Effective Dates: 09/28/2023 - Present Previous | Next

TN 34 (09-23)

GN 02613.250 Warrants from Other Countries

NOTE: Refer to the chart for the action required.

Court Case

Action

Martinez Settlement

On April 1, 2009, SSA changed its policy of not paying fleeing felons. Follow the instructions below only for felony warrants with offense codes 4901, 4902, or 4999. Follow the Martinez settlement instructions in GN 02613.860 – GN 02613.885 for all other felony warrant codes.

Clark Court Order

On May 9, 2011, SSA changed its policy and no longer suspends or denies benefits or payments based solely on a probation or parole violation warrant (i.e., warrants with offense codes 5011, 5012, 8101, 8102, or 9999 or “Blank” and an offense charge symbol of “probation or parole violation”). Follow the Clark Court Order instructions in GN 02615.100 – GN 02615.190 for all probation or parole violation warrants.

We will make additional changes to this section, as necessary, in the future.

A. Policy

A beneficiary with an unsatisfied foreign warrant for a crime that carries a penalty of death or confinement of more than one year for the crimes of flight or escape in another country may not receive benefits for any month if the crime is recognized by United States law enforcement. SSA will rely on information received from the International Criminal Police Organization and/or the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) through OIG when making an initial determination about whether an individual is subject to the fugitive suspension provisions. Foreign warrant information should normally be received by SSA through the Fugitive Felon Matching Operations from NCIC. The foreign warrant information will be directly processed using the FFCSF

See information about the processing of warrant information through FFSCF in GN 02613.100.

In rare instances, SSA FOs may directly receive foreign warrant information from a first party or a third-party reporter. See GN 02613.940 for a description of reports received by SSA. . SSA will provide additional identifying information about the beneficiary as requested by OIG to assist in correctly processing the foreign warrant. See GN 02613.250B. for processing instructions for foreign warrants received directly by FOs.

B. Procedure

1. FO receipt of a foreign warrant

a. Report concerning a foreign warrant received by SSA FO

If a report concerning a foreign warrant is received by an SSA FO, continue payments pending the outcome of Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) investigation of the foreign warrant.

b. Process case

Process the case as follows:

  • •

    Prepare e-mail for forwarding to your Regional Fugitive Felon Coordinator or PSC Coordinator, as appropriate. On your e-mail message include the information in GN 02613.150B. If available include: passport number and country where crime was committed.

  • •

    Use the information from the Numident record to provide the individual’s parent's name and place of birth.

  • •

    Refer the information by e-mail to your RFF Coordinator as indicated in GN 02613.990 or PSC Coordinator as indicated in GN 02613.995.

NOTE: Developing Representative Payee Suitability --Check RPS in each case where the beneficiary/claimant has an outstanding felony warrant to determine if they are serving as a representative payee.

Effective 4/2005, persons having an outstanding felony warrant are prohibited from serving as a payee. There are no exceptions to this prohibition. Refer to GN 00502.133

2. PSC receipt of foreign warrant information

Any foreign warrants reports should be forwarded to the SSA FO that maintains jurisdiction of the beneficiary’s MBR address for processing per GN 02613.250B.

3. Referral to OIG

Your Fugitive Felon Regional Coordinator or PSC Coordinator will forward the request to OIG’s Fugitive Enforcement Division at the Outlook address: ^Fugitive Felon. In the Subject Line of the email, include your District Office (DO) or Processing Center (PC) code. See GN 02613.250B. for referral instructions. OIG will work with the International Criminal Police Organization and/or the National Crime Information Center to determine whether there is an active warrant recognized by United States law enforcement and whether the foreign crime is a felony (i.e., a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year or carries a penalty of death for the crimes of flight or escape).

If OIG’s response indicates that United States law enforcement does not recognize the foreign warrant, fugitive suspension does not apply. If OIG’s response indicates that United States law enforcement recognizes the foreign warrant as a felony level crime, use the information provided by OIG to suspend benefits to the beneficiary effective with the date the warrant was issued.

C. Exhibit – foreign warrant referral to OIG

E-Mail Referral to OIG for Foreign Warrant Information:

TO: OIG, Assistant Special Agent-In-Charge, FED

FROM:

SUBJECT: Fugitive Warrant Issued In A Foreign Country

Please determine if the United States recognizes a warrant for the following crime.

SSN:

NAME:

DATE OF BIRTH:

PLACE OF BIRTH:

PARENT'S NAME:

GENDER:

PASSPORT NUMBER: (optional)

COUNTRY WHERE CRIME WAS COMMITTED:

DATE OF CRIME: (optional)

NATURE OF CRIME: (optional)

 

Process the returned warrant information from OIG per GN 02613.150B.

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202613250
GN 02613.250 - Warrants from Other Countries - 09/28/2023
Batch run: 11/06/2024
Rev:09/28/2023