My friend applied for social security retirement benefits since he is turning 65 and has no money. He has paid into social security for over 40 yrs and has his card. He is being asked for a birth certificate for proof of date of birth and does not have a birth certificate. He was born on an airforce base in the UK and will have to file for a copy of his Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), which according to the State.gov website, may take over four months to receive the document. He needs to start receiving his benefit checks as soon as possible without having money. Is it possible for him to start receiving the checks while Social Security waits for his proof of age? Or is there anything else he can request to be done to move his benefits forward and receive them soon? Thank you.
Hi. Social Security normally doesn't require physical evidence of age unless there is an age discrepancy in the person's records. When proof of age is required, though, preferred evidence is either a public birth record (e.g. birth certificate) or a religious record of birth (e.g. baptismal certificate). For more information about acceptable forms of preferred evidence of age, refer to the following sections of Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200302054 & https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200302056.
Social Security can accept other types of age evidence, but only if preferred evidence is unavailable (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200302100). That's true even if the person must obtain the evidence from the source that has the evidence. If your friend doesn't have a religious record or any other type of preferred evidence of age, Social Security probably won't approve his claim until it's determined if a public record exists. What I would suggest in that case, though, is for your friend to re-contact the Social Security representative who's handling to discuss his case. He may want to clarify what discrepant information is in his records that would require additional evidence of age.
Best, Jerry
