No home address for SSA 7162 form

I lived in Vietnam for many years and left a few months ago, now moving around countries looking for a new one.
My address on file with the SSA is my former address in Vietnam.
I may wander around countries for quite a while before dropping anchor.
SSA emailed me the 7162 and wants a quick answer, they say they sent a 7162 via snail mail but I didn't receive it.
Do any of you have first hand experience where you do not have a permanent address but must submit the 7162?
Any help appreciated
-@Grik WorldNomad

if you don't get yourself a permanent address somewhere, your payments will be stopped.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

@OceanBeach92107 Sorry there, but not totally true...I lived for many years here in Vietnam and only used the US Embassy in Saigon...they had my address and sent such info to me via postal requiring a signature receipt. I've always copied off the Internet for the SSA-7162 form and sent to the PENN USA address. I used the Embassy from 2012 when I signed up until 2019..without a hitch.   

I've traveled around for many years and up till 3 years ago I actually gave the SSA an address and just a year ago verified such again.  I verified through the USA 800 number; 001-800-772-1213 to do such.  I also received on this day a notice from Manila, PI that they sent a SSA-7162 to me but have not received a copy of such for update.  I have yet to send anything to the PI, and have always sent to the PENN. USA address that I normally would; not to the PI.  (An office that only operates 3 hours a day for two days a week.)  I just now got off the phone with an agent at the USA SSA and verified that all was OK with my status.  I will do the same again the last week of January to just make sure there is not a problem.  I am sending a copy of the SSA Form 7162 with a copy of my previous one sent in November, 2022.  I receive NO MAIL living in Vietnam...except for the previous mentioned and 2 or 3 DHL deliveries for a bank card.  I would call the 800 number in the US and not be concerned with dropping an anchor.

@OceanBeach92107 Many thanks, but how do you know that's a fact?

@OceanBeach92107 Many thanks, but how do you know that's a fact?
-@Grik WorldNomad

How do you know it's not?

Overseas expats are often mobile, so we can find ourselves in transition without a mailing address. 

@OceanBeach92107 Sorry there, but not totally true...I lived for many years here in Vietnam and only used the US Embassy in Saigon...they had my address and sent such info to me via postal requiring a signature receipt.

I understand that was quite a pain (in the past) having to go through the consulate or embassy.

Still, I think you've confirmed my point that a permanent (at the time) address was necessary to get that mail which required a return receipt.

"Permanent address" simply means one current address of record.

I recently had 4 different "permanent" addresses registered with the Social Security Administration in one calendar year, due to COVID relocations from Vietnam (with "permanent" address in Lawrence, Kansas) to Biloxi, Mississippi then San Ysidro, California to Linda Vista, California (my current permanent address).

As long as Social Security has my updated address in the USA, I don't have any problems such as those experienced by the OP.

People such as yourself and Rick (and others) never had an option to do anything but get involved with the form SSA-7162, because you had to get a paper check delivered.

Now that you are in that system, you are stuck with it unless you register yourself as having moved back to the USA (not advising that, just saying that's the only thing that would free you OR the OP from the obligation to file the reports).

I've always copied off the Internet for the SSA-7162 form and sent to the PENN USA address.

Thanks for confirming that's possible.

I advised that in another thread but someone said the mailed copy containing a unique code is necessary.

I used the Embassy from 2012 when I signed up until 2019..without a hitch.  I've traveled around for many years and up till 3 years ago I actually gave the SSA an address and just a year ago verified such again. I verified through the USA 800 number; 001-800-772-1213 to do such.

Confirming that they always needed a "permanent" address on file.

It seems that the OP is looking for some way to continue receiving benefits uninterrupted, even though their constant movements keep them from being able to confirm a current address when official mail arrives at the last known address of record.

I'm saying (and I think you are agreeing) that should the SSA not be able to confirm the current overseas address of record, payments will stop.

I also received on this day a notice from Manila, PI that they sent a SSA-7162 to me but have not received a copy of such for update.

"A notice"?

Snail mail or email or MySSA notification?

(asking because you say below that you receive NO mail in Vietnam)

Did you relocate during COVID, or did you keep the address of record in Dà Năng or another?

I have yet to send anything to the PI, and have always sent to the PENN. USA address that I normally would; not to the PI. (An office that only operates 3 hours a day for two days a week.) I just now got off the phone with an agent at the USA SSA and verified that all was OK with my status. I will do the same again the last week of January to just make sure there is not a problem. I am sending a copy of the SSA Form 7162 with a copy of my previous one sent in November, 2022. I receive NO MAIL living in Vietnam...except for the previous mentioned and 2 or 3 DHL deliveries for a bank card. I would call the 800 number in the US and not be concerned with dropping an anchor.
-@Anthony Stephen

So you are saying that during your phone call you didn't have to provide or confirm any address?

I'm not asking if you get mail there, I'm simply asking the question, "didn't you need to confirm an address somewhere?"

If you are telling the OP that they can just travel the world without an address on record and call the 800 number every now and then to confirm they are still alive, that would be huge news to a lot of people who say that's not possible.

Overseas expats are often mobile, so we can find ourselves in transition without a mailing address.
-@Grik WorldNomad

That's a sad state of affairs, I guess, but there is nothing in the Social Security regulations that indicates they will continue making payments if you do not keep an address on file that can be confirmed.

See my reply to Robert, above

Never received a 'paper check'.  It has always been a 'direct deposit' and I have always with the exception of the application which was through the PI Embassy have used the PENN location for sending a copy of the SSA Form.  I never said I did not have to verify my address.  I had to confirm my address during the 800 call to the US, along with the full name an ssn.  Not a problem. I changed my address directly with those in the USA about 3 years ago prior to Covid.  The USA had my previous address as well.  For my first 4 years of receiving a SS payment I used the Am Embassy in Saigon as an 'address' and it was no hassle.  I never received a check, but I had to confirm I was who I was and alive.  Then they changed the requirement.   I'm saying I have not been in direct contact with those in the PI... The "System" has failed; why is it that the SSA in the US has my information and the idiot in the PI does not know of it?  There are three government facilities that I have given my current location.  It is no one's damn business as to where I am...I'm retired and over the age of 21...My son in the states doesn't even have my address over here; nor a phone number contact.  And again...I very seldom every receive mail or have a need for a phone over here.

This is why I contact the "Horses Mouth", not it's "Azore".  I called as stated back in February 2022 to again update directly with the USA SSA office via their 800 number.  In addition, I also state a name of the individual I spoke with last and the date of the call. You can use any address you want anywhere I would believe.  I have also stated to them verbally and in writing that I do not receive paper mail unless it is registered.  I do not maintain a 'smart phone' nor have it on 7-24 as I have no personal use of such an item.

I have stated this to both the SSA and to DFAS from the start verbally and in writing.  The same goes for my one bank that is in the US. They have had my e-mail address...

This is why I contact the "Horses Mouth", not it's "Azore". I called as stated back in February 2022 to again update directly with the USA SSA office via their 800 number. In addition, I also state a name of the individual I spoke with last and the date of the call. You can use any address you want anywhere I would believe. I have also stated to them verbally and in writing that I do not receive paper mail unless it is registered. I do not maintain a 'smart phone' nor have it on 7-24 as I have no personal use of such an item.
I have stated this to both the SSA and to DFAS from the start verbally and in writing. The same goes for my one bank that is in the US. They have had my e-mail address...
-@Anthony Stephen

thank you for the very long answers to some short questions.

this reminds me of an exchange I had a while back with our best ever expert in the Vietnam forum.

we went round and round about the fact that she supposedly considered herself a resident here in Vietnam but she was able to have a regular Charles Schwab account.

I know that you can't have the Charles Schwab account in America unless you have a USA address or you have over 25,000 deposited (which she said she didn't) in which case you get an international account and can almost have anywhere be your address.

anyway after going back and forth and back and forth about it and her telling us that the bank knows that they are in Vietnam and they don't care, she finally admitted that her daughter's address in the USA is being used on the account.

that was the rest of the story and that's what qualifies her for that account while she continues to be overseas.

So let's zero in on that direct deposit of yours.

You say it's a bank in the USA, then it must have an address attached to that account.

I challenge anybody to show that it's possible to have a legal bank account in the United States without a legal address IN the United States.

And whatever address you are using for that bank account I'm guessing is also the address that social security administration has.

Because whatever unique and special situation that you had for so many years and your desire to tell them they don't need any information from you, it's simply not plausible that the social security administration, now in the present (not sometime in the past which is frankly irrelevant to this conversation) doesn't have an address on file for you.

if you are saying that the social security administration continues to pay you without any record of any address whatsoever, I challenge that as certain misinformation.

@OceanBeach92107 Sorry once again...  I had an account with HSBC until a year ago and now an account with Navy Federal "With a residence here in DaNang".  I have no property, no residence, nor do I maintain a USA phone number.   I have had such a known address in Vietnam since 2011 which has changed 3 times over the years all in Vietnam.  The bank knows I'm living here, the Social Security Administration knows I live here, the Naval Finance Department knows I live here and only have this address in Vietnam,   Along with the US Treasury Department and the IRS...these two only have my e-mail address and know I physically live over hear.  I will die here in Vietnam...or somewhere else in SE Asia. I have nothing physically or materially in the US.  My son is a Disabled Vet and can catch a hop to Singapore or Japan and we can meet there...That or in Hawaii... I have no residence in the USA.  There are thousands of us "Americans" who live OUTCONUS and do not have a 'Physical address' in the United States. 

@OceanBeach92107 I have never made a note that the Social Security Administration 'Never had an address'. If you go back to the pages...I used the US Embassy in Saigon for a couple years as a 'mailing address' due to my bouncing around from hotel to hotel and country to country...then when I moved to Danang years later, I gave the address to them on the annual update...as I have have noted on each form I have copied off the Internet with my name and address printed or typed upon by my own hand over the years.  I've never said I had no address with the SSA..prior to my receiving social security, from 2003 to 2014 prior to receiving such "It was no damn business where I lived after I left the United States and that was what I had told the IRS back in 2007 and again in 2015.  That is why the IRS (unless they have the brains to communicate with other offices) only has an e-mail address to this date. 

Also noted was that I stated only 3 agencies in the US have my physical address here; my own son does not have my address or phone number.  Never said I did not give SSA an address, and they all knew that I physically did not live there 365 days a year; which was written in the comment section on every damn SSA form. 

I have had such a known address in Vietnam since 2011 which has changed 3 times over the years all in Vietnam. The bank knows I'm living here, the Social Security Administration knows I live here, the Naval Finance Department knows I live here and only have this address in Vietnam...
-@Anthony Stephen

And THAT fits what I told the OP.

You have a necessary address on file.

Not in the USA, but I never said you needed that for your SSA account.

If the OP can do what you've done (provide an address to SSA) then they can have payments continued.

If they insist on providing nothing, then payments will almost certainly cease.

Yes.  Just an address.  The OP only needs to that 800 number and establish who he is and change the address over the phone and/or any other information.  Prior to...either a friend/or hotel that he has stayed at for a period of time to hold any mail that might arrive.  Also, on the next 7162 in comments, state your actions...I never changed address just because I spent several weeks or months during the first couple of years and the Embassy address seemed to work...until I moved to DaNang.  Happy New Year OB and Fair Winds.

I received an email from the FBU in Manila telling me they had not received my 7162. They were correct as I hadn't sent one last year. So I printed the form, filled it in, addressed the envelope to Manila, sealed it and tried to mail it from the Ben Cat post office branch nearby. No can do. The VNPT post office here no longer accepts outgoing mail. I was told I must use EMS to send the form, and the cost is 500,000 dong.

Anyone else have such an experience? Should this be the start of a new thread?

I have lived in Vietnam for 19 years now, and this was a first for me.

@Travelfar I paid 559,000 vnd to mail my EMS to Manila from DaNang. 

It takes both money and foresight but you can rent a box at a UPS Store that will give you a physical address (not the box number) that should satisfy banks and government agencies.  I even had a NY Life insurance policy cancelled because I used a VN address on a form so I know that it is more than just Social Security.  They will forward your mail for you for whatever period you. specify (weekly, monthly, yearly) but they will send it to you by UPS which will cost more than postage.  It may be a good investment but you have to set it up before you leave the country.

Outside of the Social Security paperwork...I do not have a need for paper mail.  I got rid of such 20 years ago when I left the US and gave no 'forwarding' mailing address.  in the 20 years over here I've received less than two hand fulls of any paper mail, of which several were DHL or certified from the USA or Saigon Embassy years ago.  Everyone who has a 'Need'...about 3 agencies in the US have my current address...I have no need to share such.  I have a valid e-mail and VPN when I usually go on line which is 99 percent of any communications.  I do not use 'voice mail' and have little to no need for a phone and warn not to use the number.  Why do I have to bow to societies needs and desires...I have no 'material' baggage other than this laptop and my clothing.  Also FYI...a PO Box is not acceptable for the Social Security Administration.

PO Box is not acceptable for the Social Security Administration.
-@Anthony64

For the purposes of that form, you are correct, but (following THIGV slightly off-topic) if you've never reported yourself as being outside the United States, a PO Box and a US bank (not "US Bank") account are all that's necessary.

I've had my SSA account address as a US PO Box since about 2007, with a break between 2014 & 2017 when it was my physical home address.

As I began preparing to return to VN in 2018, I had a series of four PO Box address changes without updating my residence address with them.

Online my SSA account info automatically updated and the annual account statement followed me as well from PO Box to PO Box, maybe because PO Boxes now require a residence address on the application.

As long as my bank account remains open it seems that's all they require.

From 2018 to 2021 I used a northern California PO Box as my SSA address.

When I returned to the USA in 2021, I had a series of 5 PO Box address changes (Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, and twice in California) including my current PO Box in California.

I did physically (in person) update my residence address with a California office of the SSA before returning here last July, because I wanted to upgrade my online access to my account, and they wouldn't send a temporary password to a PO Box.

So now they have been given both my residence address & PO Box in California, but that wasn't necessary to keep my direct deposits to keep going to Schwab.

And the residence address was only used for the temporary password.

Only my PO Box shows up on my online SSA account profile.

Unfortunately, in the past it was necessary to jump through embassy hoops to get paid while living here, but that's only because at some time you reported yourself as living here.

I personally see that form as a relic from a time when monthly paper checks were the norm, and the only way you could continue to keep getting them or DD while officially residing in VN was to continue to report.

If you've never reported yourself and your stateside bank account remains open, it truly does seem that a PO Box is all the SSA needs.

@Guest7635 They will email you the form, which you have to complete and then snail-mail it back to them. I know becasue I just did it myself.

@Guest7635 They will email you the form, which you have to complete and then snail-mail it back to them. I know becasue I just did it myself.
-@Mythicaldude99

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Col. Nathan Jessup was right...