The Appeals Council is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia with additional offices in Baltimore, Maryland and Crystal City, Virginia. We want to provide you with useful information about the Appeals Council and requesting review of an administrative law judge's hearing decision. Show The Appeals Council review process generally begins after an application for benefits has been denied at the hearing level or a request for hearing has been dismissed. You must ask for an Appeals Council (AC) review within 60-days of receiving your hearing decision. We provide three ways to request an AC review as described below:
Generally, you have 60 days after you receive the notice of our decision to ask for any type of appeal.
The Appeals Council looks at all requests for review, but it may deny a request if it believes the hearing decision was correct. If the Appeals Council decides to review your case, it will either decide your case itself or return it to an administrative law judge for further review. When the Appeals Council reviews your case it may consider any of the issues considered by the administrative law judge, including those issues that were favorably decided in your case. You will receive a copy of the Appeals Council's final action on your case.
You may want a lawyer, friend, or other qualified person to represent you. The people at the Social Security office can help you if you have trouble finding a representative or if you cannot afford one. If you decide to have a representative, you need to tell us by filling out a special form, available at any Social Security office. You can also get this form by following the link below. Form SSA-1696, Appointment of Representative If you have a representative, you may have to pay his or her fees. For more information about
representation and about the fees a representative may charge, refer to "Information About Representation." If you disagree with the Appeals Council's decision, or if the Appeals Council decides not to review your case, your next step is to file a civil suit in a Federal district court. If you bring a civil suit seeking judicial review of the Social Security Administration's (SSA) final decision, our staff will prepare the record of the claim for filing with the court. This includes all the documents and evidence SSA relied on in making the decision or determination. There is a fee for filing a civil suit in Federal court. How do I contact my local SSA office?You can find the phone number for your local office by using our Office Locator. You can call our National 800 Number at 1-800-772-1213 between 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
What does Oho stand for in Social Security?The Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) and the Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight (OARO) are responsible for holding hearings, issuing decisions, and reviewing post-hearing appeals for claims filed under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act, as amended.
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