Social Security International Customer Service Phone Number

410-965-9334
Calls International Customer Service·See main phone number & contact info
Q:How do I talk to a human at this number?
A:Calling this Social Security number should go right to a real human being
Q:Is this phone number operational 24 / 7?
A:Not at this number; hours here are Mon-Fri 9am-4pm EST. The least busy day is Tuesday, and the most busy day is Wednesday. See below for more and to learn where this data comes from.
Q:How long will I have to wait on hold?
A:We don't expect that you will have to wait to talk to a person. This is a direct line.
This is the #3 most popular Social Security phone number out of 3. Click below to go back to the main customer service number and other contact information:
Social Security's main customer service phone number

More Social Security Customer Phone Numbers

800-772-1213 - Customer Service
Main phone number · Toll-free · Press 0 then 1 then 2 then 1, then 0# then 1 · How can I help you today?
More details
800-269-0271 - Fraud Detection
Toll-free · This is the number for the Social Security Administration ID Theft/Fraud Reporting · Fraud Hotline - Received a call from someone, press 1. Report identity theft, press 2. Report Medicare or Medicaid fraud, press 3. Need help with social security benefits, press 4. To report social security fraud, press 5.
More details

How do I get through the phone menu to a real live person?

GetHuman researchers routinely call this Social Security phone number to document the phone system.
Here is our latest tip for weaving through the phone menu to get to a real person the fastest: Calling this Social Security number should go right to a real human being
In fact, much of this information on this page is superfluous because this Social Security phone number is a direct line to a human being. The line is well-staffed and you should anticipate a very short wait on hold or none whatsoever, as long as you are calling during business hours.
We don't know of any phone menus you would encounter when calling either.

What are the hours and when should I call?

Social Security operates the call center for this 410-965-9334 phone number Mon-Fri 9am-4pm ET. The short answer is that you should call on a Tuesday. This observation and the following section are based on analysis of a sample set of 35,412 calls made in the last 90 days using our free, web-based phone (see above).
An important note: busy times vs hold times vs best time to call
When we refer to busy or less busy times, we are talking about the volume of calls. The busiest times are when the most people are calling this Social Security phone number (least busy times have fewer people calling). This high call volume does not necessarily mean that you will have a long hold time when you call. Companies like Social Security staff their call centers differently based on the time of day and day of the week, so you may experience a shorter wait on hold at the busiest of times. When we refer to the best time to call, we are referring to the optimal combination of lower call volume and shorter wait times.
The least busy time to call
The least busy day to call Social Security is Tuesday. The most busy day to call is Wednesday. Again, this is based on a sample of 35,412 calls made with our AI-powered, web-based phone in the last 90 days.
The shortest wait on hold
We measured the shortest hold times to be on Tuesday. The longest wait in the queue on average occurs on Monday.
The best time to call
In summation, the best day to call Social Security is Tuesday. In this case, it's a no-brainer. Tuesday is not only the least busy day for calling this Social Security number, but it is also the day with the shortest hold times.
Once again, please put this information in perspective because this phone number has no phone menu or long waits. It generally gets picked up right away if calling during their opening hours. If there is any way, it will typically be very short.

My Experience Calling Social Security at this Number

Nov 23, 2023

I have been helping my elderly grandparents deal with signing up for Medicare because they don't understand how the internet works. I realized that when they opted into Part A and Part B, they had forgotten about prescription coverage. I was unsure how we would add Part D, so I elected to call Social Security so that we could discuss our options. I figured this was the best way to start because, unlike the internet, which seemed filled with false information, the Social Security office would be trustworthy. 

Of course, going in, I didn't expect to get to someone right away to solve my problems. After all, it isn't easy to talk to anyone in the Social Security office on a good day. There are just so many reasons why people might call the office, from identity fraud issues to changing information to just requiring a new card. I thought that I would give it a shot, though. 

Unfortunately, I almost immediately struck out because the message said thank you for calling Social Security but told me that this phone number no longer worked. That was a bit of a letdown, but it did give me a new number to call: 1-800-722-1213.

I called this number, and I went straight to a voice that sounded the same, but this time, after the greeting, it continued. It asked about Spanish and then went through a lot of nonrelevant information about the COLA premium, Medicare premiums, and a general warning about social security fraud. I would say that I listened to messaging for almost two minutes. 

However, once it finally ended, it mentioned that I could go online for more information, and then the voice assistant said, "How can I help you?" I wasn't sure at first, but then they gave me a list of options that sparked me to say, "Apply for benefits."

It then asked me the type of benefits I was calling about, and I told the voice assistant that I was calling about Part D. It then asked me if I was already enrolled in Medicare, and I said yes. This led to a long recorded message that contained some useful information but, in the end, did not get me any help. It gave me another phone number to call if I needed help or told me to go online. At this point, I will probably just go online because I don't feel like any more runaround. 

Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.
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