San Diego, California
San Diego Disability Lawyers for SSDI and SSI Claims Assigned to the B Street Hearing Office
Social Security's San Diego hearing office, at 525 B Street, Suite 900, is assigned claims from ten field offices in San Diego and Imperial counties, from Oceanside and San Marcos to Chula Vista, National City and El Centro, plus Yuma, Arizona. Downard & Associates represents San Diego-area claimants in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) claims, from the application through reconsideration, a hearing before an administrative law judge and Appeals Council review. We work by phone or video from our office in Lebanon, Tennessee, and there is no fee unless you win.
How we help
What We Handle for San Diego Claimants
Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video.
Two San Diego details can change how a claim is handled: the hearing office covers a long stretch of the border, from the coast to Yuma, and the rules on time spent in Mexico are very different for SSI than for SSDI.
We handle applications, reconsideration, hearings and Appeals Council review. Our California disability lawyer page covers how claims across the state are routed and what an SSI approval means for CalFresh.
We have no San Diego office. Consultations happen by phone or video, and our attorneys handle hearings from Tennessee by phone or video. We represent adults age 18 and older. We handle SSDI cases for people who receive VA benefits, but we do not handle VA claims or appeals. We do not take disability cessation or continuing disability review cases, or cases about back pay alone, and we refer federal court appeals to affiliated counsel.
Hearing office
The San Diego Hearing Office and the Field Offices It Hears
Social Security's hearing office locator, which groups offices by hearings hub, shows one hearing office in the city:
- San Diego, Suite 900, 525 B Street, San Diego, CA 92101: the Chula Vista, El Cajon, El Centro, Kearny Mesa, La Mesa, National City, Oceanside, Pacific Beach, San Diego and San Marcos field offices, and Yuma, Arizona.
The Coachella Valley and the Inland Empire go elsewhere: the locator assigns Indio, Palm Springs, Riverside and Hemet to the Moreno Valley hearing office, and Fontana, Victorville and other San Bernardino County offices to the San Bernardino hearing office. Yuma claimants, though in Arizona, are assigned to San Diego, which our Arizona disability lawyer page also explains.
Social Security's operations manual says hearing office jurisdiction is determined by the claimant's residence address, though you can ask, in a signed statement giving your reasons, to have a case transferred, and Social Security decides whether to do it. Social Security's hearings manual also lets it reassign some cases to another hearing office to relieve a temporary workload imbalance or increase productivity, only when the other office can hear and decide them more quickly. Social Security generally does not reassign a case this way when you have properly objected in writing to both a phone hearing and an agency video hearing, have not agreed to online video, and have not changed your residence. After a move, it generally still honors that objection when deciding whether to reassign the case for workload reasons, if doing so causes no added delay and nothing else calls for scheduling you another way. That practice is separate from the hearing-format rule, under which Social Security decides how you appear after a move. When Social Security moves a case to another hearing office for workload or productivity reasons, the office that receives it notifies you and your representative. Our hearing office directory lists every office with its field offices. For an in-person or agency video hearing, the Notice of Hearing names the place, so go by that notice for your own case.
Time in Mexico
SSI, SSDI and Time Spent in Mexico
The month-by-month presence rule applies to eligibility while an SSI claim is pending as well.
For SSI, the rule is strict and month-based, apart from narrow exceptions such as certain children of armed forces personnel stationed overseas. Under 20 CFR 416.215, you are not eligible for SSI for any month you spend entirely outside the United States, and once you have been gone 30 days or more in a row, you are not treated as back until you have been in the United States for 30 days in a row. Here the United States means the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands. Under 20 CFR 416.1327, payments are suspended starting with the first full calendar month spent outside the country and resume, after an absence of 30 days or more, the day after the 30th day of continuous presence back in the United States.
SSI also requires being a resident of the United States under 20 CFR 416.202, which 20 CFR 416.1603 defines as having established an actual dwelling place in the United States with the intent to continue living there, so a person who lives in Tijuana or Rosarito and crosses only for appointments generally does not qualify. The month-by-month presence rule applies to eligibility while an SSI claim is pending as well. An SSI recipient who leaves the country temporarily must report an absence of 30 or more consecutive days or a full calendar month, under 20 CFR 416.708(n).
SSDI works differently. Whether SSDI payments continue outside the United States follows separate rules, and Social Security's Payments Abroad Screening Tool says whether your payments continue indefinitely, stop after six consecutive calendar months, or face country-specific restrictions. Our disability appeals page explains the steps after a denial.
Local treatment records
Medical Records From UC San Diego Health, Sharp and the VA San Diego
UC San Diego Health: its medical records page says most records requested through MyUCSDChart are free and usually arrive within three business days. Paper copies released to a patient or authorized family member are free for the first 20 pages and 25 cents a page after that, capped at $6.50 a request, and the online request form can cost up to $6.50. Requests can be dropped off weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at locations including Hillcrest Medical Center, 200 West Arbor Drive, Room 1-115. Radiology, billing and pathology records are requested separately.
Sharp HealthCare: its medical records page points patients to the Sharp app or Sharp account, under the Sharing Hub, and offers a paper authorization form for Sharp Rees-Stealy, SharpCare and Sharp hospitals that may carry a $6.50 charge. Law offices and other third parties use the paper form, and third-party requests go to shc.records@sharp.com. Sharp Community Medical Group records come from the provider's office, and Sharp Tri-City Medical Center has its own form.
For California providers, Health and Safety Code section 123110(d) also gives a patient one free copy of the relevant portion of the records with a written request and proof that they are needed for an SSDI or SSI claim or appeal. It covers California providers, not VA facilities, and does not apply when a private attorney is paying the costs of the claim or appeal while it is pending, so ask us how records will be requested in your case. Our Los Angeles disability lawyer page explains that rule in more detail.
VA San Diego: VA San Diego health care's medical records office is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Room 1507 on the first floor of the La Jolla main campus, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, with Monday and Friday hours at its Chula Vista, Aero Drive and Oceanside offices. You can view and download VA records online, or request copies by mail or fax on VA Form 10-5345a, or in person with a signed written request and your Veteran Health Identification Card; mailed requests go to the La Jolla Village Drive address, and VA says mailed and faxed requests may take up to 20 business days to process. Our veterans page explains how a VA rating and an SSDI claim relate.
Hearings and deadlines
Hearing Format and Appeal Deadlines for a San Diego Disability Claim
To object to a phone or agency video hearing, after you receive the notice
30days
20 CFR 404.936(d), 416.1436(d)
After a hearing request, Social Security sends a Notice of Ways to Attend a Hearing, and its ways to attend page lists four: in person or by agency video at one of its offices, and by phone or online video from a private location you choose. Under 20 CFR 404.936 and, for SSI, 20 CFR 416.1436, an objection to a phone hearing, an agency video hearing, or both must be made in writing within 30 days after you receive that notice. If you do not object, Social Security can schedule a phone or agency video hearing, though it can also schedule you in person or, if you agree, by online video; if you object to only one of those two formats, it can schedule you in person, by the other format, or by online video if you agree, and if you object to both, it generally schedules you in person or, if you agree, by online video. Online video is used only if you agree to it in writing, and a late objection or agreement needs good cause. If you move while the hearing request is pending, Social Security decides how you appear and can schedule a phone or agency video hearing despite an objection, though it considers the move only if you send evidence of your new residence; it can also use a phone hearing in a few other situations the rule lists. Our guide to hearing formats explains each choice and when Social Security moves a case to another office, and our disability hearings page describes the hearing itself.
A reconsideration request is due in writing within 60 days after you receive the initial denial, under 20 CFR 404.909 for SSDI and 20 CFR 416.1409 for SSI, and a hearing request after a reconsideration denial has its own 60 days under 20 CFR 404.933 and 20 CFR 416.1433. Social Security treats a notice as received 5 days after the date on the notice unless you show it came later, under 20 CFR 404.901 and 20 CFR 416.1401. A late request needs a written request for more time and good cause, so call us the week a denial arrives.
Common questions
San Diego Disability Claim Questions
Is an El Centro or Yuma claim assigned to the San Diego hearing office?
Generally yes. Social Security's hearing office locator assigns the El Centro field office and Yuma, Arizona to the San Diego hearing office at 525 B Street. A transfer or reassignment is possible, and your Notice of Hearing names the place and format for your own case.
Can I live in Tijuana and receive SSI?
Generally no. SSI requires that you be a resident of the United States, meaning you have an actual dwelling place here and intend to keep living here, under 20 CFR 416.202 and 416.1603. Separately, under 20 CFR 416.215, you are not eligible for any month spent entirely outside the country.
Do I have to tell Social Security about a trip to Mexico while on SSI?
Yes, if you are outside the United States for 30 or more consecutive days or for a full calendar month. 20 CFR 416.708(n) requires that report for a temporary absence, and 416.708(m) requires a report if you leave intending to give up your U.S. residence, or are made to leave.
Can SSDI be paid while I live in Mexico?
It depends on your situation. Social Security's Payments Abroad Screening Tool says whether your SSDI payments continue indefinitely, stop after six consecutive calendar months, or face country-specific restrictions.
What does UC San Diego Health charge for my records?
Most records requested through MyUCSDChart are free. Paper copies released to a patient or authorized family member are free for the first 20 pages and 25 cents a page after that, capped at $6.50 a request, and the online request form can cost up to $6.50.
Discuss your claim
Talk Through Your San Diego Claim With Us
Have your latest Social Security notice, the field office named on your letters and a list of where you have been treated in front of you. We will explain where the claim stands and the next deadline by phone or video.