How long for Social Security retirement application approval? Online vs. phone frustrations

mine took almost 6 weeks. applied online in january. the website kept saying "processing" the whole time with no updates. i finally got a letter in the mail with approval. never got any emails or calls. seems like SSA is just really slow these days

I got approved in 3 days last summer!! Maybe depends on your work history or something? Or if they need to verify anything?

The typical processing time for retirement benefit applications is 4-6 weeks, but can extend to 8 weeks during busy periods. Several factors affect this timeline: 1. Complexity of your work history (multiple employers, self-employment) 2. Whether SSA needs additional verification documents 3. Current workload at your regional processing center 4. Accuracy and completeness of your online application Your application is still within normal processing time frames. The online status will typically just show "processing" until a decision is made - there aren't detailed status updates during review. If you're approaching week 6 with no communication, that would be the appropriate time to follow up. When you do need to contact them, I'd recommend doing it early in the morning (right when they open) to minimize wait times.

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME CALLING THEM!!!!! I spent TWO WHOLE DAYS trying to get through last month about my disability application. Either busy signals or disconnected after waiting 90+ minutes. The system is COMPLETELY BROKEN. They're obviously understaffed and don't care at all about our time. Good luck getting anyone on the phone without aging another 10 years!!!

I had a similar experience last month, and I discovered a service called Claimyr that got me through to an SSA agent in under 20 minutes. It saved me from calling repeatedly for days. They basically navigate the phone system for you and call you back when they have an agent on the line. Made a huge difference when I needed to check on my application status. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or check out their website claimyr.com. Worth it for the time savings alone.

Social Security retirement applications currently take 4-6 weeks on average for straightforward cases. If your application requires additional verification (foreign employment, missing years in your record, name discrepancies), it can take 8-12 weeks. One thing many applicants don't realize is that there's a difference between approval and payment start. Your application might be approved, but payments typically begin the month after approval, and are paid the month after that. So even with a 4-week approval, you might not see money for 8-10 weeks from application date. If you're approaching the 6-week mark, I'd recommend calling the national number (1-800-772-1213) during non-peak hours (Wednesday-Friday afternoons tend to have shorter wait times). Have your confirmation number and Social Security number ready. Meanwhile, continue checking your mySocialSecurity account every few days - sometimes the online status updates before any mail arrives.

Why don't you just go to your local SSA office? That's what I did when my online application was stuck for weeks. The lady at the desk looked it up right away and told me what was happening!

Quick update on current processing times - I work with seniors applying for benefits, and I've noticed approval times have increased slightly in the past few months. The current average for straightforward retirement applications is closer to 5-7 weeks, with some taking up to 8-9 weeks. The good news is that benefits are paid retroactively to your entitlement date, so you won't lose any money due to processing delays. If your Full Retirement Age (FRA) has already passed or you applied after FRA, your first payment will include any retroactive amounts you're entitled to. One tip: Check that your Direct Deposit information is correctly entered in your mySocialSecurity account. A surprising number of delays happen because of banking information errors.

someone told me that if u keep checking your mysocialsecurity account and clicking on different things it can slow down your application because the system thinks someone might be trying to hack your account. dunno if thats true but i stopped checking mine so much after that