In the first part of this article in Historian (Volume 47, June 2024) I showed six examples of SS-5 documents and the unique information included which greatly enhanced my genealogical research.
In this second part, I give a step-by-step account of how to order the records from the American government website pertaining to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
How to Order an SS-5 Document
This is quite straightforward, given that documentation is available from The Legal Genealogist Blog by Judy Russell. This may be found by Googling “The Legal Genealogist” “SS-5 2024 style” or visiting https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/01/30/ordering-the-ss-5-2024-style/
In order to make this even easier, this article offers a guide including screenshots as I order one SS-5 document for Samuel Stein, the brother-in-law of my great-grandfather Gershon or Harris Bercovitch.
Case study – Samuel Stein
- Go to the SSA’s FOIA Public Access Link (PAL) at https://foia.ssa.gov/app/Home.aspx and click on “Sign In” (top right).
- If you do not have one already click the first “Create an account with Login.gov”, otherwise select the dark blue top button and “Sign in with LOGIN.GOV”
Creating an account will ask you to enter an email address, which will be confirmed by sending you an email (check your Junk Mail for something from Login.gov if you don’t see it). After confirming, you will need to enter a strong password (twice) and will need to set up a second method of authentication, such as having to enter a 6 digit code sent to you by text message.
While two factor authentication is mandatory, setting up another authentication method is optional so can be skipped. 
Agree and continue to share your data with the SSA and then Agree to the Terms of Service. The final step to create an account involves entering your mailing address details as this will be needed to receive the SS-5 document through the post.
3. Once logged in, select “Submit Request” near the top and right of the screen, or you can go straight to https://foia.ssa.gov/App/CreateRequest.aspx :
This is a very long page, so scroll down past your Requester Details, which you should check as being correct.
4. In General Information, enter DEBS as the Action Office; Decedent SS-5 as the Request type; Other as the Requester Category; Mail as the Delivery Mode; Credit Card as the Payment Mode, by selecting from the popup menus:
5. In Decedent Numident/SS-5 Request, enter as much data as known such as the name, Social Security Number if known (without dashes), birth & death dates (in mm/dd/yyyy or dd mmm yyyy format) and parents names if known:
(I obtained these details from Ancestry in the US Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 confirmed by the California, US, Death Index 1940-1997, although his mother’s maiden name was unknown to me but probably not Berkowitz as that was his wife’s. Other research suggested his birth place as Warsaw rather than “Other Country”.):
6. Remember that SSA “will not disclose information about any person in our records unless: 1) the number holder has provided written consent or we have acceptable proof of his or her death; or 2) the number holder is at least 100 years old and we have acceptable proof of his or her death; or 3) the number holder is more than 120 years old.”
So, finally, enter supporting files to prove that the individual is deceased. Here I attach the tombstone picture for Sam Stein (as shown above):
7. The fee for an SS-5 has recently risen from $21 to $30. Do not try to save $2 by going for the Numident record, which will only supply the data from the SS-5 record and not an image of it. It is best not to trust others to transcribe.
Select Willing to Pay All Fees – you will only be charged $30.
Do not select Fee Waiver Requested, as this is unlikely to be applicable.
8. In Expedite Information, do not select Expedite Requested, as this is unlikely to be applicable
9. In Mailing Address, check that the details are correct, then Click the blue Submit button:
10. If all is correct with the Request Submission, you will be able to Select a Debit or credit card, and pressing Continue will redirect you to an external payment website. Your supporting files will be uploaded at this point.
11. Fill in your payment details including credit card information, and click Continue:
12. You will receive a confirmation of your details; Check the authorisation box and click Continue:
13. You will be sent an email confirming that the request has been submitted:
14. If you want to see the details of your request, choose Request Status on the SSA FOIA online website:
15. After all that, this appeared in the post, some 40 days later:
Conclusion
From this SS-5 we learn that Samuel Stein’s parents were Nathan Stein and Sarah Levine. The Levine name was new to me and has not been found on any other record nor index. I did know that Sam was born in Warsaw from other research, as he had naturalized, but if you have not managed to find naturalization documents for your ancestor, this could be one way to find the exact town or city of birth. The birth date is also more precise here than on the petition of naturalization which simply states February 1882.
Home and work addresses are also supplied, along with the name of the business, which could be a new line of research.
Leigh Dworkin is the current Chair of the JGSGB and the Chair of the Windsor branch of the BerksFHS. He has been researching his mainly Polish family for the last thirty years, but also tries to research into Lithuania and Belarus, from where his surname originates. He regularly presents at JGSGB Regional Groups, Special Interest Groups and conferences.
