SSA Review Process Background Info.
Not really card just an explanation of how the SSA works when negotiating with Mexico, rest of this article is like current process :/
GAO ’05 [Government Accountability Office; February 2005; “A More Formal Approach Could Enhance SSA’s Ability to Develop and Manage Totalization Agreements”; \\pairie]
SSA's policies and procedures for assessing the accuracy and reliability of important information from foreign countries-such as birth and death data-when entering into totalization agreements remain generally informal, but recent initiatives for improvement seem promising. Historically, SSA has conducted only limited reviews, focusing primarily on broad policy issues and systems compatibility, rather than the integrity and reliability of earnings data and evidentiary documents. For example, during preliminary negotiations with Mexico, SSA conducted a limited review of that country's social security system but did not assess the reliability of that country's data. SSA has also developed several initiatives to identify risks associated with totalization agreements. These include: developing a standardized questionnaire for assessing the reliability of foreign earnings data, soliciting input from other government agencies, and using a matrix to compare potential agreement countries. SSA is also conducting "vulnerability assessments" to detect potential problems with foreign countries' documents. All of these tools are positive steps to help SSA assess potential risks posed by unreliable foreign data. However, SSA has not integrated these initiatives into formal procedures. Given the upcoming retirement of key management officials, SSA may lose critical institutional knowledge, which may limit the agency's ability to assess risks associated with future agreements.