I-4-1-30.Complaints Filed Following Court Remand

A. General

Under the remand procedures, a district court may remand a case under either sentence four or sentence six of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, as amended. For more information, see Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual I-4-6-1.

B. Sentence Four Remands

If a case is remanded under sentence four, the court's jurisdiction ends after remand and the claimant must file a new complaint if they are dissatisfied with the administrative law judge (ALJ) or Appeals Council (AC) final decision after court remand. For more information on ALJ final decisions after court remand, see HALLEX I-2-8-18. For information on processing ALJ decisions after court remand, see HALLEX I-4-8. For information on when the AC may issue a final decision after court remand, see HALLEX I-4-7-1 and I-4-7-5.

If a new complaint is not timely filed, absent a showing of good cause, the claimant cannot obtain further judicial review of their case. The procedures in HALLEX I-4-3-5 apply. See HALLEX I-4-1-2 C for the statutory and regulatory time requirements for filing a civil action.

C. Sentence Six Remands

In cases remanded under sentence six, the court's jurisdiction does not end when the case is remanded. Therefore, any newly filed complaint with a new civil action number may duplicate the existing cause of action. In this situation, the Court Case Preparation and Review Branch will notify the appropriate Office of the General Counsel (OGC) office of the duplicate filing. OGC will then move to have the new complaint dismissed or consolidated with the prior civil action.