Retirement Application Processing Backlog Nearly Doubles in Four Months

OPM figures reflect the time for processing after applications reach there, not after employees file them; before reaching OPM, applications go through personnel and payroll offices at the employing agency Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek Staff

The backlog of retirement applications pending processing at OPM has nearly doubled since last fall, with an end-of-February figure above 65,200 compared with about 36,500 at the end of October.

OPM received more than 31,200 applications in February while processing about 18,100. The total average processing time at OPM was 71 days, down from 77 in January and back to around the levels of the prior several months.

That decrease was largely due to faster processing of applications filed digitally through the Online Retirement Application portal, where the average time fell from 48 to 34 days. The average processing time for paper claims was 95 days. Following the pattern of recent months, about half of applications in February were made through that portal, rather than on paper.

During processing at OPM, retirees receive interim payments, commonly about 80 percent rough estimate of their monthly entitlements, which OPM says now are paid on an average after eight days after arriving there.

The OPM figures reflect the time for processing after applications reach there, not after employees file them; before reaching OPM, applications go through personnel and payroll offices at the employing agency. OPM director Scott Kupor recently said that on average, the HR step consumes 60 days and the payroll step another 51 days—longer than prior accounts and possible affected to some extent by the government shutdown from October through mid-November. Since all those figures are averages, some applicants experience longer waits in each case—for some, much longer.

There always is a surge in federal retirements around the turn of the year, for reasons including maximizing the payout for unused annual leave. That impact was lessened somewhat as 2025 turned to 2026, however, because of the impact of the deferred resignation program; many of those who accepted those offers took them into retirement on their end, which most commonly was no later than September 30. That effect was reflected in higher than usual numbers of retirements last fall.

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