OPM Reconsideration: Deadlines, Evidence, and Where to File

If the Office of Personnel Management has denied or reduced a federal retirement benefit and you want to challenge it, you have 30 calendar days from the date of the initial decision to submit an OPM reconsideration request in writing. The request goes to OPM’s Legal Reconsideration Branch, must identify you and the decision you are contesting, and should include the evidence that shows OPM got it wrong. This internal review is a required step before any appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, so treating it as a formality rather than your best shot at reversal is a mistake.

Which OPM Decisions Can Be Reconsidered

Reconsideration applies to what the regulations call an “initial decision”: a written OPM determination that explicitly tells you that you have the right to request reconsideration. Under both CSRS and FERS, any individual whose rights or interests are affected by such a decision can seek review.¹²

The most common disputes involve creditable service, the calculation of your monthly annuity, survivor benefits, disability retirement denials, FEHB eligibility, and FEGLI coverage.³

Some OPM actions fall outside the process. A benefit change driven by new legislation that applies to all retirees equally is not an individual adverse decision. Neither is an action already required by a final court order. If your OPM letter does not include language telling you that you have the right to request reconsideration, the action is almost certainly not reconsiderable through this channel.

The 30-Day Deadline

Your written request must be received by OPM within 30 calendar days of the date on the initial decision. Not postmarked. Received. Mailing on day 28 does not save you if the request lands on day 33.¹

Extensions exist but are narrow. You may qualify if you were never notified of the time limit and had no other reason to know about it, or if circumstances beyond your control kept you from filing on time. A documented medical emergency fits. A busy schedule does not. Any extension request must be in writing and should include evidence explaining the delay.⁴

Missing the deadline without a valid excuse can close the door on any further challenge. Because reconsideration is a prerequisite for appealing to the MSPB, letting the 30 days lapse can end the case administratively and judicially.

What to Put in Your Request

A reconsideration request must be in writing and must include your full name, mailing address, date of birth, and claim number if you have one — the CSA or CSF number OPM assigns to your retirement case. Attach a copy of the initial decision you are contesting whenever possible.³

Past the identifiers, the request has to explain why the initial decision was wrong. The strongest requests point to a specific fact OPM overlooked or a regulation it misapplied, then attach evidence supporting the correct outcome. General disagreement gives OPM nothing to act on. For service credit disputes, SF-50s (Notification of Personnel Action) showing appointment dates and position changes are among the most useful documents you can send. For calculation errors, your own pay records and earnings statements let OPM verify the numbers against its file.

There is no required OPM form. A clear, professional letter is acceptable. The initial decision letter itself should include reconsideration instructions, and OPM’s pamphlet RI 38-47 outlines the requirements. What matters is that OPM ends up with a complete record that makes the correct outcome obvious.

If Your Evidence Is Not Ready in 30 Days

Sometimes supporting documents cannot be pulled together inside the deadline. OPM allows for this, but the written request itself still has to be timely. File on time and include a statement that additional evidence is forthcoming, a brief description of what it will be, your estimate of when it will arrive, and a short explanation for the delay. That preserves your right to have the later evidence considered.³

Medical Evidence in Disability Retirement Cases

Disability retirement denials are among the most frequently reconsidered decisions, and the medical documentation almost always determines the outcome. OPM expects a physician’s statement that goes well beyond a diagnosis. The documentation has to come from a licensed physician or other state-licensed practitioner working within the scope of their license.⁵

At a minimum, the physician’s statement should cover:

The history of the condition, including prior findings, treatments, and how you responded to them
Clinical findings from the most recent evaluation, including physical exam results, lab work, imaging, and any specialized diagnostic procedures
The current diagnosis, prognosis, planned future treatment, and an estimated timeline for recovery
How the condition affects your ability to perform the duties of your position, with and without accommodation
Whether the condition has become static or could be expected to cause sudden or gradual incapacitation
The medical basis for any workplace restrictions or accommodations, including their therapeutic value

A letter that simply says “Patient cannot work” will not survive OPM scrutiny. Read the denial letter closely, because OPM usually identifies the specific gaps in the medical record. Targeted new evidence filling those gaps is far more effective than a second general statement from the same physician.

Where to Send the Request

OPM’s pamphlet RI 38-47 directs reconsideration requests to:

Office of Personnel Management
Legal Reconsideration Branch, Room 3349
1900 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20415-0001³

Always check the address on your own decision letter, because certain requests go elsewhere. Postal retirees disputing enrollment under the Postal Service Health Benefits Program, for example, send requests to a different OPM office.⁶

Use a mailing method with tracking and delivery confirmation. Since the deadline runs to receipt, proof of the delivery date protects you if timeliness is later disputed, and the burden of proving timeliness is on you. OPM does not currently offer a dedicated online portal or email submission for retirement reconsideration requests, so tracked physical mail is the standard.

Overpayment Notices Follow a Different Track

If OPM says it has overpaid your annuity and wants the money back, that is a related but separate procedure. You can request a waiver, an adjusted repayment schedule, or both. OPM can waive recovery when you were “without fault” in causing the overpayment and recovery would be “against equity and good conscience.” Being without fault generally means you didn’t make an incorrect statement you should have known was wrong, didn’t fail to disclose relevant facts, and didn’t accept a payment you knew or should have known was erroneous.⁷

Recovery is against equity and good conscience when it would cause financial hardship, when you relied on the payment and gave up a valuable right or changed your position for the worse, or when recovery would be unconscionable under the circumstances. Financial hardship exists when you need substantially all of your income and liquid assets for ordinary living expenses like rent, food, utilities, insurance, medical costs, and taxes.

To claim hardship, OPM requires the Financial Resources Questionnaire (Form RI 34-1), which asks for detailed income, expense, debt, and asset information. The completed form must be returned within 30 days of the overpayment notice, OPM may ask you to verify the information with documentation, and intentionally false statements carry criminal penalties.⁸

Even without a full waiver, you can still get the repayment schedule adjusted if the standard rate would cause hardship. Your age and physical or mental condition can also weigh in your favor when OPM evaluates fault. OPM cannot waive an overpayment obtained through fraud, and overpayments made to an estate are not eligible for waiver.

Court Order Disputes Are Not Standard Reconsiderations

If your issue is the amount OPM is paying a former spouse under a state court order dividing your retirement, the reconsideration process is not your remedy. OPM treats its role as ministerial and will not interpret ambiguous language or fill in missing terms. To change the monthly amount, you generally need an amended court order that clarifies it; to attack the underlying order, you need a new court order declaring the prior one invalid or setting it aside. OPM applies amended orders prospectively, effective the first day of the second month after receipt.⁹

What Happens After You File

OPM reviews the full record: the original application materials, the initial decision, and everything you submitted with your request. It then issues a written final decision that explains its findings and legal reasoning. The final decision either reverses the initial determination or upholds it, and it ends the process inside OPM. There is no second reconsideration.

If the final decision goes against you, you can appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board within 30 days of receiving it. If both parties agree in writing to try alternative dispute resolution first, the deadline extends to 60 days total.¹⁰¹¹ Appeals are filed with the MSPB regional or field office serving where you live, and the Board’s e-Appeal system at e-appeal.mspb.gov is the exclusive electronic filing method. The Board does not accept appeals by email.¹² From the MSPB, further review lies with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.¹³

Using a Representative

You can designate someone to act on your behalf during the OPM reconsideration, whether an attorney, a union representative, or another individual. OPM’s handbook sets out the procedure, which generally requires written authorization identifying your representative and giving them permission to communicate with OPM about your case.¹⁴ Many federal employee unions handle retirement disputes for members, and attorneys who practice federal employment law take these cases regularly. Representation matters more once a case reaches the MSPB, where the proceedings resemble a courtroom, but a well-prepared reconsideration in front of OPM is often the point at which the case is actually won or lost.

1
eCFR. 5 CFR 831.109 – Initial Decision and Reconsideration
2
eCFR. 5 CFR 841.306 – Reconsideration
3
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. RI 38-47 – Information and Instructions on Your Reconsideration Rights
4
eCFR. 5 CFR 841.306 – Reconsideration
5
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CSRS and FERS Handbook – Chapter 60 Disability Retirement
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Reconsideration of a Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Enrollment Decision
7
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 845 Subpart C – Standards for Waiver of Overpayments
8
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Financial Resources Questionnaire (RI 34-1)
9
eCFR. 5 CFR Part 838 – Court Orders Affecting Retirement Benefits
10
eCFR. 5 CFR 1201.22 – Filing an Appeal
11
eCFR. 5 CFR 1201.3 – Appellate Jurisdiction
12
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board. How to File an Appeal
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1295 – Jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
14
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. CSRS and FERS Handbook – Chapter 3 Reconsideration and Appeal