International SS benefit payment delays for January 2025 - anyone else affected?
I'm a U.S. citizen living in Portugal for the past 3 years and have always received my Social Security direct deposit like clockwork on the 3rd of each month to my international bank account. It's now January 7th, and my January 2025 payment hasn't arrived yet. I checked my MySocialSecurity account and it shows the payment was processed, but nothing's in my account. I've tried calling the Federal Benefits Unit at the U.S. Embassy here but got voicemail. Has anyone else living overseas experienced a delay with their January Social Security payment? Is this some kind of new year glitch or should I be worried? My retirement funds are pretty tight and I rely on that monthly deposit.
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Ava Garcia
Same here in Thailand! No January payment yet. Normally hits my account by the 4th at latest.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•That's somewhat reassuring it's not just me. Have you contacted SSA yet?
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Miguel Silva
yep happening in Mexico too. somebody on another expat forum said its some kind of payment processing issue with the Treasury Dept. affecting international direct deposits. supposedly its affecting SS payments to like 10 countries
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Zainab Ismail
•Do you know which countries are affected? I'm about to move to Spain next month and this is making me nervous about how I'll receive my SSDI payments!
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Connor O'Neill
This appears to be a temporary issue with the Office of International Operations. I retired from SSA last year, and from what my former colleagues tell me, there's a technical problem with the Federal Reserve's international payment system that's affecting direct deposits to several countries. They're working to resolve it, and payments should be released within 5-7 business days. This doesn't affect all countries, primarily those in certain European and Asian banking networks. The best contact isn't your local embassy but the Office of International Operations directly at +1-410-965-0160. Their hours are 8:30-3:30 EST Monday-Friday, but be prepared for long wait times.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•Thank you SO much for this information! That's extremely helpful. I'll try calling that number tomorrow. Do you know if they'll automatically reprocess the payments or if we need to request it?
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Connor O'Neill
•They should automatically reprocess the payments - you don't need to make a special request. However, calling to confirm your payment status is still a good idea, especially if you don't receive it by next week.
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QuantumQuester
I experienced something similar living in Costa Rica last year. The frustrating part was trying to get through to anyone at SSA who could help. After days of calling and getting nowhere, I discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually reach a live agent at Social Security without the endless waiting. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through, they confirmed there was a processing delay and were able to give me a specific timeframe for when my payment would arrive. Totally worth it when you're overseas and dealing with time zone challenges on top of the regular SSA phone frustrations.
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Dmitry Ivanov
•Thanks for the tip! I'll check out that service if I can't get through tomorrow. The time zone difference makes calling from Portugal particularly challenging.
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Yara Nassar
THIS HAPPENS EVERY JANUARY!!! I've lived in Philippines for 6 yrs and EVERY SINGLE YEAR theres some excuse about January payments. Last yr it was 'system update' and year b4 was 'verification process'. SSA doesn't care about us expats at ALL!!!!!
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Keisha Williams
•That hasn't been my experience in New Zealand. I've received SS retirement benefits internationally for 8 years with only one delay ever. It might be country-specific banking relationships or regional processing centers causing the issues in your location.
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Miguel Silva
my payment just came thru today! check your accounts everyone
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Dmitry Ivanov
•Just checked - mine arrived too! What a relief. Thanks everyone for your help and sharing your experiences.
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Zainab Ismail
This whole thread has me worried about my upcoming move abroad. Does anyone know if receiving payments on a US bank account and then transferring internationally is more reliable than direct international deposit? I'm on SSDI and absolutely cannot handle payment delays when I move.
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Connor O'Neill
•Yes, maintaining a US bank account is generally more reliable. Many expats choose to receive their Social Security benefits in a US account and then either use ATMs abroad, transfer money as needed, or use services like Wise (formerly TransferWise) for better exchange rates. The SSA domestic payment system has fewer issues than the international direct deposit system.
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Ava Garcia
•Thats what i do! Keep my US bank and use wise to send money to Thailand when exchange rates are good. Much less stress than depending on direct deposit internationally.
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