Form SSA-371 is the Request for Reinstatement that lets you restart Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) without filing a new disability application, provided your benefits ended because of work and you file within 60 months of that termination. You sign a short set of declarations, SSA reviews your medical condition, and you can receive temporary cash payments and health coverage while that review is pending. If your prior benefit was Supplemental Security Income rather than SSDI, use Form SSA-372 instead.1Social Security Administration. DI 28057.010 Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Case Receipt
Who Can File Form SSA-371
Four conditions all have to be true:
- Your SSDI ended because your earnings went over the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) limit, not because SSA decided your medical condition had improved.2Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Overview
- You are filing within 60 months of the month your prior entitlement terminated.2Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Overview
- You are no longer performing SGA in the month you file.
- The impairment stopping you from working is the same one that qualified you before, or one medically related to it.3Social Security Administration. Request for Reinstatement – Title II
The 60-month window is a hard deadline. Miss it and you have to file a fresh disability claim from the beginning.
The 2026 SGA Numbers That Decide Eligibility
Whether you can file right now depends on your current earnings. In 2026, SGA is $1,690 per month for non-blind individuals and $2,830 per month for people who are blind.4Social Security Administration. What’s New in 2026? If you are earning above the figure that applies to you, you will need to stop or reduce that work before SSA can reinstate benefits. SSA updates SGA every year, so check the current number before you file.5Social Security Administration. Substantial Gainful Activity
What the Form Asks and What It Costs You to Sign It
The SSA-371 is short. It collects your name, Social Security number, and claim number, and then asks you to sign statements that you are requesting reinstatement, that you are disabled by the same or a related impairment, and that you are not performing SGA.3Social Security Administration. Request for Reinstatement – Title II
Read the warning printed on the form before you sign. If SSA reviews your case and finds you have medically improved, any current entitlement to other SSA benefits can also be reviewed and terminated.3Social Security Administration. Request for Reinstatement – Title II That risk matters most if you are receiving some other Social Security payment right now. If you have no current entitlement, there is nothing extra to lose by filing.
Documents to Gather Before You File
The form itself is brief but it triggers a wider review. Have ready your complete work history since your benefits ended, including employers, dates, and earnings, and a list of every doctor, clinic, or hospital that has treated you in that same period, with contact information.1Social Security Administration. DI 28057.010 Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Case Receipt SSA will typically ask you to complete a Continuing Disability Review Report (SSA-454-BK) and a Disability Report (SSA-3367) alongside the SSA-371.
How to Submit It
You can complete SSA-371 through SSA’s electronic submission portal, upload a filled-out PDF, fax or mail the form to your local Social Security office, or bring it in person.6Social Security Administration. Social Security Forms Online is the fastest route into SSA’s system. An in-person appointment is worth considering if you want to hand over the additional reports at the same time rather than trading follow-up requests.
After you file, expect SSA to contact you for more information, additional medical records, or possibly a consultative examination. Respond quickly. Delays on your side push your decision, and your reinstated payments, back by the same amount.
Provisional Payments While SSA Reviews Your Case
This is the piece that makes SSA-371 valuable compared with starting a new application. While SSA works through the medical review, you can receive up to six months of provisional cash payments along with Medicare or Medicaid coverage.7Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Payments start the month after you file, as long as you are not performing SGA that month.2Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Overview
The amount equals the last monthly benefit you received before your entitlement ended, plus any cost-of-living adjustments that would have applied in the intervening years.8Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.1592e – How Do We Determine Provisional Benefits? If it has been several years since your benefits stopped, those COLAs add up.
Provisional payments end at whichever of these comes first: six months of payments made, SSA’s decision issued, you resume SGA, or you reach full retirement age.7Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR)
Two protections are worth knowing. If SSA ultimately denies your reinstatement, you generally do not have to pay back the provisional benefits you already received.7Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) And if you owe SSA from a prior overpayment, SSA will not withhold that balance from your provisional checks unless you volunteer to repay at an agreed rate.9Social Security Administration. DI 13050.080 Overpayments
What Approval Gets You: The 24-Month Initial Reinstatement Period
When SSA approves your request, you enter the Initial Reinstatement Period (IRP). The IRP is not 24 calendar months. It is 24 months of payable benefits, meaning months you actually received a payment.2Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Overview
Completing the IRP earns you a new Trial Work Period (TWP) and a new Extended Period of Eligibility (EPE).2Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR) Overview In 2026, a TWP service month is any month you earn $1,210 or more.10Social Security Administration. Fact Sheet – Trial Work Period 2026 If work later terminates your benefits again, you can file another EXR request, but only after the full 24-month IRP is complete. Filing a second EXR mid-IRP is not allowed.
If SSA Denies Your Request
You have 60 days from the date you receive the denial notice to appeal, and SSA presumes you received the notice five days after it was mailed. That gives you roughly 65 days from the mailing date.11Social Security Administration. Appeals Process Under Expedited Reinstatement (EXR)
There are three appeal levels:
- Reconsideration, in which a different SSA reviewer takes a fresh look. Start it with Form SSA-561-U2.12Social Security Administration. DI 13050.105 Exhibits
- A hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, where you can testify and submit new evidence.
- Appeals Council review, the final administrative step.11Social Security Administration. Appeals Process Under Expedited Reinstatement (EXR)
Missing the 60-day deadline usually ends your appeal rights, leaving a brand-new disability application as the only path forward. If you collected provisional benefits during the review and SSA denied the claim, those payments still generally do not have to be repaid.7Social Security Administration. Expedited Reinstatement (EXR)