Important Message to Social Security Beneficiaries in Belize

I received this eMail yesterday from the US Embassy in Belize. ACSBelize@state.gov

I suggest any US citizen spending a lot of time in Belize, sign up to receive information they send out from time to time.   https://bz.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/

"Important Message to Social Security Beneficiaries in Belize

The U.S. Embassy in Belmopan is sharing important information from the Federal Benefits Unit in Costa Rica for beneficiaries of Social Security.

If you receive Social Security benefits and live in Belize, you may need to contact the Embassy's Federal Benefits Unit in Costa Rica to continue receiving benefits.

In addition to relying on beneficiaries (a retired person or family member) to report events that may affect their benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) contacts beneficiaries residing in Belize every two years to verify their status if they have a foreign address on record.

It is important that you or your representative payee complete, sign, date, and return the questionnaire in the envelope provided with the questionnaire as soon as possible. If you do not, your payments will stop. 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.

In 2022, SSA mailed questionnaires to the following beneficiaries: beneficiaries receiving their own benefits whose social security number under which they receive benefits ends in 00-49, beneficiaries over the age of 90, beneficiaries who were scheduled to receive a form but did not respond in 2019, and beneficiaries who have representative payees (person receiving benefits on behalf of a minor or other person). Beneficiaries 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. Individuals who did not return these forms could have their benefits suspended effective with the payment date of March 3, 2023.  If your payments are suspended, they can only be reinstated once your form is received and processed.

Forms submitted electronically will not be accepted.

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

US Embassy San Jose (Attn: FBU)

Apartado Postal 920

Pavas 1200 10109

San Jose, Costa Rica

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

Please contact the Federal Benefits Unit directly at FBU.CostaRica@ssa.gov for more information.

Assistance:

U.S. Embassy Belmopan, Belize

Floral Park Road, Belmopan, Cayo, Belize

+501 822-4011

ConsulBelize@state.gov or ACSBelize@state.gov

https://bz.usembassy.gov/

·         State Department - Consular Affairs

o   888-407-4747 or 202-501-4444

Belize Country Information

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter"