Start with the current OPM application route
OPM’s current FERS instructions direct current employees to agency HR to begin through the Online Retirement Application, or ORA. Separated employees start a disability application through ORA’s former-employee option. The current page states a one-year receipt requirement after separation, with a limited exception described by OPM.
Tell the responsible contact your employment status and separation date, if applicable. Ask what must be received and when; do not calculate an exception yourself. The still-linked SF3112 packet contains older paper-delivery instructions. Resolve delivery questions using current OPM and agency instructions before mailing or uploading sensitive records.
Sources: OPM: FERS disability retirement application instructions; OPM SF3112: Disability retirement supporting documentation
Assign the five supporting-document roles
SF3112A is the applicant’s statement; B is the supervisor’s statement; C contains the physician’s statement; D documents agency accommodation and reassignment efforts; E is the agency checklist. OPM expressly says former employees still need B, D and E from the former supervisor and agency for their ORA package.
Make a tracker with the form letter, responsible person, date requested and completion status. Ask HR who handles the agency portions and who can provide the position description. You can organize the requests without filling in another person’s assessment or signing their certification. Flag an unavailable former supervisor to the agency contact instead of choosing a substitute yourself.
Sources: OPM SF3112: Disability retirement supporting documentation; OPM: FERS disability retirement application instructions
Give the physician the job information and actual request
The physician portion includes applicant identification and consent and calls for the current position description. Its questions connect medical evidence with job duties. Review the requested release and ask the practice how it handles this particular documentation before assuming an ordinary visit note will suffice.
Supply the actual form, position description and factual treatment timeline. Ask whether the physician can address the request, whether an appointment is needed, what records are available and what fees or preparation time apply. Leave clinical findings to the physician. Confirm who receives the completed material and how it joins the application; do not treat a scheduled assessment as completed evidence.
Sources: OPM SF3112: Disability retirement supporting documentation
Reconcile the uploads and outstanding items
FERS requires an application for Social Security disability benefits; the supporting packet identifies the receipt or award notice as evidence. Keep that item distinct from the OPM application. ORA’s current guidance describes supplemental PDF uploads, a progress dashboard and a help route for technical problems.
Before certifying your application, compare the assembled documents with the current instructions and your tracker. Check legibility, names and dates without altering signed statements. Record missing items and ask the responsible contact how to handle them before the applicable deadline. Keep submission confirmation and any follow-up request so you know which office owes the next action.
Sources: OPM: FERS disability retirement application instructions; OPM SF3112: Disability retirement supporting documentation; OPM: Online Retirement Application
Your next-step checklist
- Confirm the current-employee or separated-employee ORA route.
- Verify the receipt requirement with the responsible contact.
- Assign SF3112A, B, C, D and E to their proper authors.
- Provide the physician’s office with the actual request and position description.
- Track Social Security application evidence, uploads and missing documents separately.
Keep personal, insurance and medical information in the appropriate organization’s approved secure channel.
Common questions
Do I complete the agency forms if I have already left federal service?
OPM says former employees must ask the former supervisor and agency for the required B, D and E documents. Contact the agency about who can complete them; do not certify them yourself.
Sources: OPM: FERS disability retirement application instructions
Can I follow the mailing instructions printed in an old packet?
Check the current OPM and agency process first. The current FERS application instructions use ORA, while the linked SF3112 packet still contains older paper-routing language.
Sources: OPM: FERS disability retirement application instructions; OPM SF3112: Disability retirement supporting documentation
Sources and verification
The sources below support the administrative information in this guide. Follow the responsible organization’s current instructions when requirements, forms or contact routes change.