On 26. December 2017, I received a letter from the Social Security Administration, via the Federal Benefits Unit at the US embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (I am currently resident in Ecuador; previously all SSA related documents were handled by the US embassy in Quito, until a notice last year stated that all SSA documents must be submitted to the FBU at the US embassy in San José, Costa Rica), in which it was stated that disability benefits would be withheld – in their totality – as a result of an overpayment of $4,768.90.

The letter, which address to my accurate address in Ecuador, failed to provide the following:

Period and reason for the overpayment; SS number or SSA claim number;
Providing information on request of reconsideration.

The amount indicated, $4,768.90, has no reference in my SSA records; and, the mount of monthly deductions - total disability benefits - exceeds federally regulated standards.

A request for reconsideration (SSA-561-U2) was submitted on 26. December 2017 to the FBU-Costa Rica and the FBU-Santo Domingo as well as other SSA officials (Nancy Berryhill, Office of Center Operations, etc.). However, it appears that this document was never processed (I have receipts of reception for this document), the per a telephone conversation with a SSA agent in early February. The request was resubmitted on 17. February of this year; there has been no response to this submission: NB: both submissions of the request for reconsideration were within the allotted time for requesting a reconsideration.

Since then, there have been numerous attempts to contact SSA – via FBUs in Santo Domingo, San José, and Manila as well as Baltimore – with no luck. Last December, I requested the assistance of Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and her office too is facing difficulties – i.e. not responding – with my inquiry.

Furthermore, I submitted – via the method ascribed by SSA – a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge on 22. April 2017. This request was pursuant to a previous overpayment (for an entirely different amount), which SSA claims I instigated (not true; in point of fact, SSA has offered no fewer than three rationalization for the overpayment, none of which can be corroborated in SSA records). Since that submission, there has been no contact from SSA on the matter, in spite of numerous requests for status of the request.

Moreover, I have had – and am continuing to have – issues concerning receipt of SSA document in Ecuador. Invariably, documents which SSA state that have sent never arrive; on those rare occasions when I have received mail, the document arrives anywhere between 4-6 months after it was posted (postage is US domestic, which may be a contributing factor to the delay); more often than not, the address is incorrect, in spite of having submitted written address and contact information. This reliance on postal communication from the US to Ecuador has resulted on more than one occasion in the suspension of disability payments.

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about all of the problems you've been having. Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions to offer you. I'm not very familiar with Social Security's international operations. It sounds like you're aware of your appeal rights and have experience with the appeals process, and that you've already contacted your Congressional representative's office which was another step that I would have recommended. I hope that you are able to get your issues resolved soon.

Best, Jerry