My wife turned 67 in Ap[ril of 2017 and applied for spousal benefits. Social Security refused to pay them because she was born in a car and has no birth certificate. (Passport, driver's license, etc. what been submitted.) She appealed, and their office in Chicago sent a list of still more documents she could submit, so more went sent (voting record, school record listing date of birth. Months have passed, and no response. Registered letter asking for a response was sent the end of December. No response. What is the way to get a response? What is the way to get hem to obey the law?

Hi,

If your wife submitted proof to Social Security that the state in which she was born has no record of her birth, then they should accept the types of documents that you submitted as secondary proof of age (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200302100). It sounds like you've probably taken all the proper steps to resolve the issue, but if you already have an appeal pending there's probably no way to speed up the decision on it. You could try asking the offices of one of your congressional representatives to make an inquiry, but you'll likely just need to wait out the process.

Best, Jerry