We’re Making It Easier To Do Business With Us Electronically
Reading Time: 3 MinutesLast Updated: September 5, 2024
We’ve heard your preference to do business with us electronically. You want to submit forms, evidence, and other information online. If your signature is needed, you want to be able to sign documents electronically before submitting them.
We’ve released the eSignature/Upload Documents as an option to submit documents. This new, online service option allows our representatives to electronically request, and our customers to electronically submit, 50 forms and nearly 80 types of evidence. The information we ask you to provide is necessary to process applications and other transactions.
This option eliminates the need to mail, fax, or deliver information to a local Social Security office. By streamlining our document submission process and reducing mail, we are improving your experience.
How Does it Work?
- Our representatives send customers a link with the request for the forms and/or evidence we need to process their application.
- The customer authenticates by signing in to, or creating, their personal my Social Security account, reviews the request, completes the form, electronically signs (when signatures are required), and uploads the completed forms and/or any supporting evidence.
No more mailing or faxing certain evidence or forms, and fewer trips to the Social Security office… it’s that easy!
Note: Customers have 30 days to electronically submit requested information and may receive an email reminder. If the electronic request expires, you can contact our office to ask for a new request or submit the forms and information by mail, fax, or by visiting an office.
To learn more, visit our Frequently Asked Questions.
Online Forms and Signature Removal
In addition to the eSignature/Upload Documents option, we are converting many of our frequently used forms to more convenient online versions. Customers will have the option to complete a user-friendly, fillable online form, then electronically sign and submit it and some now don’t require a signature at all.
There are more than 30 forms available that can be signed electronically, which represents 90% of the most commonly used forms by Social Security customers in our local offices. One of our most used forms, the SSA-827, Authorization to Disclose Information to Social Security Administration, is now available to sign and submit electronically. Other frequently used forms available to sign and submit electronically include:
- SSA-820/821, Work Activity Reports.
- SSA-632, Request for a Waiver of Overpayment Recovery.
- SSA-634, Request for Change in Overpayment Recovery Rate.
We have removed the signature requirement entirely for 12 of our most commonly used forms. Some of the forms include:
- SSA-L4201, Employer Requesting Wage Information
- SSA-789, Request for Reconsideration/Disability Cessation Right to Appear
You may also upload many of these forms online, further reducing your burden. We are considering removal of signature requirements on other forms as well.
What Do These Changes Mean for You?
- They help speed up processing, which means faster access to benefits and services.
- They expand service options for people with disabilities and people in rural communities by eliminating the need to physically visit an office.
- They reduce the risk of documents being lost in the mail.
- They better protect and safeguard personal information.
Check out this update from Commissioner O’Malley and view our press release to learn more.
Whether you do business with us online, by phone, or in person, we’re committed to making it easier for you. We continue to explore more opportunities to make doing business with us easier. Please share this information with others.
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Tags: General Information, online services
See CommentsAbout the Author
Dawn Bystry, Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
Deputy Associate Commissioner, Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
Comments
Comments are closed.
Heather C.
Hmmm…then why can I suddenly no longer fill out my Work Activity Report online after doing it that way for two years!!! Y’all are a MESS!!!
C.B.
Hi, Heather. We’re sorry to hear you’re having difficulty. Please call 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and ask a representative to assist you with your Work Activity Report. Wait times to speak to a representative are typically shorter in the morning, later in the week, and later in the month. You can also contact your local office. Lastly, completing our Feedback Form will give our team a better understanding of how we can improve our processes. We value your opinion and look forward to hearing from you.
J B.
I can not log in online. I have tried using both the forgot my user name and forgot my password to no avail. I get a response that my information is not found. I have tried calling the 800 number for help but the response time is over 120 minutes. I have logged in Nov 2024 so I know my user name is correct and I also believe my password is correct, but as I mentioned before there is no way of resetting it. What am I to do?
C.B.
Hi, J Boyce. We’re sorry to hear about your experience, and we thank you for using our blog. Our National 800 number is available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wait times to speak to a representative are typically shorter in the morning, later in the week, and later in the month. Please complete our Feedback Form, which will give our team a better understanding of how we can improve our processes. We value your opinion and look forward to hearing from you.
JoJo N.
Most people do not know computers and their basic functions and capabilities unless they learned from scratch (like me) or they went back to school after the year 2000 to learn about computers. There were not hundreds or thousands or millions of computers in schools, like there is today, until after 2000. So, the option to file for SS benefits online is a good idea so long as there is a simple option to mail in copies of documents that people do not know how to scan with a printer and load onto their laptop or desk top computer files. But, that makes one wonder if the person filing is intentionally avoiding a face to face interview for some bad reason. Sort of a “just imagine if” we could obtain a passport or drivers license online scenario. That could be a very sticky wicket.
Woozle H.
You say: “We’re Making It Easier To Do Business With Us Electronically”
I say: “You are absolutely making it worse and worse to do business with you electronically!”
Your weird and useless security methods PREVENT people from doing business electronically!
Are you doing this on purpose?
If yes, why?
These are not “YES or NO questions”!
These questions require THINKING!
So, when was the last time you ever caught anyone
THINKING within the SSA BSO, LOGIN.GOV, ID.ME systems? Give up? No such time ever!!
Yes, because no one ever thought about testing, trying, figuring, improving anything there.
Oh, you disagree? Well then, give me their email, or phone numbers, so I can talk with those smart people
directly. See what I mean? No responsibility, no one is really in charge, the buck stops nowhere!
C.B.
Hi, Woozle. Thank you for comment. We are sorry to hear of your unpleasant experience while doing business with us electronically. Please complete our Feedback Form, which will give our team a better understanding of how we can improve our processes. We value your opinion and look forward to hearing from you.
William F.
Dear Ms Dawn Bystry,
With all due respect, the who SSA BSO system to enter and report W-2s is no longer working properly, because the so-called security codes, via cell phone, either do not arrive, or arrive only after they have expired. This causes untold trouble, delay and useless hassle.
All we ask is: “A system that has been tested, and a system that works!” What you have now does not work, and we feel rightfully disgusted with it. The people who invented your security systems should all be fired and replaced. They do not test anything under real life conditions.
(Just FYI: If the people who make software, are the same people who program AI systems, Artificial Intelligence will merely proliferate the same uselessness we have come to expect from whoever it is that makes software these days, i.e. the most small-minded people on the planet. This will never work as advertised!)
Not only have you installed two secondary layers of security systems, called Login.gov and ID.Me, but now it seems, this still is not “secure enough”. We are tired of entering security codes, that do not arrive in time to be entered. Since it is clear to anyone that a government that PREVENTS PEOPLE FROM FOLLOWING THE LAW, for the sole purpose of collecting late fees, is a corrupt and mean-spirited system. I, like many others, will advise people not to pay any penalties caused by such uncouth government systems, and sue you and all the people responsible for this mess, until you give up and fix the mess you have caused.
A government that does not take advice, that does not appreciate the people who try their best to follow the laws, and that pokes people who complain in the eye,
CANNOT BE TRUSTED! The fact that you government officials are so afraid of the public, that you cannot even provide a phone #, an email address, or a mailing address, shows me that you do not really care about the quality of your systems.
Do not tell us “We hope this helps!”, when you already know that it won’t help
So, what are you going to do about this? Are you, like any reasonable person, be willing to rethink, remake, remodel your systems? Since you are a government official, and thus potentially given to revenge and such
behavior, as is common in the US government now, I cannot give you my real name, to protect myself from the vengeful methods of the US government against its own people. Is there anyone in the US government willing to think about this?