bgum wrote:
Social Security has teleservice centers located in major population centers from east to west coast.
They have several hundred employees in each location. They take and process applications for benefits and process post entitlement actions. When you call SSA via the toll free number this is who you get.
I got this from someone with 38 years experience with the SSA. Most business can be handed by phone. They will tell you when a in office visit is necessary.
From my experience, one of the reasons an office visit will be necessary is if a question of identity theft arises. There was an attempt to file a fraudulent tax return under my social security number. It was caught by the IRS, but now I have to file my taxes with a pin code that is generated yearly. I went to view the status of my social security account and due to that identity theft attempt my account was flagged and I could not use the online service until I went to an office in person and filled out a request for a pin number. Even then, the office couldn't just generate that number, they had to send my signed and witnessed request on to wherever and I got that pin in the mail around 6 weeks later.
I would assume using a commercial mailing service as your address would raise similar red flags. I actually appreciate the extra steps because it is still a whole lot easier to jump through those hoops than it would be to apply for benefits and then find out someone had been collecting them for years. I bet that journey would involve deep water moats filled with crocodiles and spiked walls that needed to be scaled all while be doused with flaming oil. Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!
