Government Revives Form to Chase Lost Retirement Checks
Published Date: 7/22/2026
Notice
Summary
The Office of Personnel Management is bringing back a form called RI 38-31 to help people and federal agencies track down missing retirement payments. If you’ve noticed a payment didn’t arrive, this form collects the info needed to fix it quickly. Comments on this process are open until September 21, 2026, so now’s the time to speak up and help make things smoother!
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Form to Report Missing Retirement Pay
You can use the reinstated RI 38-31 form to report a missing payment from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund so OPM can trace and/or reissue the payment. The Office of Personnel Management (OMB No. 3206-0187) has reinstated this information collection and is accepting public comments through September 21, 2026. Missing payments may also be reported to OPM by telephone.
Time Burden to Report Missing Payment
If you report a missing payment using RI 38-31, OPM estimates about 10 minutes per respondent to complete the form. The agency estimates 8,000 respondents and a total burden of 1,333 hours for this information collection.
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Key Dates
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