Beginning June 1964, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) regulations prevented
the payment of monthly Social Security benefits to, or on behalf of, beneficiaries
in North Vietnam. Beginning May 1975, Treasury added regulations that prevented monthly
benefits to, or on behalf of those in South Vietnam.
When Treasury lifted the restrictions on Vietnam in August 1996, the Social Security
Administration (SSA) still could not pay unrestricted benefits to beneficiaries in
Vietnam. We could not pay benefits because we did not have assurances of free access
to claimants and beneficiaries or vital statistics records in Vietnam. Without such
assurances, we could only make payments to eligible persons who met and agreed to
certain restricted payment conditions. For information on Special Payment Procedures
for Certain SSA-Restricted Countries see RS 02650.040A.
In May 2015, we received the necessary assurances of free access in Vietnam from the
Vietnamese government through the Department of State and began removing SSA’s restrictions.