Congressman Sander Levin

Assistance with Federal Agencies

The role of my office when assisting constituents with federal agencies is to make inquiries on your behalf with the respective agencies regarding your situation. This includes: finding out the status of a case, requesting additional information, and requesting an expedited response or decision.

While my office can make inquiries on your behalf, we cannot guarantee a positive outcome in all situations. It is important to note that my office does not have any decision making authority, and the respective agencies have complete discretion concerning decisions on individual cases.

Here are answers to several of the most frequently asked questions by constituents.

Here are real examples of situations my office has helped constituents with.

How to obtain assistance from my office:

1. Determine if you reside in Michigan's 12th Congressional District

Congressional courtesy, ethics rules and propriety dictate that each Member of Congress has the honor and responsibility to serve his or her own constituents.

If you aren't sure which Congressional district you live in, please visit the House of Representatives homepage here, enter your nine digit zip code to determine who your representative is.

If you do not know the last four digits of your zip code, please visit the Postal Service ZIP Code Lookup page to find out.

2. Determine if your issue is under the jurisdiction of a federal agency

Check this quick list of federal agencies on the right to see if the issue you are dealing with is with one of these agencies.

If you do not see the agency that you are dealing with listed, or you are uncertain, please call 586-498-7122 or 248-968-2025 and a member of my staff will be pleased to assist with your question.

If your particular issue does not fall under the jurisdiction of a federal agency, my staff will try to direct you to the appropriate non-federal agency, resources or services that may be helpful.

3. Fill out a privacy release form

In order for my office to make inquiries with a federal agency on your behalf, you must first fill out a privacy release form authorizing myself or my staff to receive information on your behalf.

You can access a privacy release form online, or by contacting my district office if you would like it mailed to you. Once you have filled out the privacy release form, you can either mail, fax, or drop it off to my district office in Roseville:

Congressman Sander Levin
27085 Gratiot Avenue
Roseville, MI 48066
(586) 498-7123 (fax)

4. Next steps

Once your privacy release is received by my district office, a member of my staff will contact the appropriate federal agency with your request for assistance.

You will receive a letter indicating any inquiries being made on your behalf, and my staff will contact you if they require further information.

Listed below are summaries of ways we can assist you with different agencies.

• Assistance with the Internal Revenue Service(IRS)
  If you are having a problem with an issue relating to the IRS, my office may be able to help. Some examples of problems my office may be able to help resolve are: tax disputes, hardship issues and questions regarding the economic stimulus payments.
• Immigration
  If you are having a problem with an issue relating to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) or a United States Embassy abroad, my office may be able to help. Some examples of assistance my office can provide are: status updates for pending applications, visa and non-immigrant visa filing procedures and information on how to obtain permanent residency or citizenship.
• Medicare
  If you are having a problem with an issue relating to your Medicare coverage, my office may be able to help. Some examples of problems my office may be able to help resolve are: billing issues, difficulties with Part D prescription drug coverage, and claims for medical equipment coverage.
• Postal Service
  If you are having a problem with an issue relating to the United States Postal Service (USPS), my office may be able to help. Some examples of problems my office may be able to help resolve are: concerns with mail delivery and issues you are having with your employment with USPS.
• Social Security
  If you are having a problem with an issue relating to the Social Security Administration (SSA), my office may be able to help. Some examples of assistance my office can provide are: checking the status of applications for disability appeals and retirement benefits, contacting the SSA payment center to locate or aid with distribution of monthly payments and contacting your local SSA office to try to help resolve an over/under payment issue.
• Veterans
  If you are having a problem with an issue relating to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), my office may be able to help. Some examples of situations my office may be able to help with are: obtaining medals or ribbons, obtaining military records and checking the status of a claim for benefits.
• Frequently Asked Questions
  Frequently asked questions about assistance my office can provide with individual federal agencies.
• Previous Assistance
  Real examples of our work with residents of the 12th District.