FEDERAL BENEFITS help - for American•U.S. Citizens Living in Costa Rica with issues with Social Security, Veterans Affairs, Civil Service [OPM] and Railroad Retirement Board

Are you a U.S. citizen living in Costa Rica and have problems • need help with

 Social Security, Veterans Affairs, Disability, Civil Service [OPM] or the Railroad Retirement Board??

FIRST you MUST
CALL or EMAIL them.
(they say many of your questions can be answered over the phone)"They" is the
FEDERAL BENEFITS Unit 
CostaRica.USEmbassy.gov/fbusanjose.html

located at the
U.S. Embassy in Pavas, San Jose, Costa Rica


(NOTE that they are a TOTALLY DIFFERENT division than the Embassy Citizen Services so please do NOT contact Citizen Services as there is no way they can assist you)
 

HOURS:
Monday-Friday - 8-11:30am
(NEW CHANGE:  they are CLOSED on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month) 

So if you still need help, you'll

NEED to MAKE AN APPOINTMENT
You can call, but it's NOT easy to get through to them based on what MANY people AND myself have experienced!!!  

CALLING:
 2-519-2228  

MY EXPERIENCE on January 21, 2014 - 10:18am and January 23 - 11:26am:

I got the following recording - first asking you if you want to continue in English - Press 1.  January 23 it gave a different message than the 2 I've received before.  This one said it was a non-recording message and goes back to telling me to call the above number again and again gave me the instructions on press ___ depending on the last 2 digits of my social security number.  Still no follow up call back and I have checked the phone each time I've gone out to see if there were any messages.  As of February 12 - NO return call.

MY EXPERIENCE on January 20, 2014 - 3:20pm:

I got their recording OFF HOURS saying to call back during their working hours (above) and it disconnects you - NO way to leave a message. 

Then they'll ask you to press a number based on the LAST 2 DIGITS of your Social Security number and someone will call you back within 24 hours:

00-06  -  1
07-26  -  2
27-53  -  3
54-65 -  4
66-85  -  5
86-99  -  6

IF you get that - try leaving a message and speak VERY CLEARLY and SLOWLY (ESPECIALLY with your phone number.  I tend to repeat it at least once as well) to better your chances of them hearing you correctly and being able to call you back! 

Now, I have called this number MANY times (for 5 different people in the past 7 months) to help some older friends of mine.  Each time I've received the message above - NEVER a live person as they're quite busy.  And NEVER did the person get a call back.

NOTE that they are NOT easy to reach or get a return call back from so you might want to

KEEP TRYING - OVER and OVER and OVER DURING the above listed hours!! 

RETURN CALLS:

If when they call you back you do not answer your phone, you WILL miss your turn and they will NOT try again I've been told so YOU will have to call them again (this COULD have been why the people never got a return call - or at least THOUGHT they never got a call back).

CALLING AFTER HOURS:  

When I've tried AFTER HOURS, it goes into a recording that you can NOT leave a message on.

PLUS
(OR - INSTEAD of if it's not complicated and so as not to waste as much of MY time!!)
I'd ALSO send them an 
EMAIL:

FBU.CostaRica@ssa.gov 


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HAVE AN APPOINTMENT - NOW WHAT?

Go to the U.S. Embassy in Pavas.(details on that in my article:
LivingLifeInCostaRica.blogspot.com/2013/02/renewing-your-us-passport-cr.html

Do the regular dance to enter the Embassy and go into the main building to
DOOR 1 or 2
NO need to check in as you will have an appointment so they'll just call your name when it's your turn.  
Take a seat to the LEFT and LISTEN CAREFULLY for them to call your name and tell you what door to go to as you can't see inside and I've known a few people that didn't hear them and either walked into and waited at the wrong door or walked in on someone or missed their appointment!  It's NOT uncommon!! 
If you're late for your appointment and they're busy (which they OFTEN are), you WILL LOSE YOUR TURN and can wait it out to see IF they can fit you in - OR you WILL HAVE to make another appointment.


DON'T HAVE AN APPOINTMENT AND JUST WANT TO SHOW UP AT THE EMBASSY?
If you just show up at the U.S. Embassy in Pavas, there's a GOOD chance - ESPECIALLY with the Federal Benefits Unit - you will NOT get in to see someone.  OR - maybe you'll get lucky and they can take you in between a no-show or someone that's appointment was fast - or you just wait!!!
(with that said, when I accompanied a friend to the embassy to get more pages in her passport, I thought I'd try to get in to Federal Benefits to order a copy of my Social Security Card [ya NEVER know when you MIGHT need it] and I got lucky and was seen in 6 minutes!!)
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"SHARE" this with everyone you know that can use some help dealing with
 Social Security, Veterans Affairs, Disability, Civil Service [OPM] or the Railroad Retirement Board issuesLivingLifeInCostaRica.blogspot.com/2014/01/USFederalBenefitsUnitCR.html

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