Sentence four remand vs sentence six remand in SSDI appeals

Last updated 2026-07-10

What does "remand" mean in an SSDI federal court appeal?

A remand sends your case back to Social Security for another round of work. When a federal district court reviews an SSDI denial, it has four moves: affirm SSA's decision, reverse it outright, dismiss the case, or remand. The court is not saying "you win" on the merits. It found a legal or procedural problem in how SSA handled your claim and ordered a do-over.

Most SSDI appeals reach federal court only after the claimant has lost at the initial application, reconsideration, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearing, and the Appeals Council. ^[1] By the time a U.S. District Court judge opens your file, you may have been waiting three to six years. So the type of remand you get is not paperwork trivia. It decides whether the fee clock starts now, how long the second review drags on, and whether the judge ever looks at your case again.

Both remand types live in a single sentence of the Social Security Act: 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Congress wrote that sentence in clauses, and courts named the remands after them. Sentence four is the first remand clause. Sentence six is the second.

What is a sentence four remand under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)?

A sentence four remand is a court judgment that reverses SSA and sends the case back with instructions. Sentence four of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) gives the court "power to enter, upon the pleadings and transcript of the record, a judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing the decision of the Commissioner of Social Security, with or without remanding the cause for a rehearing." ^[2] The court enters a judgment first, then hands the case back.

That judgment is the whole difference. When a district court issues a sentence four remand, it enters a final order and the clerk closes the docket. Your federal case is over. SSA gets the file back with specific marching orders: re-evaluate a doctor's opinion, apply the right legal standard for pain, or give proper weight to your treating physician's records.

Because the court entered a final judgment, you become the "prevailing party" at that moment. That matters for two reasons. Your attorney can apply for fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), which requires filing within 30 days of the judgment becoming final. ^[3] And your original application date is preserved, so SSA still counts back pay from when you first applied, not from the remand.

Sentence four is the common outcome. Almost every federal court reversal in a Social Security case runs through it. The court did its job, delivered a verdict, and returned the file.

What is a sentence six remand under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g)?

A sentence six remand is rarer and narrower: the court pauses the case so SSA can look at new evidence, and keeps the file open. The statute lets a court "order additional evidence to be taken before the Commissioner of Social Security, but only upon a showing that there is new evidence which is material and that there is good cause for the failure to incorporate such evidence into the record in a prior proceeding." ^[2]

Notice what is missing. No judgment. The court suspends the case. The docket stays open. SSA reviews the new evidence, reports back to the district court, and the judge picks up where things stopped. The court holds full jurisdiction the whole time.

To win a sentence six remand, you prove three things. The evidence is actually new (not old records you forgot to file). It is material (a reasonable chance it changes the outcome). And you had good cause for not putting it in the record earlier. A diagnosis made after the ALJ hearing is the textbook example. Records that existed all along but your lawyer missed usually do not qualify. ^[4]

Since no judgment enters, you are not the prevailing party yet. The EAJA clock has not started. You are in a holding pattern with the judge watching.

Sentence six shows up in a few real situations: a serious new diagnosis lands after the hearing, SSA itself asks the court to remand so it can fix a clerical or procedural error (a "voluntary remand"), or new medical evidence directly cuts against the ALJ's finding that you can still work.

What is the core difference between sentence four and sentence six remands?

Sentence four is a verdict that closes the court chapter. Sentence six is a pause that keeps the judge in the room. That is the split in one line. ^[5] The table lays out the rest.

Feature	Sentence Four Remand	Sentence Six Remand
Legal basis	42 U.S.C. § 405(g), sentence 4	42 U.S.C. § 405(g), sentence 6
Court enters a judgment?	Yes	No
Federal case closed?	Yes	No (case suspended)
Court retains jurisdiction?	No	Yes
Prevailing party status?	Yes, at time of judgment	Not yet
EAJA fee petition deadline	30 days after judgment is final	After court's final judgment post-remand
Back pay available now?	SSA must pay if ALJ awards on remand	SSA must pay if ALJ awards on remand
Trigger requirement	Court finds legal/factual error	New, material evidence + good cause
How common?	Very common	Rare

One note on back pay. Either way, if the ALJ on remand awards benefits, SSA counts back pay from your established onset date (minus the five-month SSDI waiting period). The remand type does not touch your original filing date. What it changes is when the EAJA clock starts and whether the court is still checking SSA's work.

What happens after a sentence four remand is issued?

The district court sends its written order to SSA, and the case goes back to the Appeals Council. The Appeals Council usually kicks it down to an ALJ, sometimes the same judge who denied you, sometimes a new one. ^[1]

The ALJ holds a new hearing or, in some cases, decides on the existing record with the specific errors fixed. Either way the ALJ is bound by the court's instructions, which can be narrow ("reconsider the treating physician's opinion") or broad ("conduct an entirely new hearing").

If the ALJ awards benefits, SSA calculates your back pay and mails a notice of award. Payment usually follows within 60 to 90 days, though in practice it often runs longer. If you have an attorney on contingency, SSA withholds 25% of past-due benefits up to $7,200 (the fee cap as of 2024, adjusted periodically) for representative fees, and your attorney may also seek EAJA fees from the government separately. ^[6]

If the ALJ denies you again after a sentence four remand, you restart the federal court process. You can file a new complaint, but you are not automatically back before the same judge.

Timing is the hard part. No statute forces SSA to finish the post-remand hearing by any date. Most claimants wait 12 to 24 months for a hearing after a sentence four remand, longer where the regional ALJ docket is jammed.

What happens after a sentence six remand is issued?

SSA reviews whatever new evidence triggered the remand, then files a report with the district court explaining what it did and what it decided. The judge reads that report and decides whether SSA got it right this time.

If the court is satisfied, it enters final judgment, and that is when you become the prevailing party for EAJA purposes. If the court is not satisfied, it can order more proceedings. You get two bites at federal court review, which is the real upside of a sentence six remand when your new evidence genuinely matters.

The downside is time. The case never closed, which sounds like a good thing, but it also means you sat through the SSA remand review and then a second court look. These cases can run years longer than a sentence four remand.

SSA's internal handling of sentence six remands runs through the agency's Program Operations Manual System (POMS), in the sections covering court remand procedures. POMS GN 03106.000 et seq. tells regional offices how to process court orders and what internal timelines apply, though claimants cannot enforce those timelines. ^[7]

How do federal courts decide which type of remand to order?

The remand type follows the legal argument you raised, not the outcome you would prefer. Courts do not pick sentence four or sentence six to be generous.

Argue that the ALJ made a legal error, misapplied the five-step evaluation, ignored evidence already in the record, or mishandled medical opinions, and you are arguing for a sentence four remand. The court reviews the existing administrative record and finds the mistake. No new evidence involved.

Want to add evidence that did not exist at the time of the hearing, or that you can show good cause for filing late? That is sentence six. You have to file an affirmative motion explaining why the evidence is new, why it is material, and why it was not in the record already.

The Supreme Court settled the line in Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89 (1991), holding these are the only two remand types under § 405(g) and that courts cannot invent hybrids. ^[5] Before that, some circuits issued remands without entering judgment, which scrambled the question of when the EAJA clock started. Melkonyan fixed it.

Rule of thumb: if your lawyer files for summary judgment citing errors in how the ALJ read existing records, expect a sentence four remand if the court agrees. If your lawyer files a motion to admit new evidence, sentence six is the path.

Does the type of remand affect your SSDI back pay?

Not directly. But the timing gap is real money. Here is the mechanics.

Under sentence four, the court enters judgment and the EAJA 30-day window opens right away. Your attorney can recover federal court fees from the government without waiting for the ALJ decision on remand. That holds your legal costs down.

Under sentence six, you wait for the entire remand process to finish before the EAJA clock even starts. Your contingency fee (25% of past-due benefits, capped at $7,200 for SSA-level work) works the same either way. ^[6] But the EAJA fees for the federal court work only come available after final judgment, which might land two or three years after the original sentence six order.

Your own money: back pay builds from your established onset date no matter the remand type. If SSA awards benefits after either kind, they owe you from the onset date through the award date, minus the five-month SSDI waiting period. A longer remand means more back pay piles up, but it also means more months with no income coming in.

Here is the stake in numbers. The average SSDI monthly benefit was about $1,580 in early 2024, per SSA's monthly statistical snapshot. ^[8] Every extra year of waiting at that rate is roughly $18,960 in delayed income. Current payment figures are in the Social Security disability benefits pay chart.

What is an EAJA fee petition and why does the remand type matter for it?

The Equal Access to Justice Act lets a prevailing party in a civil case against the federal government recover attorney fees when the government's position was not "substantially justified." ^[3] When a claimant wins a sentence four remand, the court found SSA's denial legally flawed, and courts routinely rule that position was not substantially justified.

The EAJA petition must be filed within 30 days of the judgment becoming final, meaning 30 days after the time to appeal runs out (typically 60 to 90 days after the district court order, depending on whether the government appeals). Miss that window and the EAJA fees are gone for good, even if you win on remand.

A sentence six remand has no judgment yet, so the EAJA clock has not started. Your attorney waits for final judgment after SSA finishes its sentence six review.

EAJA fees usually run around $250 an hour (adjusted for inflation from the statute's $125 starting rate), and a contested SSDI federal appeal might take 20 to 40 hours of attorney work. So EAJA fees of $5,000 to $10,000 are common. That money comes from the government, not from your back pay. Your attorney can collect both EAJA fees (for the court work) and SSA-level contingency fees (for the remand hearing). ^[3]

If you are organizing your medical and work history before filing or after a denial, DisabilityFiled's guided intake helps you build a clean claim summary that attorneys and ALJs can actually use.

What are the most common reasons courts issue a sentence four remand?

Courts grant sentence four remands more than any other outcome in SSDI federal appeals. The errors that show up over and over sit inside the existing administrative record.

Failure to properly evaluate medical opinions. Under the regulations in effect before March 27, 2017, ALJs had to give "controlling weight" to treating physician opinions unless contradicted by substantial evidence. ^[9] Plenty of remands happen because the ALJ tossed a treating doctor's opinion with no real explanation.

Weak credibility analysis. When an ALJ calls a claimant's pain testimony not credible, the ALJ has to say why, using specific factors. Boilerplate like "the claimant's statements are not consistent with the medical evidence" is a classic sentence four trigger.

Step three errors. SSA uses a five-step sequential evaluation, and step three asks whether your condition meets or medically equals a listed impairment in SSA's Blue Book. ^[10] ALJs who skip the equivalence analysis or fail to call a medical expert when one is required hand the court a reason to remand.

RFC not supported by substantial evidence. The Residual Functional Capacity is SSA's read on what you can still do despite your impairments. Drop a well-documented limitation from the RFC with no explanation, and that is error.

Failure to develop the record. ALJs have a duty to fully develop the file. If a key piece of medical evidence was missing and the ALJ never asked for it, that can support a remand.

For how SSA is reshaping its review process, see social security is bringing all medical disability reviews in-house.

Can SSA voluntarily ask for a sentence four or sentence six remand?

Yes, and it happens more than people expect. When SSA's lawyers review a case headed to federal court and see the ALJ made an obvious error, they may file a consent motion asking the court to remand rather than fight to a full judgment. People call this a "voluntary remand" or an "unopposed remand."

A voluntary remand under sentence four is still a final judgment. The government agrees to lose the federal case, the court enters the order, and the EAJA clock starts. For claimants this is usually good news, because it is faster than full briefing and a court decision.

A voluntary sentence six remand is rarer and more specific. SSA might request one to correct a procedural defect rather than re-evaluate the whole claim, or when it spots a clerical error in its own decision and wants to fix it without conceding the ALJ got the law wrong.

If SSA offers a consent motion, have your attorney read the proposed order closely. The instructions the court gives SSA control what the ALJ must do on remand. Vague instructions can lead to another denial on fresh grounds. Specific ones, like "evaluate Listing 1.15 and obtain a consultative orthopedic examination," give the ALJ far less room to deny again.

How long does the remand process take after a federal court order?

No federal statute sets a deadline for SSA to finish a remand hearing. That is one of the most maddening parts of this.

After a sentence four remand, SSA's Office of Appellate Operations usually processes the court order and routes the case to a hearing office within 60 to 90 days. Then the hearing office schedules the ALJ hearing. In high-volume regions, that scheduling wait can run 12 to 24 months. Add the time for the ALJ to write a decision, and 18 to 30 months of total post-remand time is common before you have a final answer.

After a sentence six remand, there is another layer. Once the ALJ decides, the file goes back to the court, and the judge's second review can take another 6 to 18 months depending on the docket.

SSA's own wait-time data moves around. Through late 2023 and into 2024, average hearing waits nationally ran roughly 8 to 14 months at the initial ALJ level. Remand hearings often take longer because the file is thicker. ^[11]

If you are already deep in a remand and wondering how payments arrive once benefits start, the social security disability benefits payment schedule explains how SSA structures them.

What should you do if a federal court remands your SSDI case?

Start by reading the court's order and understanding exactly what it says. The order spells out what the ALJ must do on remand. Ask your attorney to walk you through each instruction. Those instructions are the map for the next hearing, and you want evidence that hits every deficiency the court named.

Gather updated medical evidence right away. If the court remanded because the ALJ ignored your treating physician, get a fresh opinion letter from that doctor documenting your current limitations. Records from the period after your ALJ hearing are admissible at the remand hearing and often make the case stronger.

Do not treat a remand as a win in hand. ALJs still deny claimants on remand. The court's instructions narrow the ALJ's discretion, but they do not guarantee an award. The denial rate at remand hearings is lower than at initial hearings. It is not zero.

If you do not have an attorney, get one before the remand hearing. Representation at an ALJ hearing lifts approval rates. The apply for social security disability guide covers how to find one.

If you won a sentence four remand and your attorney has said nothing about an EAJA petition, ask. The 30-day window from when the judgment becomes final is strict. Missing it costs your attorney real money and can sour them on future SSDI appeals.

To build the kind of organized claim summary that holds up at a remand hearing, DisabilityFiled's guided intake pulls your medical history, work history, and functional limitations into a format you can hand to any attorney or bring to the hearing.

Frequently asked questions

Is a sentence four remand a win for the claimant?

It is a partial win. The court found SSA made a legal or factual error, entered judgment in your favor, and sent the case back for a new review. But the ALJ on remand can still deny benefits after fixing the specific error. A remand raises your odds a lot. It does not guarantee an award.

Can I get back pay during the remand process before the ALJ decides?

No. Back pay only comes after an ALJ issues a fully favorable decision on remand. While you wait for the remand hearing and decision, there are no interim SSDI payments. If money is tight, check whether you qualify for SSI (which has no insured status requirement) or other assistance programs during the wait.

What is the difference between a remand and a reversal in SSDI?

A reversal means the court finds SSA's denial flat wrong and orders benefits paid without sending the case back. Reversals are rare in Social Security cases because courts prefer to let the agency correct its own errors. A remand sends the case back with instructions instead of ordering an outright award.

How many SSDI federal court cases result in a remand?

Studies of Social Security federal court outcomes find that courts reverse or remand roughly 40 to 55 percent of the SSDI cases they review on the merits, with most being sentence four remands. SSA wins most fully litigated cases, but claimants who reach federal court with solid legal arguments win a meaningful share.

Does a sentence six remand restart my SSDI filing date?

No. A sentence six remand does not change your original application date or alleged onset date. If the ALJ awards benefits after the sentence six review, SSA calculates back pay from your original onset date (minus the five-month SSDI waiting period), the same as under any other favorable outcome.

What is a 'voluntary remand' in an SSDI federal case?

A voluntary remand happens when SSA's lawyers agree to send the case back without forcing you to fully brief and argue the issues. SSA consents to the court entering a remand order, often because the agency sees the ALJ made a clear error. Most voluntary SSDI remands are under sentence four and still produce a final court judgment.

Can I appeal a sentence four remand decision if the ALJ denies me again?

Yes. If the ALJ denies you after a sentence four remand, you can appeal to the Appeals Council and then file a new federal court complaint. The prior remand does not carry over; you start the federal court process again. Your attorney must file the new complaint within 60 days of the Appeals Council's denial (plus a five-day mailing presumption).

What happens to my Medicare or Medicaid while waiting for a remand decision?

If you were already getting SSDI and lost it before the federal appeal, Medicare continuation depends on when benefits stopped. If this is your first award, Medicare eligibility begins 24 months after your established onset date of disability, so a remand wait may not delay Medicare if your onset date is far enough back.

How do I know if my case was remanded under sentence four or sentence six?

The court's order references 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) and shows which clause applies. A sentence four order says the court "enters judgment" or uses the word "judgment" and orders remand. A sentence six order states that new evidence must be taken and that the case is held in abeyance or suspended, with no final judgment.

Can my attorney file both a sentence four and a sentence six remand argument?

Attorneys can argue in the alternative. They might argue first that the existing record supports reversal or a sentence four remand for legal error, and alternatively that if the court needs new evidence, sentence six applies. Courts decide on the merits of each argument. Raising both does not hurt, but courts treat these as distinct vehicles.

Does SSA have to follow the court's remand instructions exactly?

Yes. The remand order is a court judgment, and SSA must comply with its specific instructions. If SSA ignores the order or the ALJ repeats the same error on remand, your attorney can return to federal court to enforce compliance, potentially through a motion for contempt or a new appeal citing the repeat error.

What is the Melkonyan v. Sullivan decision and why does it matter for SSDI remands?

Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89 (1991), is the Supreme Court case that established sentence four and sentence six as the only two permissible remand types under the Social Security Act. Before it, some courts issued remands without entering judgment, muddying EAJA deadlines. Melkonyan held that a sentence four remand requires a final judgment, which starts the EAJA clock.

Sources

1. SSA, Hearings and Appeals Process Overview: SSDI claimants must exhaust administrative appeals (initial, reconsideration, ALJ, Appeals Council) before federal court review
2. Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), Cornell LII: Sentence four grants courts power to enter judgment affirming, modifying, or reversing SSA's decision with or without remand; sentence six requires new material evidence and good cause
3. Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2412, Cornell LII: EAJA requires fee petition within 30 days of final judgment; government pays if its position was not substantially justified
4. SSA, Court Cases and Remands (Appeals): Sentence six remand requires evidence be new, material, and that there was good cause for its absence from the prior record
5. Melkonyan v. Sullivan, 501 U.S. 89 (1991), Supreme Court: Supreme Court held sentence four and sentence six are the only permissible remand types under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g); sentence four requires entry of judgment
6. SSA, Program Operations Manual System (POMS), Representative Fee Agreements: SSA withholds 25% of past-due benefits for representative fees up to the current statutory cap (adjusted periodically, most recently $7,200)
7. SSA, Program Operations Manual System (POMS), Court Remand Processing (GN 03106.000): POMS GN 03106.000 et seq. governs SSA's internal handling of court remand orders including sentence four and sentence six procedures
8. SSA, Monthly Statistical Snapshot, 2024: Average SSDI monthly benefit was approximately $1,580 in early 2024
9. SSA, Code of Federal Regulations, 20 C.F.R. § 404.1527 (Cornell LII): Under regulations in effect before March 27, 2017, treating physician opinions were entitled to controlling weight absent contradicting substantial evidence
10. SSA, Disability Evaluation Under Social Security (Blue Book): SSA's five-step sequential evaluation process includes step three review of whether conditions meet or medically equal a listed impairment
11. SSA, Hearings and Appeals: Pending Cases and Wait Times: Average ALJ hearing wait times nationally ran approximately 8 to 14 months as of late 2023 into 2024
12. Social Security Administration, Program Operations Manual System (POMS): SSA's POMS governs internal procedures including processing of Appeals Council and court-ordered remands