After months of relentless growth, the federal retirement application backlog finally showed signs of relief in March. OPM’s Retirement Services received 14,759 new claims (8,830 digital and 5,929 paper), a significant drop from February’s staggering 31,240, and for the first time in recent months, processed more applications than it received. The result was a meaningful reduction in the overall inventory, which fell from 65,237 to 55,681 pending applications.
It’s a welcome development, though the backlog remains substantial. Over the past 12 months, OPM has received 182,449 retirement claims, a volume that reflects the historic wave of federal separations that began in 2025 and has continued into 2026.
Processing Times Are Improving Too
March also brought improvement to the average processing time; down ot 60 days from February’s 71 days. Digital applications were processed in an average of 39 days, while paper claims took 79 days. OPM processed a total of 22,237 claims in March, outpacing incoming claims by more than 7,000.
The gap between digital and paper processing times remains significant and continues to underscore the advantage of submitting electronically. Of the 55,681 applications currently in inventory, 24,688 are digital, and 30,993 are paper.
Claims Received in the Past 12 Months:
April 2025: 8,332
May 2025: 15,048
June 2025: 13,430
July 2025: 8,295
August 2025: 9,416
September 2025: 6,095
October 2025: 20,344
November 2025: 23,393
December 2025: 13,174
January 2026: 18,923
February 2026: 31,240
March 2026: 14,759
Total April 2025 – March 2026: 182,449
What This Means If You’re Waiting
A shrinking backlog is good news, but tens of thousands of federal retirees are still waiting on their full benefits. Mistakes or missing information in retirement applications remain the most common cause of delays. Things like incomplete personal identification, incorrect marital status documentation, and discrepancies in federal service records can add weeks or months to your wait.
If you haven’t yet retired and want to make sure your application is right the first time, or if you’re already waiting and have questions about what to expect, a Federal Retirement Consultant (FRC®) can help you navigate the process and avoid the most common pitfalls.
Source:https://www.opm.gov/retirement-center/retirement-statistics/retirement-processing-status.pdf
