Yuma Social Security Office Shifts to Phone-Only Service Until April 3

Walk-up visits to Yuma's sole Social Security office on West 19th Street were suspended starting March 23, leaving roughly 95,548 county residents with no option for face-to-face assistance through April 3. The Social Security Administration listed the office as telephone-only for the duration, and the agency did not provide a reason for the temporary closure.

Yuma hosts just one Social Security office, which serves approximately 95,548 residents across a county that includes the cities of Yuma, San Luis, and Somerton, as well as the town of Wellton. With no second location to absorb overflow, anyone who normally relies on in-person service at Suite 1, 325 W. 19th St. must now conduct their business entirely by phone.

The SSA's own guidance points callers first to ssa.gov, noting that "our website, ssa.gov, is the best way to get help." The agency adds: "If you cannot use our website, please call our National 800 Number or your local Social Security office. We can often help by phone and save you a trip to an office." For cases that do require an in-person visit, the SSA states that callers must schedule an appointment rather than walk in.

The Yuma office carries a local direct line at 1-866-613-2970, alongside the SSA national toll-free number at 1-800-772-1213. Normal office hours run Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the office closed on Saturday and Sunday. It is not confirmed whether those hours remain unchanged during the telephone-only period.

The SSA's website, which maintains a running list of temporarily restricted offices, notes that locations may shift to telephone-only service "due to construction, inability to permit people to wait outside the office, or other reasons." The agency has not specified which, if any, of those circumstances applies to the Yuma location.

Callers should be prepared for extended wait times when dialing the national line. Yuma's office handles retirement and survivor benefit inquiries, disability and SSI determinations, Medicare enrollment, and Social Security card issuance. Many of those transactions can also be completed at ssa.gov without a call or visit.

The telephone-only restriction is set to lift after April 3, at which point in-person service is expected to resume at 325 W. 19th St. The SSA has not issued guidance on whether appointments made before March 23 will be honored on the day they were originally scheduled.