A party is encouraged to send a request for administrative review to the component with jurisdiction to review (POMS GN 03960.005). However, all components will promptly route erroneously filed requests for administrative review to the component with proper jurisdiction to process the review.

1. 1. 

   We Receive an Oral Request

   If the Teleservice Center (TSC) or other office receives an oral inquiry and, after verifying the identity of the caller, determines that the caller is requesting administrative review of the approval or disapproval of a fee agreement or disputing a fee amount determination, the receiving component staff will:

   1. a. 

      Advise the caller that they must submit their signed written request for administrative review within 15 days of the date they received the notice.

   2. b. 

      Inform the caller that they must explain their reasons for seeking review in their request, and that they may use the Form SSA-795, which is available for download at https://www.ssa.gov/forms/, to submit their request. Explain that use of this form is optional.

   3. c. 

      Remind the caller of the importance of submitting their request within 15 days of the date they received the notice. Explain that, if the caller does not submit the request within 15 days of date they received the notice, they must provide an explanation for their late filing, which the reviewing official will consider.

   4. d. 

      Advise the caller to mail their completed and signed written request to the address of the reviewing official listed on the notice they received (see GN 03960.005 for jurisdictional information).

   5. e. 

      Explain to the caller that, once we receive the request for administrative review, the reviewing official will send them a confirmation notice and explain what happens next.

   6. f. 

      If the caller needs additional assistance submitting their request, offer to send the Form SSA-795 to the caller with a courtesy return envelope addressed to the reviewing component. Ask the caller to read the name and address of the reviewing official listed on the fee agreement determination or fee authorization for inclusion on the return envelope. See GN 03960.005 for jurisdictional information. Advise the caller to immediately complete, sign, and return the form.

2. 2. 

   Field Office Receives Written Request

   If a field office (FO) receives a written request for administrative review under the fee agreement process, FO staff will take the following actions:

   1. a. 

      Ensure the date we received the request is documented (e.g., date stamp the request), as needed.

   2. b. 

      Determine which component has jurisdiction to conduct administrative review (See GN 03960.005 for more information).

   3. c. 

      If there is an eView record, upload the request to the B section of eView using WorkTrack or Evidence Portal. If there is no eView record, upload the request to Evidence Portal only.

   4. d. 

      Notify the jurisdictional component by email that the request has been uploaded and include a copy of the request as an attachment. The referring component will use a read receipt to confirm proper notification. Contact the Processing Center (PC) using the appropriate control mailbox in HALLEX I-1-2-96 or through their offices typical process for communicating with the PC. Instructions for obtaining contact information for reviewing officials at the hearing or Appeals Council (AC) level can be found in GN 03950.010 C.3.

   5. e. 

      If we are withholding Title II past-due benefits for possible direct payment, email the PC to prevent premature release.

   6. f. 

      For Title II purposes, add a special message to the master beneficiary record (MBR) data, following the procedure in MS 06307.008: “[Date – mm/yy] - Request for administrative review of fee agreement [disapproval or amount] filed by [claimant, affected auxiliary beneficiary, representative, or decision maker].” For Title XVI purposes, the reviewing official enters a remark to the Supplemental Security Record (SSR), following the procedure in SM 01301.841: “[Date – mm/yy ] - Request for administrative review of fee agreement [disapproval or amount] filed by [claimant, representative, or decision maker].”

3. 3. 

   PC Receives Written Request

   If a PC receives a written request for administrative review under the fee agreement process and it does not have jurisdiction to conduct the administrative review, PC staff will take the following actions:

   1. a. 

      Date the request.

   2. b. 

      Determine which component has jurisdiction to conduct administrative review (see GN 03960.005).

   3. c. 

      If there is an eView record, upload the request to the B section of eView using Evidence Portal. If there is no eView record, upload the request to Evidence Portal only.

   4. d. 

      Notify the jurisdictional component by email that the request has been uploaded, and include a copy of the request as an attachment. The referring component will use a read receipt to confirm proper notification. Instructions for obtaining contact information of reviewing officials at the hearing or AC level can be found in GN 03950.010C.3.

   5. e. 

      Continue withholding 25 percent of past-due benefits, unless past-due benefits were not withheld or were prematurely released.

   6. f. 

      Annotate Administrative Review Data to the MBR using the Attorney Data Screen in MONET (MS 06307.025) or the Appointed Rep Account Data screen in MACADE (SM 00841.030).

   7. g. 

      If the Office of Hearings Operations (OHO) or the Office of Appellate Operations (OAO) has jurisdiction:

      • •

        If we are withholding past-due benefits for a potential representative fee and the request for administrative review involves the approval or disapproval of the fee agreement, diary the case for 60 days to follow-up on the administrative review determination.

      • •

        If we are withholding past-due benefits for a potential representative fee and the request for administrative review involves the amount of the fee under the fee agreement process, diary the case for 90 days to follow-up on the administrative review determination.

        • –

          If there is no electronic folder and the reviewing component requests the paper folder to resolve the issue for review, ensure that the folder contains a Form SSA-1129-U3 (Attorney Fee Case – Past-Due Benefit Summary) explaining the past-due benefits amount GN 03920.030B describes. If there are one or more auxiliary beneficiaries living in a separate household, also ensure that the claim(s) file contains an explanation of the proration of withheld past-due benefits, if appropriate (see GN 03940.035B.2). If you need to send a paper folder, send it to the reviewing component and reset the diary for 90 days.

      • •

        If the PC has not received a copy of the determination when the diary matures, follow-up with the reviewing component as appropriate. Diary the case for 30 days.

      • •

        If the PC has not received a copy of the determination when the 30-day diary matures, contact the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge (OCALJ) or OAO's Executive Director's Office, as appropriate.

   NOTE: The PC follows the post-review procedure in GN 03960.060 when a copy of the determination is received.

4. 4. 

   OHO or OAO Receives Request

   If an OHO office or OAO receives a request for administrative review under the fee agreement process but it is not the component with jurisdiction to conduct the administrative review, OHO or OAO staff will follow the instructions in:

   • •

     HALLEX I-1-2-43A for requests for administrative review of the approval or disapproval of the fee agreement; or,

   • •

     HALLEX I-1-2-46A for requests for administrative review of the amount of the fee under the fee agreement process.

5. 5. 

   How to Contact an OHO or OAO Reviewing Official

   To identify and contact the reviewing official for cases decided at the hearing or AC level, the referring component will proceed as follows:

   1. a. 

      If the reviewing official is an administrative law judge (ALJ), Hearing Office Administrative Law Judge (HOCALJ), or attorney advisor, contact the hearing office. For hearing office contact information, please see the OHO Fee Contacts directory.

   2. b. 

      If the reviewing official is the Regional Chief Administrative Law Judge (RCALJ) or assistant RCALJ who has jurisdiction over the decision maker's hearing office, contact the RCALJ's office. See HALLEX I-1-2-100 and the OHO Fee Contacts directory for more information.

   3. c. 

      If the reviewing official is the Deputy Chief ALJ or the Chief ALJ, contact the Office of the Chief Administrative Law Judge at |||OHO OCALJ DFP.

   4. d. 

      If the reviewing official is in OAO (i.e. Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, or designee), contact OAO's Attorney Fee Branch (AFB) at ^DCARO OAO ATTY FEE BR.

The proper reviewing component will take the following actions when receiving a request for administrative review under the fee agreement process:

If the PC has jurisdiction for review, refer the case to the reviewer (shown in GN 03960.005). Follow the procedures in GN 03960.035 or GN 03960.055.

OHO and OAO reviewers will follow the instructions in:

• •

  HALLEX I-1-2-43 for requests for administrative review of the approval or disapproval of the fee agreement; and

• •

  HALLEX I-1-2-46 for requests for administrative review of the amount of the fee under the fee agreement process.

• •

  Jurisdiction in cases favorably decided below the hearing level, GN 03960.005A.

• •

  Jurisdiction in cases favorably decided at or above the hearing level, GN 03960.005B.

• •

  PC jurisdiction, GN 01050.055.

• •

  Examples of Good Cause, GN 03960.025B.2.