How to Fill Out and Submit Form SSA-1699: Representative Registration

Form SSA-1699 is the registration form you fax to the Social Security Administration before you can be appointed as a representative on any claim. Fill in your identifying information, your professional standing, any firm affiliation, and your payment preferences, sign the attestations, and fax the completed form to SSA’s Office of Central Operations at 1-877-268-3827.¹ Until SSA processes this form, it will not act on a Form SSA-1696 naming you as a representative, and it will not send direct fee payments to you from a claimant’s past-due benefits.²

Registration is required whether or not you plan to collect a fee. If you skip it, you can still be appointed by a claimant, but you will have to collect any approved fee directly from that claimant instead of receiving it from SSA’s withholding of past-due benefits.³

What to Have in Front of You Before You Start

The form moves quickly if you have everything ready. Gather these before you open the PDF:

Your Social Security Number. Federal law requires a taxpayer identification number for anyone doing business with a federal agency, and SSA prints it on payment vouchers sent to the Treasury.⁴
Your full legal name exactly as it appears on your Social Security card, plus your date of birth.
For attorneys: the name of the court or bar where you are in good standing, your year of admission, and your license number for at least one jurisdiction.
Bank routing and account numbers, if you want fees paid by direct deposit.
The Employer Identification Number for any firm, partnership, corporation, or multi-member LLC or LLP you want to list as an affiliation. You will need a separate EIN for each entity.⁵

A mismatch between the name on the form and the name on your Social Security card is one of the most common reasons SSA sends a form back. Check that first.

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

The form has seven sections. Sections I, IV, VI, and VII apply to every registrant. Sections II, III, and V apply based on whether you are an attorney and whether you are affiliated with a firm.¹

Section I: Personal Identification and Home Contact

Enter your name, date of birth, Social Security Number, home mailing address, and personal contact details (phone, fax, and email). Everyone completes this section.

Section II: Representational Standing

This is a single question: are you an attorney admitted to practice? If yes, continue to Section III. If no, skip to Section IV.

Section III: Bar and Court Information

Attorneys enter the court or bar where they are currently in good standing, the year of admission, and the license number. SSA verifies these details against existing records, so the entries should match what your bar association has on file.

Section IV: Your Information as a Representative

This section governs how SSA will communicate with you and pay you. You give a mailing address for representative notices (which can differ from the home address in Section I), a business phone number, your preferred payment method for direct fee payments, and a tax address for IRS Form 1099 reporting.

Section V: Firm or Organization Affiliation

Complete Section V only if you are affiliated with a firm or organization. Enter the entity’s EIN, name, and business contact information. If you are affiliated with more than one entity, complete a separate Section V for each.⁵

One trap here: every time you submit the form, you must include a completed Section V for every entity you want on your record, even if you are only changing information for one of them. Leaving an existing affiliation off the new form can cause SSA to drop it.

Section VI: Attestations for Representation

You attest that you will follow SSA’s rules of conduct, will not charge fees SSA has not approved, and will not mislead claimants. You also disclose any history of suspension, disbarment, or conviction under the relevant sections of the Social Security Act. A false answer here can result in suspension or disqualification from practice before SSA, so read each item carefully.

Section VII: General Attestations

The last section covers confidentiality of claimant information, security safeguards, truthful disclosure, and restrictions on using SSA branding in your marketing. You agree to keep your registration current and sign under penalty of perjury. Print and sign the form before you fax it.

Submitting the Form

Fax the completed, signed form to the Office of Central Operations at 1-877-268-3827. SSA does not currently accept online submissions of Form SSA-1699.¹

If several representatives at the same firm need to register, each person faxes a separate transmission. Do not combine forms for different representatives into one fax.⁵ Review every field before sending. Errors and omissions send you back to the start, and while you wait, SSA cannot process any appointments or direct fee payments involving you.

To check on a submitted form or troubleshoot a problem, call SSA’s representative services line at 1-800-772-6270.⁵

After SSA Processes Your Form

Once your registration goes through, SSA mails you a notice containing your Representative Identification number, or Rep ID. This is a unique 10-character code that stands in for your Social Security Number in your future dealings with SSA. Use it on fee agreements, on any Form SSA-1696 appointing you to a case, and on any later updates to your registration.¹

If you take cases at the hearings or appeals level, you can also enroll for electronic folder access through SSA’s Appointed Representative Services portal. Enrollment is separate from the SSA-1699 registration itself: you contact your local hearing office to request an invitation, complete a specially marked SSA-1699 that arrives by mail, fax it back to 1-877-268-3827, and then attend an in-person enrollment appointment at the hearing office with a photo ID and a text-enabled cell phone.⁶

Representatives who request direct fee payment are required to conduct certain business with SSA electronically. This is a regulatory requirement, not an option.⁷

Updating Your Registration

Any change to your contact information, bank account, firm affiliation, or professional status calls for a new SSA-1699. Fax the updated form to 1-877-268-3827 and include your Rep ID so SSA can match it to your existing record.⁵

A few points that trip people up on updates. Submit the entire form, not just the section that changed. If you have multiple firm affiliations, include a completed Section V for every one of them, not only the one being updated. If you are adding a new affiliation, the whole form goes in again with the full picture. And stale bank account information is the most common reason a fee payment gets delayed, so update your banking before your old account closes rather than after.

Changes at the entity level, such as the firm’s EIN, address, or bank information, are handled on a different form. The entity’s Point of Contact submits Form SSA-1694 and faxes it to 1-833-597-1429.⁸ Your individual SSA-1699 registration has to be current before SSA can process entity-level updates on the SSA-1694.

1
Social Security Administration. SSA Form 1699 Representative Registration
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Social Security Administration. Representing SSA Claimants
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eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart R – Representation of Parties
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Social Security Administration. Registration Requirements for Direct Payments to Representatives
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Social Security Administration. SSA-1699 Registration of Individuals and Staff for Appointed Representative Services
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Social Security Administration. Appointed Representative Services
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Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.1713 – Mandatory Use of Electronic Services
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Social Security Administration. Request for Business Entity Taxpayer Information