US Embassy Notice -- Message to Social Security Beneficiaries

[Denese A Rodgers]

Important Message to Social Security Beneficiaries in Panama

 

The U.S. Embassy in Panama is sharing important information from the Social Security Regional Office based in San Jose, Costa Rica for beneficiaries of the Social Security Administration.

 

If you receive Social Security benefits and live in Panama, you may need to contact the Social Security Regional Office by sending an email toFBU.CostaRica@SSA.Govto continue receiving benefits.

 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) relies on beneficiaries to report events that may affect their benefits. In addition, the SSA contacts beneficiaries residing in Panama biennially (every two years) to verify their status if they have a foreign address on record.

 

In 2022, SSA mailed a questionnaire to beneficiaries receiving their own benefits and whose social security number under which they receive benefits ends in 00-49; beneficiaries over the age of 90; those that were scheduled to receive a form but did not respond in 2019 and to beneficiaries who have representative payees (person receiving benefits on behalf of a minor or other person). 

 

Beneficiaries should have received the form in the mail with a return envelope to the SSA processing facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  If the first form was not received, a second form was mailed in late October 2022 and should have been returned by mail before December 2022. 

 

It is important that beneficiaries or their representative payee complete, sign, date, and return the questionnaire in the envelope provided as soon as possible. If you fail to report or deliberately make a false statement, you could be penalized by a fine or imprisonment. You also may lose some of your payments if you do not report changes promptly.

 

Individuals who did not return these forms could have their benefits suspended.  If your payments are suspended, they can only be reinstated once your form is received and processed.

 

Forms cannot be submitted electronically.

 

You can download the forms here: 

 

SSA-7161 (use this form only if you are a Representative Payee) or SSA-7162, and mail the original directly to one of the following addresses:

Social Security Administration
P.O. Box 7161
Wilkes Barre, PA 18767-7161

Social Security Administration
P.O. Box 7162
Wilkes Barre, PA 18767-7162

Or 

U.S. Embassy San Jose (Attn: FBU)

Apartado Postal 920

Pavas 1200 10109

San Jose, Costa Rica

If you would like to verify if your form was received and processed, please send an email to: FBU.CostaRica@ssa.gov and write: “Attn: FEQ” in the subject line.