Difficulty receiving NIS pension overseas

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Those of us retirees who reside overseas are having extreme difficulty in receiving our NIS pension payment on time. In the case of my wife and I, we migrated to the US in 2014 and, before departing Jamaica, we visited the NIS office in order to determine how our pension payments would be treated, and we were informed that we would receive our payments every six months and specifically in the months of March and September of each year. Initially, we received our payments on time. However, after the first couple of payments, things started to go awry and we would receive our payments extremely late. In the early stages, the payments were coming directly from Jamaica and we attributed that to be the reason for their constant late arrival.

Approximately three years ago, the payment method changed and we started receiving payment from a bank here in the US and things got a little better. However, over time, it has reverted to how things were sent, the payments were sent directly from Jamaica. A case in point, we were scheduled to receive a payment in September 2023 and, at the time of writing to you, we have not received our payment.

I contacted an acquaintance’s wife who works at the NIS office, in order to ascertain the reason for the late payment, and I was advised that it was late because of technical difficulties they are having and that we would likely receive our payment by mid-October. I find this extremely disappointing as no-one from the NIS made an effort to inform us and, to date, October 19, we are yet to receive our payment.

I would like to use this medium to ask Minister Pearnel Charles, Jr why in this day and age NIS will not use bank wire transfers to make pension payments to those of us who reside in the diaspora, and, when can we expect to receive our present payments for September 2023?

VOLNEY BOSWELL