Video, Phone or In-Person Disability Hearings: How to Choose

What are the ways to attend a Social Security disability hearing?

SSA offers four ways to appear at a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ): in person at an SSA office, by audio on a telephone in a private location you choose, by agency video using SSA's equipment at one of its offices, and by online video on your own smartphone, tablet or computer. SSA lists all four on its Ways to Attend Your Hearing page.

The rule behind that list is 20 CFR 404.936(c). SSA sets the time and manner of appearance, and it may schedule you by audio, agency video, online video or in person. Online video is used only if you agree. In choosing, SSA considers which manner would be the most efficient way to conduct the hearing and any facts in your case that give a good reason for a particular one.

The same choices apply whether your claim is for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSA's hearings manual cites the SSI rule, 20 CFR 416.1436, alongside 404.936.

The two video options are easy to confuse. Agency video is not a video call from home: you travel to an SSA office or a permanent remote site and appear on SSA's equipment. Online video is the one you join from your own device in a private location. An in-person or agency video hearing takes place at a specific site, and our hearing offices page covers where those offices are.

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What the Notice of Ways to Attend means for your disability hearing

The Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing is the letter that opens your choice, and it arrives after you request a hearing. Under HALLEX I-2-0-19, SSA's hearing office staff send it in a separate mailing from the letter acknowledging your request, a step the manual says is meant to stress its importance.

The notice describes the four ways to attend, what to do if you do not want audio or agency video, what to do if you agree to online video, and how to review the evidence in your file under each format. It comes with:

• The publication “Your Options for How to Attend Your Hearing.”
• Form HA-55, Objection to Appearing by Audio or Agency Video.
• Form HA-56, Agreement to Appearing by Online Video.

SSA's own page puts the instructions simply: send the objection form only if you object to audio, agency video or both, and send the agreement form only if you agree to online video. If you have a representative, the notice goes to you with a copy to the representative. If you do not, it comes with a list of organizations that may provide representation.

This envelope is easy to set aside. Treat it like a policy renewal notice from your insurer: ignoring it is itself a choice, and the default terms apply. Under HALLEX I-2-3-12, if no written objection arrives, the hearing office decides the manner of appearance.

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Objection rules and deadlines for telephone and video disability hearings

You have 30 days after you receive the notice to object in writing to an audio or agency video hearing, or to agree in writing to online video. Both deadlines come from 20 CFR 404.936, paragraphs (d) and (e). Under the mail rule in 20 CFR 404.901, you are presumed to receive a notice 5 days after the date on it unless you show otherwise.

You can object to audio, to agency video, or to both. HALLEX I-2-0-21 explains what each choice leaves on the table:

• Object to audio only: SSA may schedule you in person, by agency video, or by online video if you agree.
• Object to agency video only: SSA may schedule you in person, by audio, or by online video if you agree.
• Object to both: SSA schedules you to appear in person or, if you agree, by online video.

An in-person setting has no objection step. HALLEX I-2-3-12 says SSA does not offer a chance to object when you are scheduled to appear in person.

SSA extends the 30 days if you show good cause under the standards in 20 CFR 404.911, and the judge decides whether good cause exists. A late objection is not automatically lost, but it is not automatically accepted either, so file on time whenever you can.

The regulation also names situations where SSA may schedule audio despite an objection, including when agency video and online video are unavailable and extraordinary circumstances prevent an in-person appearance, and certain cases involving incarceration. If you move while your hearing request is pending, SSA decides the manner of appearance again, and you must submit evidence of the new residence.

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Objecting to the time or place of your disability hearing

An objection to the time or place must be made in writing at the earliest possible opportunity, and no later than 5 days before the hearing or 30 days after you receive the notice of hearing, whichever is earlier. Under 20 CFR 404.936(f), it must state your reasons and the time or place you want instead.

The judge decides whether there is good cause to make a change. The judge will find good cause when a serious physical or mental condition or an incapacitating injury makes travel impossible, when there is a death in your family, or when severe weather makes travel impossible.

Other reasons are weighed case by case, against the effect a change would have on running hearings efficiently. The regulation's examples include not having time to get a representative, a representative appointed within 30 days of the hearing who needs time to prepare, a representative's conflicting court or hearing date, an unavailable material witness, lack of transportation, and limitations that kept an unrepresented claimant from responding to the notice.

Put every objection on paper. HALLEX I-2-3-12 directs staff who take an objection by phone to ask for a written one and to tell you the judge does not have to consider an objection that is not in writing. If the judge grants a change, SSA sends an amended notice at least 20 days before the new date.

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How to choose between video and in-person disability hearings

Pick the method that lets you testify clearly, privately and without technical trouble. We tell people up front that this is a logistics decision. It does not change the legal rules the judge applies to your claim.

These are the questions we walk through with clients:

• Privacy. Audio and online video both require a private location you choose. A shared apartment, a car, or a workplace break room can make that hard.
• Equipment and connection. Online video needs a personal device with an internet connection. A weak signal can interrupt testimony, and under 20 CFR 404.944 the judge may recess when poor audio or video prevents the hearing from proceeding.
• Documents. The Notice of Ways to Attend explains how to review the evidence in your file for each format, so check that you can see and handle your records in the setting you pick.
• Travel and health. In-person and agency video hearings both mean getting to an SSA site. If your condition makes that hard, it is a fact the regulation lets SSA weigh when it sets the manner of appearance.
• Comfort. Some people speak more easily in a room with the judge, and others do better at home. Neither preference is wrong.

Whatever you choose, the hearing follows the same structure. Our guide to what to expect at an ALJ hearing walks through the stages, and our disability hearings page covers the hearing stage as a whole.

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