longer allowed to even call the local SSA office, our supervisors contact them and then we only are allowed to get messages…that said, usually i ignore if need be…..that said, 1 hour is terrible, but you did get off a bit light believe it or not….and yes, the arrogance of USA diplomacy coupled with complete ignorance of the rest of the world-and often a lack to want to know/learn anything, is a problem……most figure the USA is the best, why know anything about anyone else, just bomb them and/or pity them is the attitude….and USA history/geography knowledge is appalling. One of reasons I never majored in history, much as I would have liked to…..why teach morons that dont want to learn and could care less?
[quote=”maravilla”]oh, yes, and if you don’t report and if they don’t have a number to reach you, they will cut your benefits until you check in. i spent exactly one hour on the phone changing an address last week. the poor woman kept asking me which STATE costa rica was next to. i had to give her a geography lesson. she had never heard of costa rica. you can call the 800 number and do this over the phone, but after my ordeal, going to the embajada might be easier.[/quote]
SOmeone actually asked you [b]”…which STATE costa rica was next to…” [/b] ???
You’re not kidding either are you Maravilla?
I’ve been asked which island Costa Rica is more than once. When I’ve replied that it’s between Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south, the reply has been, “Where’s that?”
they deploy these tactics because of the massive fraud that goes on with social security checks being cashed by other people or going to someone who is dead.. etc
there is a massive amount of waste and fraud that goes on in all aspects of government entitlements
I know of at least 1/2 dozen people that get food stamps that should NOT get it.
in fact one couple that I know actually use their food stamps money and turn them in at a butcher shop for bones and scraps that they feed their cats.
this happens all the time.
of course i’m not kidding. we actually had some good laughs. i had to humor the old gal more than once. at one point just before she put me on hold for the umpteenth time i heard her say to a co-worker “When i’m done with this call, i’m going to LUNCH!” I blurted out, “better you should go have a martini!” after explaining exactly where Costa Rica was, she admitted she had never heard of it. and then trying to explain why i lived in a foreign country but had a colorado prefix for my phone (MJ) was a whole other ordeal. i’m not going there. . .
We just went to the embassy and filled out that paper for certification of benefits to start our residency. SS checks are automatically deposited in BCR. Sure hope we don’t need to do anything else.
Oh, on a lighter note – at least the embassy personnel know where they are javascript:addSmiley(‘:)’);
Keep this phone number. 2519-2228. That is the phone number for the SS office at the Consul in San Jose. They are only open 8:30 to 11 AM Mondy through Friday. They should be able to answer your questions as they assured me they would do. You will also have to call this number to make an appointment to see them.
We left the office last week thinking we was on another planet. The agent was “very” helpful and made sure all our questions were answered before leaving.
He did inform us that SS had direct deposit programs with both National Banks and Bank of Nova Scotia. SS is going to demand that recipients use direct deposit or have a specal bank card that benefits are deposited into.
The explanation of these requirements is on the SS web site. I can understand this will be a difficulty to some but it is a way to stop fraud and theft.
What happens if you retain your US Bank or Credit Union Account so that there will be no interruption in direct deposits?
I don’t think [i]jackin[/i] has it quite right above. The two banks into which Social Security payments can be made here in Costa Rica are [i]Banco Nacional de Costa Rica[/i] and [i]Banco de Costa Rica[/i]. In either case, there is a $6.00US monthly charge for the service.
Nothing “happens” if you keep your U.S. bank or credit union account and have your SS payments directly deposited there. You just have to figure out how you’re going to move funds from there to spend here in Costa Rica.
When we arranged direct deposit of our SS payments to Banco Nacional here, there was no interruption of service. There is a monthly cutoff date. If you get your request in before that, the change will take place with the next payment; otherwise, it’ll be a month later but the regular payment will go to your U.S. financial institution in the meantime.
I was making the point that your benefits will have to be direct deposited or use the special bank card for those who haven’t set that up.. Where your funds are deposited is your business. The reason for the SS certification is to meet the income requirement for the Pensionado program. How you wish to deposit the funds here is your choice. You can have your checks direct deposited in Costa Rica or do a transfer of the funds necessary. I too use a credit union but they will not do international transfers so direct deposit here is the easiest answer for me. I will still do most of my banking and bill paying thru the credit union.
I’m a little confused. If I have my direct deposit going to my bank in US but living Costa Rica will I still be able to access funds from my account using ATM’s?
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