TN 1 (10-00)

A. Policy

There may be instances when an individual is determined to be entitled to SVB for a month for which an SSI payment has already been, or will be, issued. This could occur if an individual did not report leaving the United States until after the recurring cut-off date for the SSI payment for the next month or action was not taken on such a report until after the cut-off date. In these cases, the SVB payment for that month will be made even though the individual has or will receive an incorrect SSI payment for the same month.

NOTE: At this time, SSA does not have the regulatory authority to collect SSI overpayments from SVB benefits. Thus, no current processes for cross-program recovery of SSI overpayments are being provided until such authority exists. Encourage the individual to voluntarily refund any SSI payments that are not due.

B. Procedure - FO

Take the following actions when an individual's departure from the U.S. results in an incorrect SSI payment for a month for which he/she is entitled to an SVB payment:

• Follow the normal SSI procedures for suspending SSI payments when the individual is no longer residing in the United States (see SI 02301.225). Advise the individual to refund any SSI payments that are not due.

• Transfer jurisdiction of the SVB claim to the servicing CPS upon receipt of evidence of foreign residency (see VB 00901.015).

• Update the San Francisco Intranet site with the date of transfer and servicing CPS field office code.

C. Procedure - CPS Actions

If SVB entitlement is determined to exist for a month when the individual has been paid an SSI benefit, do the following:

• Place the individual in N23 payment status effective for the month foreign residency is established if the servicing FO has not done so. The system will compute an overpayment for the SSI benefits paid.

• Follow the instructions in VB 04001.001 and MSSOO-075 (dated June 21, 2000) for terminating an SSI record and starting an SVB record.

• Issue an A-OTP, on the new SVB record, for the months SVB benefits are due prior to the Start Date.

• Post an N TAC to resolve the overpayment created by the issuance of the A-OTP on the SVB record.

• Upon expiration of the appeal period provided for suspension of SSI payments (N23), issue an overpayment notice (SSA-8171) requesting refund of the incorrect SSI payments made to the claimant after departing the U.S. (Take no further action if the SSI overpayment is not refunded. Leave the overpayment unresolved until further instructions are given regarding SSI overpayments to SVB beneficiaries.)

D. Example

An SVB claimant, who is currently receiving SSI payments, was issued a qualification notice on March 17, 2000. On April 21, 2000, he contacts the FO where the SVB claim was filed to report that he is leaving the United States the next day to live permanently in the Philippines. The FO processes the foreign address change and suspends SSI for absence from the U.S., but the input is too late to stop the recurring May 1 SSI check. The FO advises the individual to return the May 1, 2000 SSI payment.

On April 25, 2000 the individual goes to the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) in Manila and submits evidence of Philippine residency. The FBU forwards the evidence to the FO, who, in turn, forwards the SVB claims material to the CPS. The CPS processes the SVB claim and issues an SVB benefit for May 2000. Upon expiration of the appeals period for the suspension of SSI payments processed by the FO on April 21, 2000, the CPS will send the SVB claimant an overpayment notice requesting refund of any SSI payments received after April 30, 2000.