How to fax the Social Security office
Your local Social Security office can accept faxed copies of documents when they’re readable. Get the fax number from your SSA letter or by calling the office, then send the pages online and keep the receipt.
Check first: Since 2023 SSA does not treat a faxed, signed application as a completed application. A fax can protect your filing date, but SSA will ask for the signed original.
How to send it
- Find the fax number on your SSA letter, or call your local office (find it at ssa.gov/locator) and ask for it.
- Put your full name and Social Security number on every page and on the cover page.
- Upload clear scans or photos. Blurry pages are the main reason documents are rejected.
- Send the fax and save the delivery receipt. Call the office a few days later to confirm it was added to your file.
Tips so it isn’t rejected
- Fax copies, never your only original of a birth certificate or other vital record.
- Use the fax number printed on your form, notice or letter. Agencies use different numbers for different forms and regions.
Official guidance: SSA: Changes to accepting faxed applications · SSA POMS GN 00301.031. Fax numbers change; always use the number printed on your form or letter. Last checked November 2026.