Access, Notification, and Due Process Issues

Published: May 2026

American residents abroad are denied timely access to essential government services due to the inability of administrative agencies to implement access and notification procedures that take into account the situation of Americans abroad.

As a consequence, an increasingly greater number of Americans abroad encounter difficulty in obtaining guidance or confirmation of their situation. The elimination of consular services, notably IRS offices, that formerly could bridge this access gap in areas such as taxation, has contributed to these communication issues.

Americans abroad are also increasingly concerned about the dire consequences of late or failed notifications, in particular, in the taxation and financial reporting areas. This has resulted in passport revocations and civil and criminal liability being imposed without adequate due process, which has recently generated considerable litigation and uncertainty.

These problems do not result from an intention of any administrative agency or their personnel to limit the access to which Americans abroad are entitled or the notifications to which they have a right. On the contrary, in our experience administrative staff when they can be reached do what is in their power to attempt to assist Americans abroad.

However, this is difficult due to the complexity of internal regulation and the lack of human resources and training, particularly at the IRS, combined with IT deficiencies designed with inadequate attention to whether Americans abroad could fit into the systems intended solely for Americans resident in the U.S. For example, access to services and benefits have been seriously delayed due to routine gaps such as the fact that most Americans’ abroad telephone numbers have too many digits to be entered into the agency system.

We, therefore, ask Congress in its oversight function, the State Department and relevant administrative agencies to ensure satisfactory access and notification for Americans abroad and in particular:

Social Security and Medicare

• Delay or non-receipt of correspondence and notifications from Social Security are a problem. Important notifications should be sent electronically, or by registered letter or some other mechanism to ensure effective notification consistent with due process.

• Each year overseas beneficiaries must send Form SSA-7161 or SSA-7162 (“proof of life” form) to the SSA facility at a PO Box in Pennsylvania. There is no way to confirm receipt, and the PO Box address precludes sending them by courier. Failure to do so results in suspension of benefits, which has happened when the form was deemed not received. Overseas Americans should be able to send the form either electronically or to their local FBU at the Embassy for forwarding.

• Many FBU’s do not respond to emails or telephone messages. Improved telephone service or other adequate means of easy communication and timely responses from local FBU are needed to handle the complicated issues faced by Americans resident overseas. Access to guidance from stateside Social Security personnel by telephone should be expanded and personnel trained to deal with issues affecting Americans abroad.

• Americans abroad encounter Social Security and Medicare access issues because the official government account (login.gov) requires a U.S. residence or overseas military address. Overseas civilians are directed to a third-party account (ID.me). Overseas Americans should have the same online access as resident Americans.

• Americans abroad should be permitted to make online applications for Medicare.

• Fields compatible with foreign addresses and telephone numbers should be available in all available forms.

Taxation Administration

Cases of delay or non-receipt of correspondence (for example, tax refund checks) and notifications from the IRS are a problem. These issues are in part caused by the practice in many cases of the IRS to use U.S. methods of communicating, for example, only using first class U.S. postage for mail abroad.

Clear guidance is needed concerning the internal IRS procedures for contesting alleged tax deficiencies, as well as omissions or inadequate declarations on informational reporting requirements with no tax implications, such as gifts or FBARS. Internal review of cases that purports to be “independent” must be made truly so. Important notifications, most notably of issues relating to tax delinquency which may result in passport revocation, should be sent by registered letter or some other mechanism to ensure effective notification consistent with due process.

Improved telephone service or other adequate means of easy communication and timely responses from the IRS are needed to handle the complicated issues faced by Americans resident overseas, particularly following the closure of all IRS offices abroad.

Citizenship

Americans abroad need, but do not currently have, responsive information and assistance when seeking to obtain citizenship for their minor children. USCIS employees in the U.S. are unreachable by phone and consular officers are not involved in the application process. Telephone access to the U.S. and the involvement of consular officers should be implemented.

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