U.S. Veterans & SSA Benefits in Vietnam

I think the topic of payments to beneficiaries outside the US is very important to discuss since the information available on the Internet is still quite controversial. According to the International Direct Deposit list posted on Social Security Administration’s site, in February 2018 Vietnam entered into an agreement with the USA and was added to the list for SSA’s International Direct Deposit.

As far as I know, there’re no sanctions or any restrictions placed against Vietnam, except for the people without U.S. citizenship, who are entitled to benefits but don’t live in the United States.

Now U.S. veterans and beneficiaries are allowed to have their benefits check mailed or direct deposited while living in Vietnam. It had been forbidden until recently, but now vets can just get the check mailed to their Vietnamese home address with no trouble at all. The only countries slapped with sanctions are Cuba and North Korea. As long as you stay there, your benefits get suspended and accrued until you leave.

Also, I have been informed that AGRIBANK has been recognized as a Vietnamese Financial Institute and is able to receive the IDDs (International Direct Deposits). You can look for more information on the bank’s official site agrbank.com. There’re a few points that you should take into consideration:
• Your bank account has to be in VND currency, not USD
• You need your Vietnamese address to be indicated on the file, not a U.S. address
• Find the form you need to fill at the Program Operations Manual System page on the SSA site.

I hope this information will be useful for US beneficiaries in Vietnam.