Expedite the appointment process!
Start your electronic SSA-1696

Begin e1696

Submit your Fee agreement here!
Start your electronic SSA-1693

Begin e1693

Stay Informed! Choose to receive updates immediately, daily, weekly, or monthly. 

Subscribe Today

News Updates - Archives

New fax number for Form SSA-1694

11/8/2023 - Our fax number for the submission of Form SSA-1694 (Request for Business Entity Taxpayer Information) has changed! Please make a note that the new number is 1-833-597-1429.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations require us to report any fees we pay of $600 or more to a representative in a calendar year. To help representatives and their employers or affiliated entities reconcile their financial accounts for tax purposes, we issue IRS Forms 1099-MISC or -NEC to the representatives and entities as appropriate. However, we can do that only if the entity is registered. As this year is ending, we encourage all representatives who work for or are affiliated with an entity to register it so that we can issue them the appropriate Form IRS-1099.

Please DO NOT send any representational forms, communications, or other documents to this fax number as it may delay or prevent the processing of the registration and other documents.

Appeals Council Change of address

11/3/2023 - The address for the Appeals Council has changed. To avoid processing delays, please use the following address for submitting appeals or fee petitions (Form SSA-1560):

Social Security Administration
Office of Appellate Operations
Attn: Attorney Fee Branch
6401 Security Blvd Baltimore, MD 21235-6401

As a reminder, the preferred method to request an Appeals Council Review of an Administrative Law Judge decision or dismissal is by using the SSA secure online process available at AC iAppeal Online.

e1696 Portal update

5/15/2023 - We updated the e1696 portal, which allows the online completion, signing, and submission of the SSA-1696, Claimant’s Appointment of a Representative form. Claimant representatives can now complete most sections of the electronic notice of appointment form. Submission of the form is still a two-step process, but claimants only need to decide on the disclosure option and sign the form. Additionally, the submission was previously accessible for five days after which representatives had to restart their submissions. The form is now accessible and available to the parties for 15 days.

Representing Social Security Claimants

11/7/2022 - The EDPNA Program is now being serviced by StratComm, Inc. As part of the new contract, we have revised the EDPNA webpage Representing SSA Claimants - Direct Payment to Eligible Non-Attorney Representatives, which is accessible through the left-side tab "Information About Representation – Eligible for Direct Payment Non-Attorneys". All information about the EDPNA program is housed on this site, including links to continuing education courses and updated information regarding the annual examination, as it becomes available.

Increase in maximum fee for the fee agreement process

On June 30, 2022, we announced in the Federal Register that the maximum fee under the fee agreement process will increase to $7,200 beginning November 30, 2022. At that time, we may approve a fee agreement up to the new maximum fee limit if the fee agreement meets the statutory conditions for approval, no exceptions to the fee agreement process exist, and the favorable determination or decision is issued on or after this date.

Tips and Best Practices for Appointed Representatives

On April 12, 2022, we published a revised “Tips and Best Practices for Appointed Representatives” document. It is located under the Resources, Fact Sheets and Guides tab on this landing page. The fact sheet includes updated information about registration for direct fees, appointment procedure, and fee payment options.

EDPNA Examination

We are holding the 2024 EDPNA examination from June 6 through June 12 utilizing online proctors. The examination will be held remotely only, in the examinee's home or other remote location.

Examinees may choose from available time slots at 11:00am and 5:00pm EDT (8:00am and 2:00pm PDT) each day of testing. Approved applicants must register for a timeslot by June 1, 2024. Each session is limited to 30 examinees. Late registrations will not be accepted.

The application period begins February 1 through February 28. The application form is available at SSA-1691. For more information about application and examination go to EDPNA page.

Representing Social Security Claimants

New online service - Electronic filing of a representative's fee agreement  

5/4/2023 - The EDPNA examination for this year will be held from June 8 through June 14, 2023 and can be taken through a proctored online portal, either remotely (at home or another private location that meets our requirements) or at the testing center at Georgia Gwinnett College in Atlanta on Monday, June 12, 2023.

For more information, please visit Representing SSA Claimants - Direct Payment to Eligible Non-Attorney Representatives.

2/1/2023 - The required 2023 continuing education courses for EDPNAs are now available. To remain eligible for direct payment, an EDPNA must certify the completion of each of these courses by September 30, 2023. For more information, please visit Representing SSA Claimants - Direct Payment to Eligible Non-Attorney Representatives.

On October 18, 2021, we released a new service to allow appointed representatives to initiate an electronic fee agreement (e1693). As with the e1696, representatives and their claimants can use this process to complete, sign, and submit the e1693 form entirely electronically. This is a multi-step process and allows the claimant and up to six representatives to sign the same fee agreement. The e1693 cannot be used if more than six representatives need to sign the fee agreement on a single claim.   We developed this service to provide added flexibility to our customers, but we will continue to accept paper submissions of fee agreements via mail, eFax, or uploaded through our filing portals and Electronic Records Express. The link to the e1693 is located near the top left of this page if you would like to bookmark it for future use.

Announcement of the 2023 EDPNA Application and Examination

01/26/2023 - The EDPNA examination for this year will be held from June 8 through June 14, 2023. The examination can be taken through a proctored online portal, either remotely (at home or another private location that meets our requirements) or at a testing center. Testing centers will be located in the greater Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta areas. Access to your choice of one of these testing centers will be based on demand and availability.

Please specify if you want to take the exam remotely or if you want to go to a testing center when completing the form SSA-1691, under Section C.

We will accept applications received or postmarked between February 1 and February 28, 2023.

For more information, please visit Representing SSA Claimants - Direct Payment to Eligible Non-Attorney Representatives.

New online service - Electronic filing of a representative's notice of appointment  
On March 8, 2021, we released a new service to allow representatives to initiate an SSA-1696 notice of appointment online where they and their claimants can complete, sign and submit the form electronically with no personal contact. This is a two-step process the representative must initiate. Once the claimant completes the second step and submits the signed document, the service will automatically route the document for processing. This service will help expedite the appointment process and give representatives and claimants flexibility. We will continue to accept submissions of appointment notices via mail, eFax, or uploaded through our filing portals and Electronic Records Express as before. The link to the e1696 is located at the top left of this page, so be sure to bookmark it!

Temporary procedure announced for written notices of appointment and fee agreements to enhance flexibility during the COVID-19 emergency

On May 21, 2020, we announced temporary procedures to allow claimants to use different methods to sign the notice of appointment of a representative and fee agreement, if the fee agreement is submitted with the new notice of appointment, during the current COVID-19 health emergency. While these procedures are in place, if we receive an appointment document (e.g., Form SSA 1696) and the claimant’s signature does not appear to be in pen-and-ink (e.g., looks like an electronic signature), we will make three attempts to contact the claimant to verify his or her identity and confirm the signature. If we verify the identity and signature, we will process the appointment as usual. If we cannot reach the claimant and he or she does not return our call, or does not verify the signature, we will return the paperwork to the person who submitted it without recognizing the appointment.

We also have temporary procedures in place permitting claimants to verbally appoint a representative during a “remote” telephone hearing with an administrative law judge, if they subsequently submit a written notice of appointment. In this situation, we also will accept an alternate (e.g., electronic) format of the claimant’s signature on the written appointment notice, but without the need for additional telephone contact.

Beginning on 3/11/21 we augmented these temporary procedures to include instructions for technicians to follow when certain additional electronically signed forms (SSA-16, SSA-8000, SSA-8001, SSA-L2, SSA-820, SSA-821, SSA-827, SSA-455) are submitted along with the electronically signed SSA-1696. We also added an additional claimant contact step. After one unsuccessful attempt at reaching the claimant over the telephone, we also will send a call-in letter to the claimant and the prospective representative.

These temporary procedures and more details can be found at COVID-19 Temporary Instructions.

Direct payment to Representatives and Forms IRS 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC

Effective January 2021, we must use the new Forms IRS 1099-NEC (Nonemployee Compensation) and revised IRS 1099-MISC (Miscellaneous Income) to report aggregate fees of more than $600 that we directly paid appointed representatives in 2020. The PowerPoint presentation on this landing page illustrates these changes and can help readers understand how income will be reported on these tax documents this year and onward.

Requiring Electronic Submission of Evidence by Certain Claimant Representatives

On October 5, 2020 we published a Federal Register Notice “Requiring Electronic Submission of Evidence by Certain Claimant Representatives." This notice announces a new requirement that all representatives who request direct fee payment must submit all evidence electronically in Title II and XVI disability claims using either Electronic Records Express (ERE), Appointed Representative Services (ARS) or iAppeals if the case is electronic and is pending at either the hearings or Appeals Council levels. The new requirement will be effective on November 4, 2020, 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Expanded Access to the Electronic File at the Initial and Reconsideration Levels

On 9/19/2020, we expanded access to the electronic claim file (eFolder) to include claims at the initial and reconsideration levels, as well as continuing disability review cases. A representative can now view documents in the Disability Related Development (section E) and Medical Evidence (section F) sections of the eFolder after we receive and process the written notice of appointment. If accessing a case at the initial or the reconsideration level is not possible, it is likely that we have not received or processed the appointment.

Access to documents at these levels is available to all appointed representatives who are already registered for eFolder access. We will continue the current process of registering representatives that have at least one case pending at the hearings level; however, representatives who are only appointed to cases at the initial and reconsideration levels are not eligible to register for eFolder access at this time.

It is important to remember that attempts within a 24-hour period, to access 10 records (Social Security Numbers) to which the representative is not appointed, will result in an account lockout, so representatives are advised to wait until they receive the notice confirming that we received and processed their appointment before accessing a record. A representative whose account has been blocked must contact the Electronic Records Express (ERE) Helpdesk to unblock the account.

Collateral Estoppel

On July 29, 2020, we updated the Program Operations Manual System (POMS) procedures on collateral estoppel determinations that updates and clarifies our policy, including that the jurisdiction lies solely with the Disability Determination Services (DDS) for initial and reconsideration claims.

The updates to collateral estoppel are in sections DI 11011.001, DI 12045.005, and DI 27515.000.  It applies to all new filings and pending claims on or after July 29, 2020.