FERS Retirement Application: SF-3107, Interim Pay, and What to Expect

When to Submit Your Application

OPM recommends submitting your FERS retirement application 60–90 days before your planned separation date.¹ Submit earlier — not right before — because your agency HR needs time to complete their portion and bundle the package before sending it to OPM. Submitting on your last day guarantees a delay.

Your last day of service also matters for your annuity start date. The rules are specific:

• If you retire on the last day of a month, your annuity starts the 1st of the following month.
• If you retire on any other day, your annuity starts the 1st of the second month after your separation.¹

Example: Retiring on June 30 → annuity starts July 1. Retiring on June 15 → annuity starts August 1. That's a one-month difference in the day you first receive a payment, which matters when you're budgeting the gap between your last paycheck and first annuity payment.

Most federal employees aim for the last day of a month — or the last day of a pay period before that — to maximize leave payouts and minimize the income gap.

The Forms: SF-3107 Package

For FERS employees, the retirement application is the SF-3107 ("Application for Immediate Retirement — Federal Employees Retirement System"). There is no online self-service portal where you file directly with OPM; you submit the forms to your agency HR Benefits office, which completes the agency portion and forwards the entire package to OPM.

The SF-3107 package typically includes three sections:

CSRS employees file a different form: SF-2801 with SF-2801-A and SF-2801-B for the same respective purposes. The process flow is identical — through agency HR to OPM.

Documents to Prepare for Your Agency HR

In addition to the signed SF-3107 package, your agency HR will typically need:

• Military discharge documentation (DD-214) — if you have military service, even if you already paid the military service credit deposit. HR must certify your military service periods.
• Proof of military deposit payment — the receipt or confirmation letter from DFAS if you made a military service credit deposit. This must be paid before separation — you cannot make or complete a deposit after you leave federal service.²
• Prior federal employment records — SF-50s from other agencies if you have service gaps, leaves without pay, or transferred between agencies. Your agency HR uses these to verify your Service Computation Date.
• Birth certificate or passport — to verify your age, especially for LEO/FF/ATC employees where the retirement age triggers mandatory separation.
• Marriage certificate — required if you elect a survivor annuity for a current spouse.
• Court order (if applicable) — if a former spouse has a court-ordered entitlement to a share of your annuity or survivor benefit, the court order must accompany the application.
• Designation of beneficiary for TSP — separate from your SF-3107. The TSP-3 form controls who receives your TSP if you die before or after separation. Check your current designation at tsp.gov. Your retirement paperwork does NOT update TSP.

How the Application Flows: Agency → OPM

The FERS retirement application process has four stages:

1. You submit to agency HR (90 days out). Hand in your completed SF-3107 package plus all supporting documents. HR logs your intention to retire and begins gathering agency-side data: your Service Computation Date, official leave balances, FEHB enrollment codes, FEGLI coverage, and any court orders on file.
2. Agency HR completes their portion (30–60 days out). HR completes Part B of the SF-3107 with your official service, salary, and leave data. They also calculate and process your annual leave lump-sum payout (taxed as supplemental wages; see Annual Leave Lump-Sum guide). When your package is complete, HR transmits it to OPM via their personnel/payroll system — traditionally paper, increasingly electronic through systems like HR Connect.
3. OPM establishes interim pay (within ~10–15 days of receiving the package). OPM creates your retirement record and begins issuing interim annuity payments. These are partial payments made while your case is still being calculated — see Interim Pay below for the amount and what's excluded.
4. OPM finalizes your annuity and issues the first regular payment. OPM calculates your final annuity, reconciles interim payments, and establishes your permanent monthly payment. Any overpayment or underpayment from the interim period is trued up. You receive a Retirement Benefits Summary letter with your final annuity amount, deductions, and effective date.

There is no single "submit" button. You cannot check a portal to track your file the way you can an IRS refund. The best you can do is confirm with your agency HR that the package has been transmitted to OPM, then use OPM's interim pay status tool to confirm OPM has received and started processing your case.

Interim Pay: What It Is and What It Doesn't Cover

Interim pay is OPM's mechanism for keeping money flowing to new retirees while the full annuity calculation is being completed. It is not a separate benefit — it's an advance on your eventual annuity. Here's what you need to know:

How Much You Get

Interim pay is approximately 60–80% of your estimated net annuity.¹ The exact percentage varies based on how complete your agency's submitted package was and what OPM can calculate at the time. If your service history is straightforward (one agency, no military buyback, no court orders), you'll be toward the high end. Complex cases — multiple agencies, redeposit service, LWOP periods — may start lower.

What's Deducted (and What Isn't)

The FEHB gap is the most common surprise. Your FEHB coverage continues after retirement (assuming you met the 5-year rule), but OPM cannot deduct the premium from interim pay. You may receive a direct billing notice from your plan or OPM. Pay it on time — if you miss premiums during the interim period, your coverage can lapse. When OPM finalizes your annuity, they'll reconcile any back premiums and begin deducting regularly. See our FEHB in Retirement guide for the full enrollment mechanics.

The True-Up at Finalization

When OPM calculates your final annuity, they reconcile the interim payments. If you were overpaid relative to your final annuity (uncommon but possible), OPM will collect the overage — sometimes in a lump sum, sometimes via reduced future payments. If you were underpaid (more common with complex cases), you receive a retroactive check for the difference plus any accumulated health/insurance premiums that should have been deducted.

OPM Processing Timeline: What to Expect in 2026

OPM's retirement backlog reached historic levels in early 2026 due to an unprecedented surge in federal retirements driven by VERA/VSIP offers, the Deferred Resignation Program, and RIFs. As of April 2026:³

• Pending cases: ~49,900 (down from a peak of 54,000+ in early 2026)
• Average processing time: 78 days (up from 60 days in March)
• Digital claims: average 50 days
• Paper claims: average 100 days
• FY2026 new claims received: 133,773 through April (vs. 60,573 same period FY2025 — more than double)

What this means practically: budget to cover your full living expenses — including FEHB premiums — for 2–3 months without a finalized annuity. Your interim payment will start within 2–3 weeks of OPM receiving the package, but it won't cover all your normal expenses. Having 3 months of cash reserves before your retirement date is not conservative — it's baseline planning in 2026.

OPM processes cases in order of receipt, with some priority for hardship situations. There is no way to "expedite" a normal retirement case.

Common Mistakes That Delay or Permanently Reduce Your Annuity

1. Missing the Military Service Credit Deposit Deadline

If you served in the military before your federal civilian career and want that time to count toward your FERS pension, you must pay a military service credit deposit before you separate. The deposit is 3% of your military basic pay for each period of active duty service.² Once you separate from federal service, the deposit window closes permanently. If you realize mid-application that you haven't completed this, contact DFAS immediately. See our FERS Military Buyback guide for the calculation and step-by-step process.

2. Wrong Survivor Annuity Election

The SF-3107-B survivor annuity section is permanent once processed. Many federal employees check "none" to avoid the 10% (full) or 5% (partial) annuity reduction, only to later realize their spouse loses FEHB coverage at death if there's no survivor annuity. Think through both of you outliving the other. The break-even analysis and FEHB interaction are in our FERS Survivor Annuity guide.

3. Selecting the Wrong Retirement Date

Retiring on any day other than the last day of a month delays your annuity start by an extra month. Retiring on July 1 instead of June 30 costs you roughly one month of your annuity — at $4,000/month, that's $4,000 you don't recover. The difference is one day of employment.

4. Submitting Incomplete Documentation

Missing a DD-214, an incomplete court order, or an unsigned spousal consent on the SF-3107-B sends your package back to the agency for correction — restarting the processing clock. Your agency HR cannot forward an incomplete package to OPM; if they do, OPM pends the case. Result: delayed interim pay start, delayed finalization. Verify everything is signed and included before you hand over the packet.

5. Not Verifying Your Service Computation Date

Your agency's personnel records may contain errors accumulated over a 20–30 year career: LWOP periods miscategorized, inter-agency transfers missing, temporary appointments not credited. Pull your unofficial service history from your HR portal and reconcile it against your SF-50 history 6–12 months before applying. Correcting an SCD error after OPM has finalized your case requires an administrative appeal — a process that can take months.

6. Forgetting TSP Is a Separate Process

OPM processes your FERS pension annuity. Your TSP account is separate — managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and administered by Accenture Federal Services. No retirement paperwork you file with OPM affects your TSP account. Once you separate, you control your TSP independently at tsp.gov: you can leave it in TSP, start installment payments, take lump-sum distributions, or roll it to an IRA. The stay-vs-rollover decision carries real long-term consequences — see our TSP Stay vs. Rollover guide.

7. Not Addressing IRMAA in the Retirement Year

Your Medicare Part B premium in 2028 will be based on your 2026 income — the same year you retire. If your retirement year includes months of full salary plus an annual leave lump-sum payout, your 2026 income could be higher than your steady-state retirement income. That spike could trigger IRMAA surcharges in 2028 even though you'll be living on a lower income. See our FEHB and Medicare guide for the IRMAA lookback mechanics.

What Else to Do When You File

The SF-3107 covers your FERS pension. Several other actions must happen independently:

• TSP withdrawals: Log in to tsp.gov after separation to manage your TSP independently. You have numerous options — installments, partial lump sums, full rollover, annuity purchase. Don't let your TSP account sit without a plan. Our TSP Withdrawal Calculator can help model your options.
• Social Security: If you're delaying SS, no action required. If you're claiming at 62 or your Full Retirement Age, apply at ssa.gov — ideally 3 months before you want payments to start. Note: the FERS supplement (automatic bridge payment) stops when you turn 62 regardless of when you claim SS; it is not a substitute for SS. See our FERS Supplement guide for the earnings test and timing trap.
• Medicare Part B enrollment: If you're 65+ at retirement, this triggers a Special Enrollment Period. You have 8 months after you (or your spouse) lose employer coverage. Review the FEHB + Medicare coordination math before automatically enrolling. See our FEHB in Retirement guide.
• TSP beneficiary designations: Check your TSP-3 form at tsp.gov. Retirement does not update beneficiary designations. If your file shows an ex-spouse as beneficiary, TSP will pay that person regardless of your will or your OPM survivor annuity election. Update immediately if needed. See our TSP Beneficiary Designation guide.
• State income tax setup: Once OPM finalizes your annuity, you can set up state tax withholding. During the interim period, OPM cannot withhold state taxes — plan to make estimated state tax payments if you live in a state that taxes pension income. See our State Income Tax guide for federal employees.
• FEGLI conversion/portability: If you want to keep FEGLI life insurance in retirement, no action is needed — it continues automatically for retirees who have met the 5-year rule. If you want to convert Option B to a private policy (before the premium jumps at each age band), you have 31 days after separation to convert without evidence of insurability. See our FEGLI in Retirement guide.

Ready to file — or want to verify your numbers first?

The SF-3107 locks in decisions you live with for decades: survivor benefit, retirement date, annuity type. A specialist who works with federal employees reviews your complete package — pension formula, TSP coordination, FEHB/Medicare timing, and IRMAA exposure — before you sign anything.