Applying for Supplemental Security Income involves a fairly rigorous process. First, you must provide the Social Security Administration with the necessary information to see if you meet eligibility requirements.
It helps to break down the entire process in small steps, starting first with the mandatory personal information.
Required general information
SSA informs applicants that they should expect to provide pertinent personal information as part of the SSI application process. This begins with your name, date of birth and Social Security number. For married (or formerly married) individuals, the agency also requires the following information on your spouse or former spouse:
- Name, date of birth and Social Security number
- The dates and place of marriage or marriages
- The dates of divorce or death
You will also need to provide the names and birth dates of children not yet 18 years of age. For payment purposes, the agency will also ask for current banking information including the transit routing number and bank account number.
Mandatory medical information
As with Social Security Disability Insurance, SSI requires validation of a qualifying medical condition. You must submit some or all of the following detailed information about the medical condition:
- Pertinent dates of treatments from all medical providers
- Names of prescription medicines and the prescribing doctor
- Names and dates of testing results for applicable illnesses
You might also have to supply the name and contact information of a person who knows your medical condition and can help with the application. SSA provides a helpful Adult Disability Checklist for applicants.
The process of applying for SSI has other components, Applicants must go through multiple steps and provide several specific documents to SSA.