Federal Benefits Unit

The White House

The Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) of the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela assists U.S. citizens and others who are entitled to benefits from the United States Civil Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.

The Unit accepts applications for Social Security numbers, replacement Social Security cards, and various Social Security, VA and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) benefits: retirement, spousal benefits, survivors and disability benefits, or any combination of those benefits once a particular agency has determined your eligibility to receive them. The Unit accepts requests for direct deposit of your benefits into a U.S. bank account.

Changes of address, the death of a beneficiary or a lost/stolen check should also be reported to this office. 

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas is a non claims-taking post. There are no SSA, VA or OPM staff here and we do not have access to those agencies’ computer systems.  The role of this unit is to accept paperwork 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. (PDF, 123.60KB)

SSA claims & applications:

• Obtain a Social Security Number
• Replace a lost, stolen or damaged SS Card and/or name changes
• Apply for retirement benefits
• VA Claims & applications
• Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
• Forms

If you have specific questions about your federal benefits, please contact us directly at fbuvenezuela@state.gov.

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:  http://www.va.gov/landing2_contact.htm
• To contact OPM: http://apps.opm.gov/opmorgchart/