VA and social security payments

Rocklinjeff wrote:

My Vietnamese wife and I are considering a move to Vietnam. I am a disabled Air Force veteran and currently receive disabled payments and Social Security benefits. Is there a way I can receive these payments in Vietnam?  Well having payments  go to a stateside account that my daughter has access to and then forwarding the money to me work?  Housing is not a concern as my wife still has family in Vietnam.

Welcome to the forum.

Please don't take offense at this, but there is a lot of information already posted here that will be helpful to you, but you must learn how to search the forum.

There is a "sticky thread" (a subject thread that always shows up near the top of the Vietnam forum) which deals with the direct deposit of U.S. government funds here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=761380

The other option specific for U.S. citizens is to have a stateside bank account with worldwide free ATM use.

I and many others on the forum choose Charles Schwab bank for this, and withdraw funds at ATMs here from our stateside accounts.

Again, there is a LOT of information alredy posted about that here, so it will be best for you to spend some time searching the archives here to have all of your questions answered.

Good luck.

Hey Jeff,

While I can't speak for VA benefits I can talk about SSA.

I am currently receiving my SSA benefits into my BIDV VND account so it can be done. You'll have to notify SSA of your local address and submit the Direct Deposit (DD) form.  One problem I had when setting up my DD to BIDV was that the SSA requited the CITAD number associated with my bank, but it wasn't asked for on the form.

Another consideration about DD to VN is the fact that you'll have to submit form SSA 7162 every year. SSA in Wilkes Barre PA will mail it to your local address in May and it must be returned in order to continue to receive benefits the following year. I never got mine, so I had to contact the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) Manila and I just sent it in about two weeks ago. I'm still awaiting confirmation of receipt.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

All the best,

Mark