The SSDI application process extends over months or even years from initial filing through potential appeals. Understanding what happens at each stage, realistic timeframes, and why most applications are initially denied helps you navigate the process with appropriate expectations and persistence when initial decisions are unfavorable.
Initial Application Review
After you submit your SSDI application, Social Security verifies your work credits and forwards your case to your state's Disability Determination Services for medical evaluation. DDS examiners, working with medical consultants, review evidence from your treating providers and may order consultative examinations to fill gaps in medical records.
Initial decisions typically arrive within three to six months, though times vary significantly by location and case complexity. Cases requiring additional medical evidence or consultative examinations take longer. During this period, respond promptly to any requests for information or examination appointments, as delays or missed appointments can result in denial.
Why Most Applications Are Denied
Approximately 70% of initial SSDI applications are denied. This high denial rate doesn't mean most applicants don't deserve benefits. Many denials result from insufficient medical evidence, technical issues with applications, or examiners not fully understanding how conditions affect work capacity. Administrative pressures and limited resources also contribute to high denial rates.
Common denial reasons include medical records not demonstrating sufficient severity, conditions expected to improve before 12 months, evidence suggesting ability to perform some work, and technical failures like missed appointments or incomplete applications. Understanding why your application was denied helps address problems on appeal.
The Reconsideration Stage
After initial denial, the first appeal level in most states is reconsideration, where a different examiner reviews your case. Submit additional medical evidence and written arguments addressing the denial reasons. Unfortunately, reconsideration approval rates are even lower than initial approvals, often around 15%, making this stage feel discouraging.
Use reconsideration strategically by submitting new medical evidence, detailed function reports, and letters from treating physicians explaining your limitations. Some claimants obtain legal representation at this stage to improve their appeals, though many wait until requesting a hearing.
Administrative Law Judge Hearing
After reconsideration denial, you can request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. This represents your best opportunity for approval, with success rates typically around 50% though varying by judge and location. Hearings involve live testimony about your conditions and limitations, often with expert witnesses addressing vocational issues.
Wait times for hearings range from several months to over a year depending on your location's backlog. During this period, continue medical treatment and gather additional evidence. Representation by disability attorneys or advocates significantly improves hearing outcomes and is strongly recommended at this stage.
Further Appeals
Unfavorable hearing decisions can be appealed to the Appeals Council, which reviews for legal errors rather than re-evaluating evidence. Relatively few Appeals Council reviews result in reversal. Federal court review provides a final appeal option, with courts assessing whether substantial evidence supported the decision.
The entire process from initial application through all appeal levels can span two to four years. While discouraging, persistence often pays off, as many ultimately successful claimants receive benefits only after multiple appeals. Back benefits covering the period since disability onset provide significant awards for those who persist.