Background

This transmittal amends chapter I-2-4 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to incorporate instructions for processing requests for withdrawal of an application at the hearing level.

Explanation of Content and Changes

Chapter I-2-4 is amended as follows:

I-2-4-20 – We changed the title to “Claimant Asks to Withdraw Request for Hearing” to more accurately reflect the content of the section. We removed unnecessary subsections and made other minor editorial and formatting changes throughout the section. We added a reference to new section I-2-4-22. We also removed information that was duplicative of instructions in HALLEX I-2-4-5 and replaced the information with a cross reference to that section.

I-2-4-22 – We added this section and titled it “Claimant Requests Withdrawal of Application at Hearing Level.”

I-2-4-22 A – We titled the subsection “In General” and provided appropriate cross references. We also included a brief explanation that an administrative law judge (ALJ) will not accept the withdrawal of an application after issuing a decision.

I-2-4-22 B – We titled the subsection “ALJ Has Not Acted on the Claim at the Time of Request to Withdraw Application” and explained that hearing office (HO) staff will first determine whether the claimant intended to withdraw the application. We clarified that if the claimant intended to withdraw the application, HO staff will forward the request to the field office (FO) for processing, and an ALJ will dismiss the request for hearing if the FO approves the request.

I-2-4-22 C – We titled the subsection “ALJ Issued a Decision or Dismissal Before the Request to Withdraw Application,” explained that an ALJ cannot accept a withdrawal of an application in this situation, and indicated how an ALJ will respond to the request.

I-2-4-22 D – We titled the subsection “Cancellation of a Withdrawal Request,” noted the FO will handle these requests, and cross reference the procedures for vacating a dismissal of a request for hearing if the FO approves the cancellation request. We explained that an ALJ will not evaluate timeliness or make a good cause determination when the FO reinstates an application. We added instructions for preparing a vacate order using the Document Generation System.

Date: August 2, 2016