Can I apply for retirement benefits while incarcerated?

Yes! You can’t receive Social Security benefits while incarcerated[1664]—but if you haven’t applied before, and you think you may qualify, you can start the application process as early as several months before your release date.

Some prisons and jails have a pre-release agreement with local Social Security offices. Ask the pre-release staff if your facility has a pre-release agreement with a local Social Security Office.

    If your facility has a pre-release agreement:
    Speak to the pre-release staff. They should be available to help you complete and submit your application before your release.
    Pre-release staff should also notify the Social Security office about your release date.
    Ideally, if a pre-release agreement is in place, staff should start working with you several months before your release, and Social Security should then process your application promptly so that your benefits will start shortly after you get out.[1665]
    If your facility doesn’t offer pre-release assistance—and/or you have trouble working with correctional staff:
    Call Social Security to have application materials mailed to you and get help with them. Be prepared to give your Social Security number and release date. If Social Security’s automated phone system doesn’t accept your call, you should ask a non-incarcerated family member to call as an Authorized Representative (“AR”) on your behalf (use the form in Appendix G, PG. 523to appoint a family member as an AR).

What to do if you know you will be incarcerated 30 days or more:

As soon as you know that you will be incarcerated for 30 or more days, you should report this fact to Social Security so that your benefits get suspended in a timely way. If you get any Social Security checks for any months during which you’re incarcerated, these will be treated as overpayments and you’ll have to repay them later. The amounts might get deducted from your future Social Security benefits, when you’re later released from incarceration.

    An SSA representative will set a post-release appointment for you at a local Social Security office, ask you to bring your official release documents, and tell you what else you need to do.[1666]
  1. 1664

    20 C.F.R. § 404.468(a) ↑

  2. 1665

    Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf; What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf. ↑

  3. 1666

    Your Right to Representation (2011), Prison Law Office, http://www.prisonlaw.com/pdfs/BenefitsLetter,Aug2011.pdf. What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf; Entering the Community After Incarceration—How We Can Help, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10504.pdf. ↑