Federal Retirement Forms List: Every Form in a FERS Application Package

The Core SF 3107 Package

Every FERS immediate retirement starts with the SF 3107 package. This is the application itself plus its attached schedules and companion forms. Not every component is required for every retiree — which pieces you need depends on your military history, marital status, and insurance elections.

SF 3107 — Application for Immediate Retirement (FERS) The main application. Six sections covering your identifying information, federal civilian service, marital status, survivor annuity election, insurance continuation, and direct deposit instructions. Every FERS immediate retiree files this form. Since OPM's transition to the Online Retirement Application (ORA) portal, most SF 3107 submissions are digital — but the content and requirements are identical regardless of format.

SF 3107-1 — Certified Summary of Federal Service Prepared by your agency's HR office, not by you. This form summarizes all periods of civilian and military service, retirement coverage codes, and your sick leave balance. You review it for accuracy, sign Section E, and return it to HR. Any errors in service dates or coverage periods on the SF 3107-1 will directly affect your annuity calculation.

SF 3107-2 — Spouse's Consent to Survivor Election Required only if you're married and elect less than a full (50%) survivor annuity. Your spouse must sign this form in the presence of a notary public. The notary's signature date and your spouse's signature date must match exactly. No white-out, cross-outs, or alterations of any kind — OPM rejects altered SF 3107-2 forms outright, which sends you back to the notary.

The SF 3107 Schedules

Schedule A — Active Military Service Required if you served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. Attach your DD-214 (Member Copy 4) showing discharge status and service dates. If you're claiming that military service for FERS credit, your post-1956 military service deposit must be paid in full before your separation date.

Schedule B — Military Retired Pay Required if you're receiving or have applied for military retired pay (not disability compensation). To get FERS credit for military service, you generally must waive military retired pay. Disability-based or reserve retirement pay has different rules. Submit the waiver request to the Military Retired Pay Operations Center at least 60 days before retirement.

Schedule C — Federal Employees' Compensation Required if you've received or applied for OWCP workers' compensation benefits. FERS retirees can't receive both a FERS annuity and OWCP wage-loss benefits simultaneously — you elect whichever is more advantageous.

Schedule D — Agency Checklist of Immediate Retirement Procedures Completed by your agency's HR office. This is their verification that all required forms, certifications, and supporting documents are included before the package is transmitted to the payroll provider.

Insurance and Beneficiary Forms

SF 2818 — Continuation of Life Insurance Coverage (FEGLI) Documents your FEGLI elections for retirement. You choose the post-65 reduction level for Basic coverage: 75% reduction (free after 65), 50% reduction (reduced premium for life), or no reduction (full premium for life). This form also covers your Optional A, B, and C elections.

SF 2823 — Designation of Beneficiary (FEGLI) Sets who receives your FEGLI death benefit. This is separate from your FERS beneficiary designation (SF 3102) and your TSP beneficiary designation (Form TSP-3). Each benefit stream has its own form and its own order of precedence if no valid designation is on file.

SF 2809 — Health Benefits Registration Form Documents your FEHB (or PSHB for postal employees) enrollment. You won't necessarily file a new SF 2809 at retirement — the critical piece is proving continuous enrollment for the five years preceding retirement. HR verifies this from your personnel records.

Service Credit and Deposit Forms

SF 3108 — Application to Make Service Credit Payment Used to make deposits or redeposits for eligible civilian service that wasn't covered by retirement deductions — typically temporary appointments, FICA-only periods, or periods where you received a refund of retirement contributions. The deposit must be paid in full for the service to count in your annuity; unlike a military service deposit, an eligible civilian-service deposit can generally be completed after separation.

RI 20-97 — Estimated Earnings During Military Service You request this from the military finance center (DFAS for most branches). It provides the earnings record needed to calculate your military service deposit amount. Request it at least six months before your planned retirement — military finance centers can take weeks to process these.

Tax and Financial Forms

Form W-4P — Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension Payments IRS form that tells OPM how much federal income tax to withhold from your monthly annuity. If you don't submit one, OPM defaults to single filing status with zero adjustments — which usually means over-withholding. Complete this with your retirement package to avoid a surprise tax bill or excessive withholding from day one.

SF 3102 — Designation of Beneficiary (FERS) Determines who receives your unpaid retirement contributions and the residual lump-sum payment if you die. Separate from your survivor annuity election, FEGLI designation, and TSP designation.

Other Supporting Documents

Depending on your personal circumstances, your retirement package may also need:

• Marriage certificate (if married — establishes survivor annuity eligibility)
• Certified divorce decrees and property settlements (if previously married — required for court-ordered benefit apportionment)
• Court Order Acceptable for Processing (COAP) (if a former spouse has a claim to your annuity or survivor benefits)
• Birth certificate or passport (age verification)
• DD-214 (military service documentation)
• Military deposit paid-in-full receipt from your agency payroll office

Where to Get These Forms

All OPM standard forms are available at opm.gov/forms/standard-forms/ and opm.gov/forms/retirement-and-insurance-forms/. Download current versions directly from OPM — older copies from third-party sites may be outdated revisions. The IRS Form W-4P is at irs.gov/forms-pubs/.

The FERS Retirement Application Guide organizes every form in filing sequence with a checklist that maps each document to the specific section of SF 3107 it supports — so nothing gets missed when your HR office prepares the package for transmittal.

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