Addendum to the Supporting Statement for 0960-0622

Addendum to the Supporting Statement for

Form SSA‑561-U2

Request for Reconsideration

20 CFR 404.907-404.921, 416.1407-416.1421, and 418.1325

OMB No. 0960-0622

Justification of the Requirement for Claimant Representatives to use of the i561

Effective October 12, 2011, the Requiring the Use of Electronic Services by Certain Claimant Representatives Final Rules (20 CFR 404.1713 and 416.1513) requires representatives to use our electronic services at the times and in the manner we prescribe on matters for which they request direct fee payment.

Revisions to the Collection Instrument

Justification of Revisions:

20 CFR 404.909 and 416.1409 require respondents to file a written reconsideration request with us if they wish to appeal an initial determination, but the regulations do not require a signature on the written request for reconsideration. However, Social Security’s long-standing practice supported by its Program Operations Manual System, forms, and other instructions require a signature on a reconsideration request. Therefore, we are updating the instructions and forms to eliminate the signature requirement and to comply with the regulatory rules.

Below is a list of the revisions we are making to the SSA-561-U2:

• “EITHER THE CLAIMANT OR REPRESENTATIVE SHOULD SIGN – ENTER ADDRESSES FOR BOTH” reminder message

• We are revising the message to read as follows, ENTER ADDRESSES FOR THE CLAIMANT AND THE REPRESENTATIVE

• We are deleting the penalty of perjury statement on the form.

• We are adding the word optional to the claimant’s signature block.

• We are deleting the words “signature” and “or” from the claimant’s representative block.

• We are replacing the word signed with the word completed in the NOTE block.

• SSA’s Office of the General Counsel is conducting a systematic review of SSA’s Privacy Act Statements on agency forms. As a result, SSA is updating the Privacy Act Statement on this form.

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