How long after repaying Social Security benefits does withdrawal request get approved for survivor benefits?

ugh, the SSA is SO slow with these things! i went thru something kinda similar last year when i withdrew my early retirement to switch to disability. took almost 5 months after i paid everything back to get the final approval letter. then another 2 months for my SSDI to actually start! no explanation for the delays either

There should be two separate processes happening: (1) The processing of your Form SSA-521 withdrawal request, and (2) The processing of your survivor benefit application. The withdrawal should be finalized once they've verified your repayment, which typically takes 30-60 days at most. You should definitely receive a formal approval letter for the withdrawal. Seven months is excessive and suggests something might be stuck in the system. Have you been able to speak with a claims specialist specifically about the withdrawal status? Regular representatives often don't have visibility into where things are stuck.

My mom had to withdraw her retirement benefits last year to get survivor benefits after my dad died. She got an official letter about 8 weeks after she repaid everything saying her withdrawal was approved. Then her survivor benefits started the next month. Something's definitely wrong with your timeline... 7 months isn't normal even for the SSA.

After my husband passed away 3 years ago, I had a similar situation with switching from my own retirement to survivor benefits. One thing I learned was that after the SSA withdrawal request is approved, the survivor benefits don't automatically start! My withdrawal was approved after about 2 months, but then I had to practically beg them to finalize the survivor benefits. Took another 3 months of calling constantly. The ONLY way I finally got through to a claims specialist who could ACTUALLY help was by using a service called Claimyr. My niece told me about it - you go to claimyr.com and they get you through to a real SSA agent quickly instead of waiting on hold forever. Here's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Best $20 I ever spent! The agent I reached saw that my claim was just sitting there and expedited it. Got my first survivor payment two weeks later with all the backpay.

Social Security withdrawal requests (Form SSA-521) must be processed by specific technicians who handle post-entitlement actions. These requests should be finalized within 90 days of receipt of repayment, and you should receive a formal withdrawal approval letter. The critical issue here is that your survivor claim has likely been assigned a different technician than your withdrawal request, and there's a lack of coordination. Once your withdrawal is processed, the survivor claim should be released for processing, but this requires internal communication that sometimes doesn't happen automatically. Specific actions to take: 1. Request to speak with a Post-Entitlement Technical Expert (not just a claims specialist) 2. Ask for a "status query" on your withdrawal specifically 3. Request that a "critical case flag" be added to your record due to financial hardship 4. If approved, your survivor benefits should be paid retroactively to the month of application or your husband's death (whichever came later) Keep detailed records of every conversation, including the date, time, and representative ID number.

not to be that person but have u checked ur myssa account online??? sometimes the letters show up there b4 they come in the mail. my cousin had something similar and the approval letter was sitting in her online account for like 3 weeks lol

THIS IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!! 7 MONTHS and they've already GOT YOUR MONEY back?? What possible excuse could they have?? I waited 4 months for my disability hearing and thought THAT was bad. The right hand never knows what the left is doing at SSA. My neighbor works for SSA and even SHE admits the system is a disaster with all these different departments not talking to each other. You need to go to your CONGRESSMAN. That's the ONLY way to get action sometimes. Call your Representative's office and ask for constituent services - they can do a congressional inquiry that SSA HAS to respond to within 30 days!

have you tried going to the local office in person? Sometimes that's the only way to get things moving. My aunt had a similar issue and she went to the office with all her paperwork and refused to leave until someone looked into it. Suddenly they found her file and got things moving.

did u get any confirmation when u paid back the money? like a receipt or anything? just wondering if maybe they lost track of your repayment somehow