玩偶姐姐

Hello, is there Anybody on this site that gets SS deposited directly into a VN bank?
If so, could you please PM me? I'm having some problems navigating the system and have a few questions, if you don't mind.
thanks,

danny - @surus

I haven't made the switch yet so I can't give personal experience feedback (so please don't write to me privately about the subject).

However, this thread I started back in 2018 has some useful info and links scattered among unhelpful posts:

/en/forum/asia/vietnam/761380-us-ssa-and-veterans-benefits-in-vietnam-update.html

I haven't seen Rick (Budman) active in the forum for quite some time, but he mentioned that he was going to start doing direct deposit with one account from America and possibly two other accounts if the first attempt was successful.

Initially he mentioned that Agribank was the default bank here and there wasn't any official word about any other bank accepting the program under the terms that the US government requires.

The lady at the federal benefits unit in Manila at the US embassy there has said that they cannot provide a list of banks that participate in the program and the US citizen must find a cooperative bank on their own.

One reason I haven't done it yet is that I can't get a teller at Agribank or ACB or Vietcombank to even acknowledge that they have the ability to accept the direct deposits according to the requirements of the US government.

Basically what's supposed to happen is the bank most allow The acceptance of their own currency (VND) which is exchanged from dollars at the mid-market rate electronically before the money ever hits the bank in Vietnam, and they cannot charge any fee for that deposit or further adjust the exchange rate.

All three banks told me that I am welcome to have my money sent from the United States and they would accept it, but when I try to get them to confirm that they are a participant in the direct deposit program with the US Federal government, I get blank stares.

I figure I just haven't gone high enough up in the organization yet to find someone who is knowledgeable about the program.

Since I already have an Agribank account, I would prefer to do it there, so I'm going to make another attempt soon to talk with somebody higher up the food chain there.

Wish I could be more help.

I was reading through the instructions the other day on the social security website, and it seemed to me that the rules might have changed and we might have the option to send the direct deposit in the local currency or in US dollars.

I'm getting really bad with those kind of forms these days, but if that's the case then I would prefer to send my money to a forex USD account so it doesn't immediately start losing value as VND.

Let us know if you get some of your issues figured out, and please consider coming back here and sharing them, as I'm sure it would be helpful to other folks including myself.

After all your profile is essentially anonymous.

Cheers!

O.B.

THIS IS A DIRECT DOWNLOAD LINK to a PDF file of the US GOVERNMENT Direct Deposit application for Vietnam.

DON'T CLICK IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO IMMEDIATELY DOWNLOAD THE FILE

(apparently you also have to formally change your address with social security BEFORE using this form to apply for direct deposit in Vietnam.)

鈥淎nybody on this site that gets SS deposited directly into a VN bank?鈥�

It鈥檚 simple and easy. Assuming the SSA have your Vietnam address, you download the SSA-1199-OP80 form and send it off to their regional office in Manila.聽 The only glitch is that they require the CITAD number of your bank in Vietnam, rather than SWIFT number. The list of CITAD codes can be found online.聽 聽That鈥檚 it.

鈥淎nybody on this site that gets SS deposited directly into a VN bank?鈥� It鈥檚 simple and easy. Assuming the SSA have your Vietnam address, you download the SSA-1199-OP80 form and send it off to their regional office in Manila. The only glitch is that they require the CITAD number of your bank in Vietnam, rather than SWIFT number. The list of CITAD codes can be found online. That鈥檚 it. - @CHRISLANGTON

all of that sounds great. the only question left from my point of view is whether the bank is agreeing to the US government requirement that they accept the Vietnam dong at the exchange rate done mid transaction and do not charge any additional fee for receiving the direct deposit. as I understand it, those are supposed to be the two requirements to be met by the bank in Vietnam in order to officially qualify for the direct deposit program.

...and I can't help noticing you do not list yourself as a US citizen, so you yourself are probably not doing this, but are instead quoting information online.

am I correct?

Although a UK citizen, I was living, working and paying taxes in the US for about 25 years and thus a recipient of SSA retirement benefit.

Is anyone charging a transaction fee or some sort of currency exchange fee - and was this a problem in setting up a direct transfer?聽 The answer to the 1st is 鈥淣o, I don鈥檛 think so鈥� and the answer to the 2nd is 鈥渁bsolutely not.鈥� Hence my comment that the process was 鈥榮imple and easy.鈥� CITAD codes aside, the only hassle was that the US organisation of my name (as per my social security card) was 鈥�1st name, middle name, surname鈥� whereas the VN organisation (as per my bank account) was 鈥榮urname, 1st name, middle name.鈥� When I explained this to the bank, they changed the name on my account to synchronise it with the SAA. Happily, the $ retirement benefit is index linked, which is more than can be said of the 拢 funds I receive.