Retirement Claims: A Smaller Backlog, a Record 109-Day Wait and a New Way to Get Your SF-50s

Bottom line

OPM’s retirement backlog keeps shrinking; the wait for any one claim keeps growing. The inventory fell to 24,784 claims at the end of July, down 9,067 in a month, while the average claim took 109 days to process, a record ^[1]. Separately, OPM opened an online service on August 4 that lets former employees download their own personnel folders, the SF-50s an annuity is built on ^[2].

What happened: two numbers moving in opposite directions

The backlog. OPM received 10,538 new retirement claims in July and processed 17,841, according to FedSmith’s account of the agency’s monthly report ^[1]. That gap drove the inventory down 26.8 percent from June ^[1]. It was the fifth straight monthly decline since the February peak of 65,237 claims, a cumulative drop of 40,453 ^[1]. FedSmith ties the surge that produced that peak to the 2025 workforce reductions, with claims climbing sharply from last October ^[1].

Volume this fiscal year is far above last year’s. Through July, OPM had received 164,260 claims and processed 150,043 ^[1]. Through July 2025, the figures were 97,346 and 85,703 ^[1]. The inventory OPM has historically described as steady state is about 13,000 cases, so July’s total is still close to double that ^[1].

The wait. July’s average of 109 days edged past June’s 108 and is the highest since OPM began publishing the measure in 2018 ^[1]. The trailing 12-month average was 74.8 days ^[1]. Digital claims took 98 days on average; paper claims took 156 ^[1]. Digital applications made up 79.7 percent of new claims in July, and 80.5 percent of the cases OPM completed that month were digital, up from 48.8 percent in June ^[1].

The paper deadline. On July 1, OPM announced the “Last Day of Paper,” saying more than 95 percent of retirement applications now move electronically through its Online Retirement Application, or ORA ^[5]. Until then, the release says, packages traveled physically among agencies, payroll providers and OPM’s Retirement Operations Center in Boyers, Pennsylvania ^[5]. “Today we’re closing the book on one of the federal government’s oldest paper processes,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said ^[5]. OPM says ORA processed more than 155,000 applications in the prior year ^[5]. With the announcement came three changes ^[5]:

• A pre-retirement application, so an employee and the agency HR office can finish much of the work before the separation date.
• Earlier processing of an application while final payroll information is still being settled.
• A commitment to issue the first pension payment within seven days of retirement for applicants who submit a complete package by their separation date.

The records portal. On August 4, OPM launched the eOPF Document Request Service ^[2]. A user signs in through Login.gov, completes a one-time identity check, and submits a short request; OPM then emails a time-limited link to a password-protected ZIP file holding the complete eOPF Employment Folder ^[2]. OPM says obtaining these records used to mean a former agency or the National Personnel Records Center, with waits that “often extended for weeks or months” ^[2]. Government Executive reports that sign-in requires scanning a driver’s license or passport into Login.gov and entering a Social Security number, and that a user who fails to match a record gets four more attempts before a six-hour lockout ^[4].

What it means for you: by where you are in the process

Employees planning to retire later this year. The seven-day payment promise carries a condition, and readers should take it at its word: a complete package, submitted by the separation date ^[5]. The pre-retirement application exists to make that possible ^[5]. Government Executive’s retirement columnist advises checking SF-50s, service computation dates, beneficiary forms, military deposit records and retirement coverage while you still have HR to correct them ^[4]. An error found after separation becomes a records request, then a correction, then a delay.

Retirees whose claims are already in the queue. The backlog figure is the better news for you, but it is not your wait. The 109-day average describes claims completed in July, and paper claims ran well over that ^[1]. OPM’s July 1 release says nothing about whether paper claims filed before the cutoff will be moved into the digital process or worked as they are ^[5].

Former employees who need their records. The Document Request Service is for separated employees whose records sit in eOPF ^[2]. FedSmith and Government Executive both report that OPM’s guidance says to wait at least 30 days after separation, since the separation SF-50 may not be posted yet, and that the download link expires after 24 hours ^{[3, 4]}. The ZIP password, per OPM’s user guide as FedSmith describes it, is your birth date plus the last four digits of your Social Security number ^[3]. Readers should note what that means: anyone holding both pieces can open the file, so store it accordingly.

The service will not find everyone. eOPF began about 20 years ago, and scanned paper folders were added starting in 2007 ^[4]. Government Executive’s columnist, who left federal service in 1988, found no records in the system ^[4]. If the portal comes up empty, FedSmith reports that OPM points users to the National Personnel Records Center or the former agency ^[3]. Government Executive adds that civilian records generally move to that center within 120 days of separation; before then, write to the last employing agency ^[4].

Current employees. If your agency gives you eOPF access, keep using it ^[2]. If it does not provide government-furnished equipment to reach your own records, the new service is open to you as well ^[2].

Contractors. None of this reaches contractor staff. The portal and the retirement queue cover federal employees and annuitants only ^{[2, 5]}.

Questions you’re probably asking

How long is OPM taking to process a federal retirement application?

In July 2026 the average was 109 days, the longest since OPM began publishing the figure in 2018 ^[1]. Digital claims averaged 98 days and paper claims 156 days, per OPM’s report as described by FedSmith ^[1].

Will I get my first annuity payment within seven days of retiring?

Only under OPM’s stated condition: the commitment applies to applicants who submit a complete retirement package by their separation date ^[5]. OPM has not published how often it meets that target ^[5].

How do I get my SF-50s after I leave federal service?

If your records were kept in eOPF, request them through OPM’s Document Request Service at myopf.opm.gov, signing in with Login.gov ^{[2, 3]}. If the service finds nothing, request the records from your former agency or the National Personnel Records Center ^{[3, 4]}.

How soon after separating can I use the Document Request Service?

Wait at least 30 days, because the separation SF-50 and other final documents may not be in eOPF yet ^{[3, 4]}. The download link you receive expires after 24 hours ^{[3, 4]}.

Can current federal employees use the Document Request Service?

Only if their agency does not give them government-furnished equipment to reach their own records ^[2]. Current employees with eOPF access should keep using eOPF ^[2].

What I’m watching

• Early September (no date announced): OPM’s August processing figures, which will show whether the backlog keeps falling and whether the 109-day average turns down ^[1].
• No date set: any OPM report on first payments issued within seven days under the July 1 commitment ^[5].
• No date set: whether the Document Request Service extends to people whose folders were never loaded into eOPF, who for now must go through the records center or a former agency ^{[3, 4]}.