If a third party organization outside of the Social Security Administration would like to reproduce a form or publication, the organization must receive written approval from us prior to reproducing the form if the organization intends to charge a fee.
Section 1140(a)(2) of the Social Security Act provides as follows:
"No person may, for a fee, reproduce, reprint, or distribute any item consisting of a form, application, or other publication of the Social Security Administration unless such person has obtained specific, written authorization for such activity in accordance with regulations which the Commissioner of Social Security shall prescribe."
Furthermore, SSA's regulation at 20 CFR 422.527 also requires prior approval:
“Any person, institution, or organization wishing to reproduce, reprint, or distribute any application, form, or publication prescribed by the Administration must obtain prior approval if he or she intends to charge a fee. Requests for approval must be in writing and include the reason or need for the reproduction, reprinting, or distribution; the intended users of the application, form, or publication; the fee to be charged; any proposed modification; the proposed format; the type of machinery (e.g., printer, burster, mail handling), if any, for which the application, form, or publication is being designed; estimated printing quantity; estimated printing cost per thousand; estimated annual usage; and any other pertinent information required by the Administration. Forward all requests for prior approval to: Office of Publications Management, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235-6401.”
How to Request approval
To receive approval, the third party organization must first submit the following information to us on company letterhead:
- The title and form number to be reproduced;
- A summary of how the reproduced form will be used;
- The services that the customer is receiving;
- The requesting organization's name and corporate address;
- The requesting individual's name and address;
- The requesting individual's area code and telephone number;
- A reproduction of the form to be reviewed; and
- A description of how the organization intends to provide only the most up-to-date edition of the forms.
Requests should be forwarded to:
Social Security Administration
Forms Management Team
Office of Publications Managment
1336 Annex Building
6401 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21235
Upon consideration and review, the organization may be approved to reproduce Social Security forms on a case by case basis. At such time, the organization will be issued a unique, identifying company code which must be printed on each page of the form in the lower left corner. If the approval process is not completed, we may not accept the organization's reproductions.
In addition, we require third parties wishing to sell reproduced Social Security forms to provide a prominent, legible notice on each reproduced form that the public may obtain Social Security forms as well as assistance completing them free of charge from us. We also require this notice on all websites that sell Social Security forms. Section 1140(a)(4)(A) of the Social Security Act establishes the Administration’s authority to require and prescribe the standards for this notice.
Accordingly, you must include the following statement prominently in 14-point font or larger in the bottom margin of all reproduced forms: “Free of charge, any person may obtain all Social Security forms and assistance to complete the forms directly from the Social Security Administration.” You also must display this statement prominently on all websites that sell Social Security forms. Failure to comply with these requirements could lead to civil money penalties.
Once approved, the third party organization is responsible for resubmitting reproductions when the forms are updated. Only current forms may be reproduced.
