Application cover letter and attachment index

Decide whether a cover note helps

A cover letter is an optional organizational aid unless the receiving office specifically requests one. It does not replace the retirement application, applicant certification, medical evidence, or agency documentation. The useful purpose is simple: identify the submission, explain what is included, and flag a genuine outstanding item or a requested correction. Use the current ORA route and official directions rather than copying an old postal-address block into every submission.

1. Identify the recipient and stage: HR package review, initial ORA submission, or an OPM-requested supplement.
2. Check whether the platform provides an appropriate upload category or message field. Do not upload a cover letter in place of a required form.
3. Keep the note factual and proportionate. A short, accurate navigation page is more useful than repeating the entire applicant statement.
4. If the office does not need a letter, retain the attachment index privately as your own final quality check.

Use a neutral letter outline

Avoid stock assertions that you meet every eligibility requirement, that your agency found no suitable vacancy, or that your physician predicts permanent incapacity. Include those matters only where the underlying evidence supports the statement and the context calls for it. Your medical conditions need not have originated during federal service; do not copy that claim from a sample.

Build an attachment index that matches reality

The entries above are fictional examples of organization, not a mandatory file order or a complete filing checklist. Include the actual required agency forms and SSA evidence in the appropriate official categories. If documents are uploaded separately, use each file’s own page range. Do not invent continuous packet page numbers that do not match the transmitted files.

Describe pending items and supplements clearly

1. List only files actually included as attachments. Put pending documents in a separate status note.
2. For a replacement, identify the previous filename and date, state which document is replaced, and label the new version clearly.
3. For an addition, explain the topic and date range without implying that every earlier file is superseded.
4. Follow any instructions in an OPM request exactly, including its response deadline and authorized delivery method. Preserve the request and response together.
5. If you are unsure how an incomplete submission affects a filing deadline, ask the responsible official promptly and obtain qualified advice as needed.

Check the packet rather than just the letter

Open the final files from the actual submission folder. Check that all pages render, the correct person’s documents are present, signatures are visible where needed, and no pages are accidentally omitted or reversed. Confirm that each index entry points to the matching document. Keep original medical and agency statements intact; a cover letter is not a place to repair their content by silently changing a signed record.

Completion checklist

• The letter describes the actual submission and current recipient, without an outdated default mailing instruction.
• Every enclosure is present, legible, correctly labeled, and in the proper official category.
• Pending items are distinguished from included attachments.
• I removed unsupported claims about diagnoses, agency findings, outcomes, and eligibility.
• Sensitive identifiers are limited to official requirements and the authorized private channel.
• I saved the letter, index, submitted files, and confirmation together.

This resource is for organizing an initial application, not legal argument or representation. Do not reuse a neutral cover note as a denial appeal or assume it preserves a separate appeal deadline. The official decision or evidence-request notice controls the next action.