US veteran's widow in Thailand: how do I sign in to VA.gov with ID.me?

A surviving spouse of a US veteran can claim on paper from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with no sign-in. The form is VA Form 21P-534EZ, Application for D.I.C., Survivors Pension, and/or Accrued Benefits. It goes by post to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365 ¹². D.I.C. is Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, a tax-free benefit for the survivors of a veteran who died of a service-connected illness or injury (one caused by military service), or who was rated totally disabled by VA for a set period ¹.

Four things go by post

• The claim. If VA receives it within one year after the death, the benefit starts from the first day of the month of the death ². An Intent to File, VA Form 21-0966, keeps that date while you gather papers ¹².
• The report of the death. By post it goes to the Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444. VA says calling is fastest, and a posted report may take longer to stop the veteran's payments ³.
• Social Security. US Social Security's page names the Federal Benefits Unit at the US Embassy, 1201 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila 0930, Philippines, as the unit for Thailand ⁴.
• Health insurance. CHAMPVA is a VA program that shares the cost of care for the surviving spouse of a veteran who died of a service-connected disability, or who was rated permanently and totally disabled at death. VA Form 10-10d goes to VHA Office of Community Care, CHAMPVA Eligibility, PO Box 137, Spring City, PA 19475 ⁵. VA's page does not say how it works outside the US.

The sign-in asks for US papers, and VA names ID.me for an address outside the US

VA accepts an ID.me, Login.gov or CLEAR account. Each one checks who you are ⁶. Login.gov asks for a US driver's license, state ID or US passport book, and CLEAR for a Social Security number ⁶. For an address outside the US, VA names ID.me or CLEAR. On ID.me you choose "I don't live in the US" and show your documents to an ID.me agent on a video call ⁷.

ID.me's page for people outside the US with a US Social Security number asks for a document showing all nine digits, and two primary documents (a passport is one) or one primary and one secondary. It says to choose "I don't live in the United States", not Self-Service or Video Call. If the international phone number shows an error, it says to use a method that does not need calls or texts ⁸.

Without a Social Security number, VA's page says a valid US passport is one of the documents ⁷. ID.me has a separate page for a non-US passport and proof of address ⁹. These pages do not say which applies to a widow with a Thai passport, and nobody at Hongdam has tried that route.

ID.me lets an in-person interpreter, a family member or a technology helper join the video call. The helper appears on screen at the start and cannot answer for you ¹⁰.

The free guide is available in Thai

On 20 October 2026 I described my tech-support sessions for US veterans and Thai-speaking widows. The work involves a dead husband's passwords and personal data on old devices, in a language the widow does not read. I have never finished one in a single session. I asked for a free, thorough minisite (a small website) in all the languages, which a widow, widower or veteran could use to sign in to these services, with the line "keep this handy, share with a friend".

That is Getting In, in 12 languages ¹¹. The Thai version is เข้าบัญชีให้ได้ (khâo ban-chii hâi dâai), checked against official pages on 20 October 2026 ¹². The guide is planned as two sessions from the start. It has a checklist for the first, ID.me from outside the US step by step, and a list of places where the sign-in fails, with the way past each one: a VPN (a tool that changes where your connection seems to come from) that triggers error 1015, iPhone photos in HEIC format (an Apple picture format) that ID.me refuses, Thai dates in the Buddhist Era (the year is 543 higher), a name spelled two ways on two papers ¹¹. The guide notes that a veteran's accounts belong to him, so a surviving spouse needs an account of their own ¹¹.

It also lists signs of someone pretending to be a helper: they contact you first, want money before filing, or ask for a password or for the code sent to your phone ¹¹. ID.me's own page says "ID.me will also never ask for your password or MFA information" ¹³. MFA (multi-factor authentication) is the extra sign-in code.

Hongdam helps with the sign-in

Hongdam's sign-in help is for US veterans and their families living outside the US: someone stays with you through the sign-in, and you type your passwords.