An in-person visit to a Social Security office can be important when you need personalized assistance with complex situations, require help navigating paperwork, have questions that can't be easily answered over the phone, or need to provide original documents that cannot be submitted electronically (especially if you're dealing with a significant life change that might impact your benefits eligibility).
However, if you plan on an in-person visit to your local office, you must call ahead and make an appointment. Social Security’s 1,200 field offices were shuttered for nearly two years during the pandemic. When they reopened in April 2022, the Social Security Administration (SSA) recommended that people who need help in person call ahead rather than walk into the office. Now that recommendation is compulsory under most conditions.
The SSA says the goals of this rule are to reduce wait times, streamline service delivery, and improve the overall customer experience at the field offices.
When you call, be prepared to wait. Social Security says call wait times in 2025 have improved significantly—down to 7-8 minutes due to new tech and callbacks. However, real-world reports from customers and news reporters say that wait times are from 40 to over 90 minutes to speak with a live agent, and, if instead you leave a callback number on the SSA’s automated system, callbacks take anywhere from one to three hours or more. These discrepancies may be because the official stats often reflect quick answers from automated systems, not necessarily reaching a person.
It is more difficult these days to get an accurate measure of Social Security’s customer service. The agency no longer provides real-time information on wait times on its website. Within weeks of taking office Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano removed that data, along with other customer service metrics from the website.
Mondays and days after holidays are the busiest for SSA field offices. So, if your needs can wait, try calling on a Friday, the least busy day, and early morning is the best time of the day. Because at some offices when you do get an appointment it will be months out, your best option may be to avoid paying a visit to an SSA office altogether by searching online for the answers to your questions.
