Two identical NIS numbers
Dear Claudienne
I am writing to you on behalf of my brother who resides in Canada. He migrated to Canada in 1973.
When he reached retirement age in 2015 he applied for the gratuity which he was due from thenis.
I checked the NIS office on Ripon Road several times to find out how his claim was progressing and was told that another person had the same NIS number as my brother.
I was told that the other person lives in Westmoreland and is receiving NIS benefits.
When I called the NIS office a month or two later I was told that my brother’s application could not be located so he would have to fill out a new application form.
He completed the new application form but up to now August 2018 he has not heard from the NIS.
Between 1967 and 1972 when he left Jamaica he worked at three different companies and contributed to the NIS scheme.
Please check with the NIS for me to get an update on my brother’s claim. DM Dear DM
Tell Claudienne contacted the NIS and was told that your brother has been assigned a different NIS number.
When the NIS Claims Department was processing his claim to award him a grant, they noticed that he had worked in Canada.
There is a Social Security Reciprocal Agreement between Jamaica and Canada and the NIS has a unit named the International Social Security Unit (ISSU). The ISSU wrote and informed the International Operations Service, in Canada of his case and this entity wrote to your brother’s employers in Canada. The information they received from his Canadian employer in respect of his contributions to the Canadian pension scheme was sent to the NIS office in Jamaica. The NIS has used some of the Canadian contributions to qualify your brother for a partial NIS pension.
Under this partial NIS pension he will get $1,054 and 50 cents per week retroactive to April 1, 2018.
Tell Claudienne notes that your brother has been receiving the benefit since September 2018, via Citibank in the USA, which does business for the NIS.
We wish you all the best.
Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-9369436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@ jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number