Documents Needed for SSDI Application

The Social Security Administration wants to know very specific information about you to determine if you are eligible for SSDI. This includes information about you, your family, your assets, etc. It is important to provide any documentation they request within a reasonable time because any lapse in coverage could mean a pause or complete cessation of your benefits. The documents may need to be mailed or uploaded online, but they are still time sensitive. If you are mailing a document, ensure it is postmarked before the deadline, if not in the mail ahead of time. Managing the documents you need for your SSDI case can quickly get out of control if you don’t organize them effectively. 

Personal Information 

When applying for SSDI, you must give the Social Security Administration a comprehensive history of yourself and the people living with you. You will need to provide documentation, like: 

• Birth certificate(s)
• Marriage certificate
• Social security number/card
• Banking information, like your account and routing number

If you have dependents living with you, you must also provide information on them. They will ask for proof of their birthdate, living situation, and social security numbers. This is to evaluate your needs and expenditures in relation to your disability or financial need (regarding SSI). 

Medical Records

People applying for SSDI have a disability that prevents them from participating in the workforce for at least one year or will result in their death. The Disability Determination Services (a branch of the SSA) is in charge of the initial phase of applying for SSDI. Their job is to check if your disability qualifies you for benefits and whether your application is sufficient. Because this is the first stage of your application, you must provide all of the necessary documentation as soon as possible. That way, if there are any missing pieces or the office claims not to have received something, you will have ample time to correct anything without delay in your payments. Your medical records include: 

• Names and contact information of any medical personnel involved in your medical treatment. 
• Test results. 
• Information on surgeries, procedures, or appointments that you have had. 
• Residual Functional Capacity form from your doctor. 
• List of prescriptions you take.

This information will likely be faxed directly from your medical provider to your local SSA office for easy communication. You will likely have to facilitate some information gathering, like calling your doctors to ask that your files be faxed to the SSA. If you find the process difficult or time-consuming, call a disability law attorney to get help arranging everything. The SSA has recently been able to access electronic medical records instead of requesting physical copies, which saves a lot of time and allows you to be more at ease in this step of the process. A complete medical record file is vital to your SSDI application. 

Work and Education History 

The SSA will want to know your work and education history when you apply for SSDI. They will evaluate your history to confirm your disability and ability to work if you’re applying for SSDI, while they’ll look more at financial assets for SSI. Remember that SSDI is harder to get for people who worked jobs with more transferable skills, as the SSA will imagine that you might be able to work in another line of work. The SSA will ask for documents like: 

• Any W-2s from the previous year
• Degrees that you have completed
• The kind of jobs that you worked in the previous decade
• The kind of work that you accomplished in previous jobs
• Any additional training that you undertook 

Contact a Local Attorney 

The Social Security Administration will ask you to build a case to receive benefits. The application requires a lot of information about you and your household, and documentation is one of the most important parts of this process. Keep copies of any documents you have or gather so you can easily send off another copy if it gets lost in the process. Try to save any electronic files organized on your computer with clear names (including the year) and scan any physical documents onto your computer in case you need to send or print anything in a pinch. If you are having trouble figuring out what to do for your SSDI case, contact a loved one, an SSA representative, or a local lawyer to help you gather everything you need for your application.