FEDERAL BENEFITS UNIT

The Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) of the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela assists U.S. citizens, Venezuelans, an third country nationals who worked and retired with the Civil Service, Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Office of Workers' Compensation Programs under the U.S. Department of Labor.
You may apply at this office to obtain a social security number, replace your social security card and for different types of Social Security, VA and OPM Benefits: retirement, spouse’s, survivors and disability benefits, or any combination of those benefits once the agency has determined your eligibility to receive them. You may also report your change of address, death of a beneficiary, a lost or stolen check and request direct deposit of you benefits into a U.S. bank account.

The U.S. Embassy/Consulate is a non claim-taking post. This means that we have no staff fully trained in SSA, VA or OPM policies and procedures and do not have direct SSA, VA or OPM connectivity therefore we will only accept your application and forward it to the proper agency for processing.

Federal Benefits assistance is offered every Wednesday between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. except for Venezuelan and American holidays and staff training days.

SSA claims & applications:
Obtain a Social Security Number
Replace a lost, stolen or damaged SS Card and/or name changes
Apply for benefits

VA claims & applications

Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Forms

If you wish to contact these agencies directly, please follow the following links:

To contact SSA from outside the U.S.:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foreign/phones.html

To contact VA:
https://iris.va.gov/scripts/iris.cfg/php.exe/enduser/home.php

To contact OPM:
http://apps.opm.gov/opmorgchart/

back to top ^