In a Dear Colleague Letter, SSA has issued a reminder on best practices when filing exceptions to the Appeals Council following a final decision by an Administrative Law Judge issued after remand by the district court. The text of the letter is below and available on the SSA website.

Reminder: Best Practices When Filing Exceptions to the Appeals Council

Date: June 1, 2023

Dear Colleague,

We want to remind you of the following best practices when filing exceptions to the Appeals Council following a final decision by an Administrative Law Judge issued after remand by the district court.

We encourage you to take the steps below to ensure timely processing for your clients:

• When faxing exceptions, please include “Exceptions to Final Decision” in the subject line to ensure proper identification of your submission.
  
• If you are faxing exceptions, please use the fax number corresponding to the appropriate branch:
  

  Branch	Circuit Jurisdiction	Branch Fax Number
  CCPRB-1	7th & 9th Circuits	(833) 763-0406
  CCPRB-2	1st, 3rd, 4th & 10th Circuits	(833) 763-0407
  CCPRB-3	DC, Foreign Claims, 6th & 11th Circuits	(833) 763-0408
  CCPRB-4	2nd, 5th & 8th Circuits	(833) 775-0562

  
  
• If you requested an extension of time (EOT) to submit exceptions, and you no longer need the extra time, please notify us by faxing the appropriate branch (above) or calling the Claimant and Public Assistance Branch at 703-605-8000 or 1-877-670-2722. If we receive an EOT request separately from exceptions, we will process the EOT which could delay your case unnecessarily.
  
• If more than 30 days have elapsed since the submission of exceptions and, using your online access, you do not see the case pending in our system, please contact our Claimant and Public Assistance Branch.

Thank you for your continued work on behalf of the public we serve.

Sincerely,

Dawn Bystry
Acting Associate Commissioner
Office of Strategic and Digital Communications
oea.net.post@ssa.gov
@SSAOutreach