Social Security Administration September 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are revising our regulation to remove Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea (now Cambodia) from the list of countries to which social security benefits may not be sent under restrictions imposed by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury). This revision reflects published Treasury regulations that removed the restrictions on sending Federal payments to beneficiaries living in those countries. In addition, we are updating the citation for Treasury's authority to restrict payments to beneficiaries living in certain countries and correcting a typographical error in one of the section headings.

We are revising our rules to allow representatives, in certain instances, to charge and receive a fee from third-party entities without requiring our authorization. We are also eliminating the requirement that we authorize fees for legal guardians or court- appointed representatives who represent claimants before us if a court has already authorized the fees. We are revising our rules to reflect changes in representatives' business practices and in the ways claimants obtain representation, and to improve the efficiency of our representative fee process.

In accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act, as amended, this notice announces a renewal of an existing computer matching program that we are currently conducting with VA/VBA.