SSA - POMS: GN 02230.045 - Remittance process for repayments of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments paid to a sponsored alien

A. Sponsored alien debt repayments

When an alien is sponsored under an affidavit as part of Section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the INA) and receives any means-tested public benefit, the sponsor who executed the legally enforceable affidavit of support is liable to repay the amount the alien received to the agency that made the payments. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested public benefit subject to repayment under the provisions of Section 213A. For more information on sponsor alien repayment, see SI 02220.065.

IMPORTANT: Repayment of sponsored alien payments are not considered or treated as overpayments.

The sponsor of any alien awarded SSI payments as described in SI 02220.065A is required to repay all payments received by the alien, including any overpayments the sponsored alien did not repay. The Program Service Centers (PSCs) send monthly bills to the sponsor, which provide instructions to send their payment and the payment coupon in the envelope provided to the Mid-Atlantic Program Service Center (MATPSC). Sponsors may opt to pay by credit card or in-person in the field offices (FOs) upon demand of repayment of the full amount of the SSI payments made to an alien. For more information on FO remittance process, refer to GN 02403.001.

NOTE: Sponsor remittances cannot be processed through the Social Security Electronic Remittance System (SERS).

B. Collection procedures

Operations is responsible for posting the sponsor debt on the Recovery of Overpayments Accounts and Reporting (ROAR) and for collecting it once imposed. SSA will pursue recovery by:

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Billing and follow-up. For more information on repayment of SSI paid to the sponsored alien, see SI 02220.065G.

IMPORTANT: SSA may also apply the following external collection methods for delinquent sponsored alien debts:

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Reducing Federal and State tax refunds to which the person is entitled via the Treasury Offset Program (TOP);
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Using Administrative Wage Garnishment (AWG), Administrative Offset (AO), Federal Salary Offset (FSO), and credit bureau reporting;

C. FO actions upon adjudication of a sponsored alien’s SSI payments

When a sponsored alien receives SSI payments, the alien’s sponsor must repay to SSA any payments received by the alien, in accordance with SI 02220.065. The sponsor's debt must be established on a ROAR record. The established ROAR allows the agency to track the balance of the sponsor’s debt.

Upon determination that an alien who is sponsored under the new affidavit of support is receiving SSI payments, the FO will:

1. Develop and send a manual SSI Important Information Notice (Form SSA-L8166-SM) requesting repayment to the sponsor. Contact the sponsor regarding repayment per SI 02220.065E;

2. Notify PSC of jurisdiction to establish a sponsor’s repayment debt to the ROAR via an SSA-5002 submitted into Paperless;

3. Track the PSC action and once the ROAR is established reflecting the debt and;

4. Complete a Report of Contact to list the date debt was established in ROAR and date notice was sent out.

D. Posting the sponsor’s initial debt amount and posting and tracking of sponsor remittance(s)

The PSC is responsible for establishing and maintaining a ROAR record. The ROAR record must be established on the sponsor’s own SSN using a Benefit Identification Code (BIC) subscript X, AX, BX, CX, etc... See instructions on how to establish a debt in MS 01102.003.

A sponsored alien debt case requires action on both the ROAR and the Supplemental Security Income (SSR).

1. Establishing sponsor’s Initial Debt Balance on the ROAR

The PSC receives the SSA-5002 sponsor documentation information from the FO and establishes the ROAR to post and track repayment on the sponsor’s own SSN using BIC subscript X and enter remarks in the Debt Management System (DMS). See MS 01102.003 for how to establish a debt to the ROAR. For the sponsor’s debt, use the following inputs when establishing the ROAR:

a. Use the sponsor’s name and SSN

b. For the SAC1 input “AN” when the sponsor does not have an already established Master Beneficiary Record (MBR).

c. For debt reason, use the TOE code “33” for other.

2. Moving the Debt from the alien’s SSR to the sponsor’s ROAR

Post a Q TAC to the debt, indicating the overpayment amount was transferred to the sponsor’s ROAR. See SM 01311.350 and MS 00304.007 for posting Q TACs.

3. Processing Remittances for sponsored Alien Debts

Once a remittance is received, the PSC needs to adjust the ROAR balance to reflect the amount of the remittance. When the FO or PSC receives a remittance from a sponsor for a sponsor’s debt, Operations will follow normal remittance business process to record the remittance via the Electronic Field Office Remittance Application (eFOR) or DMS and update remarks on DMS and/or the SSR to reflect collecting the remittance. See MS 01103.001 for input of the remittance and use the following:

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Use the sponsor’s name and SSN for input of the remittance
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For the Reason Code, use “N” for other
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For Trust Fund, use “S” for Supplemental Security Income

NOTE: Manual trust funding is needed when posting the sponsor’s remittance to a record in a program other than the program in which the payment occurred.

4. Enter Remarks on the SSR or a Special Message on the MBR and in DMS

Always enter information describing repayment on the sponsor’s own SSN on the established stand-alone ROAR record. Document the DMS Remarks screens.

Document the DMS Remarks screens and specify the amount of the remittance including the Alien’s cross-reference SSN from the SSR record. In addition, include that these remarks should not be deleted.

EXAMPLES: Remarks entered on the SSR, and/or in DMS:

DD/MM/YY - $1000 SPONSOR REMITTANCE CREDITED ON BEHALF OF DEBT FOR SSI RECEPIENT JOHN DOE XXX-45-XXXX THEN SPONSOR REPAYMENT-DIARY SET FOR MM/DD/YY-DO NOT DELETE REMARK

IMPORTANT: On the SSR, always include the Overpayment Sequence Segment (OPSQ) number of the sponsor repayment in Remarks.

E. Address where sponsor sends remittance

Instruct the sponsor to send remittances to this address:

MATPSC

P.O. Box 3430

Philadelphia, PA 19122

Instruct the sponsor to include on their remittances the sponsor’s SSN and the letters “SAR” (sponsor alien remittance) to ensure proper crediting to the sponsor’s debt balance.

F. Process to handle debts when a sponsor becomes delinquent

1. Definition of past-due debt

For SSA Treasury Offset Program (TOP) purposes, a past-due debt is one on which:

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Payment is delinquent; and
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No appeal/waiver request is pending.

2. When a sponsored alien debt is delinquent

A debt is delinquent on the 60th day after each repayment notice date if no action to repay has been taken.

Operations refers delinquent debts that do not have an appeal pending to OFPO, and OFPO refers the delinquent debt to Treasury’s Cross Servicing Program. Treasury’s Cross Servicing program will evaluate the debt for participation in TOP and refer the debt to DOJ to pursue action against the sponsor if applicable.

When a sponsor becomes delinquent and does not respond to demand letters, OFPO refers the debt to Treasury via Cross servicing Program for repayment. If the debt increases due to additional payments not being repaid by the sponsor, additional referrals of the new delinquent repayments will need to be referred to OFPO.

NOTE: Only for Sponsored Alien cases under Section 213A of the INA, does OFPO send the referral for civil judgment to DOJ via Treasury’s Cross Servicing Program. For all other civil judgment referrals, please follow SI 02220.035 and GN 02215.150.

G. References

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SI 02220.065 Recovery from Alien's Sponsor of Payments Made to the Alien
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GN 02403.001 Overview of Field Office Remittance Process
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MS 01102.002 Setup/Modify Menu (SMMU)
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MSOM DMS 002.003 Establish Debt (SMED)
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SM 01311.350 Overpayment to be Collected on Another Record – Q TAC
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MS 00304.007 Add/Change/Delete Overpayment Decisions (UODC)

Social Security

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)

GN 02230.045 Remittance process for repayments of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments paid to a sponsored alien