Form SSA-7162: How to Fill Out, Submit, and Meet the Deadline

Form SSA-7162, the Foreign Enforcement Questionnaire, is the short form the Social Security Administration mails to beneficiaries living outside the United States to confirm they are still alive, still eligible, and haven’t had a change in circumstances that affects their payments. You have 60 days from the date you receive it to complete and return it. Miss that window and SSA will suspend your benefits.1Social Security Administration. RS 02655.010 – Follow-ups and Suspensions – Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP)

The form is two pages. Every question matters, because SSA uses your answers to flag changes that could affect your eligibility or payment amount.

How to Fill Out Each Question

Work through the form in order. Answer only what applies, but answer honestly — leaving something blank that should have been reported is treated the same as failing to report it.2Social Security Administration. SSA Form 7162 Foreign Enforcement Questionnaire

  • Question 1 — Address. Print your current address only if it differs from the one SSA has on file, which is preprinted on the form. If nothing has changed, leave it blank.
  • Question 2 — Phone. Give a daytime number where SSA or the Federal Benefits Unit can reach you.
  • Question 3 — Citizenship or country of residence. Report any change in your citizenship or the country where you live that you haven’t already reported. Include the new country and the date of the change.
  • Question 4 — Marital status. Disclose any marriage, divorce, or annulment since your last report, with the date.
  • Question 5 — Employment. Report any work, as an employee or self-employed, since your last report. Provide the dates work began and ended, list each month in which you worked 45 hours or less, indicate whether the work was in the United States or subject to U.S. Social Security taxes, and estimate your earnings for the past two years and the current year. See the next section — this is where most mistakes happen.
  • Question 6 — Child living arrangements. Answer this only if you’re the parent of a child under 16 (or a disabled child) and you receive benefits because that child is in your care. Report any periods you and the child lived apart.
  • Question 7 — Signature. Sign and date the form. If you sign with a mark instead of a written signature, a witness must also sign Question 8.

Use the Remarks section at the bottom to explain anything that needs context, especially uneven months in Question 5. SSA publishes a separate instruction PDF alongside the form if you want line-by-line guidance.3Social Security Administration. Instruction For Completion of Form SSA-7162

The 45-Hour Foreign Work Rule

Question 5 is where people get tripped up, because the rules for working abroad are not the rules for working in the United States. If you’re under full retirement age and work outside the country in a job not covered by U.S. Social Security taxes, SSA withholds your entire benefit for every month you work more than 45 hours. It doesn’t matter what you earned. The test is purely about hours.4Social Security Administration. Work Outside The United States

The definition of “working” is broad. SSA counts any day on which you performed work as an employee or were self-employed. If you had an agreement to work but didn’t actually work that day because of vacation or illness, it still counts. If you own or partly own a business, you’re considered to be working even on days you did nothing and drew no income.4Social Security Administration. Work Outside The United States

So on Question 5, list each month in which you worked 45 hours or less. Those are the months your benefits are not withheld. Any month over 45 hours triggers withholding for that month. If the work was subject to U.S. Social Security taxes — for example, working abroad for a U.S. employer under a totalization agreement — the domestic earnings test applies instead, and you should report the dollar amounts in the spaces provided.

How to Submit the Completed Form

SSA mails the questionnaire between May and June each year.1Social Security Administration. RS 02655.010 – Follow-ups and Suspensions – Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP) It arrives with a return envelope. Use it. If the envelope is missing or damaged, mail the completed form to:

Social Security Administration
P.O. Box 7162
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18767-7162
U.S.A.3Social Security Administration. Instruction For Completion of Form SSA-7162

You can also fax the form to 877-385-0645, the number for SSA’s Office of Earnings and International Operations.5Social Security Administration. Earnings and International Operations There is no online submission option. Mail or fax only.

If you need help completing the form or have trouble submitting it, contact the Federal Benefits Unit at the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. FBU staff can walk you through the questions and forward the completed form to the processing center on your behalf.

If You Never Received the Form

A blank copy of Form SSA-7162 is available as a PDF on the SSA website.2Social Security Administration. SSA Form 7162 Foreign Enforcement Questionnaire Download it, print it, fill it out, and mail or fax it to the addresses above. The Federal Benefits Unit at your nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate can also provide a replacement copy and help you submit it. Don’t wait on SSA’s follow-up cycle: by the time the September notice reaches you, months have already gone.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

SSA’s escalation runs on a fixed calendar, and it moves faster than most beneficiaries expect:1Social Security Administration. RS 02655.010 – Follow-ups and Suspensions – Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP)

  • May–June: SSA mails the questionnaire. You have 60 days to respond.
  • September: If SSA hasn’t received your form, a second notice and a fresh copy go out. You have 45 days to respond.
  • Mid-January: SSA compiles the automatic suspension file and mails suspension notices.
  • February: Benefits stop. The suspension takes effect with the February payment, which covers January benefits.

Once benefits are suspended, they stay suspended until SSA verifies your identity and existence and processes a completed questionnaire. The Federal Benefits Unit or a local SSA field office will attempt to locate you, collect the form, and forward it to the Wilkes-Barre processing center marked “SCAN ONLY.” From there, either the FBU resumes benefits through its own system or the case goes to the Division of International Operations for manual processing.1Social Security Administration. RS 02655.010 – Follow-ups and Suspensions – Foreign Enforcement Program (FEP)

SSA’s internal procedures don’t fix a set number of days for reinstatement after a late questionnaire is received. It depends on whether your case can go through the standard system or needs manual review. Cases with additional complications — unreported marriages, unreported employment, address problems — take longer, because SSA has to resolve those issues before restarting payments.

If Someone Else Receives Benefits for You

If a representative payee receives benefits on your behalf, that person gets Form SSA-7161 instead of the 7162. The 7161 covers the same address, citizenship, and marital-status ground, but adds questions about how the benefit money was spent and how any unspent funds are being held.6Social Security Administration. Report to the United States Social Security Administration by Person Receiving Benefits for a Child or for an Adult Unable to Handle Funds Don’t use the 7162 in that situation, and don’t ignore a 7161 thinking it’s the same form on a different letterhead.