FAQs

The National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) Association has been protecting and improving the earned benefits of federal employees, retirees and their families since 1921. NARFE is an advocate for both active and retired federal employees before Congress and the White House. NARFE sponsors and supports legislation to protect the earned benefits and general welfare of members. For more information, see the NARFE YouTube channel.

NARFE-PAC  is our Political Action Committee. They work to protect our pay and benefits by using our funding “to elect members of Congress who support the federal community”. See the NARFE-PAC page on the national website for more information and/or to make a contribution.
source: NARFE-PAC, click on the link in the last sentence.

No, chapter membership is voluntary. Members who do not join a chapter are categorized as National-only members. They pay NARFE association dues only. They are still supported by the federation for the state in which they reside, can attend their federation’s annual convention/meeting and can vote in federation and national elections. They may occasionally receive updates from their state federation.

A member’s assignment to a chapter is usually based on the zip code of the member’s permanent legal residence. However, each member retains the right and option of belonging to any chapter.

Chapters set their dues, which range from $5.00 to $20.00, with the norm being about $10.00. As a chapter member, you have a voice in setting your chapter’s dues, based on the programs developed within that chapter.

Check the NARFE Find a Chapter Tool, contact Member Services at 800-456-8410, or write to Member Services to locate area chapters and to register your chapter transfer.

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Yes. It is necessary to submit an F-7 annually to also ensure the proper collection of chapter dues. Chapters need to submit an F-7 Chapter Officers Roster to Federation and Chapter Services. The amount of chapter dues, and any officer additions, deletions, changes and/or vacancies, should be indicated on this form.

Federation and Chapter Services keeps these documents and can be reached directly at 703-838-7760.

Active federal employees, retired federal employees, their spouses and survivor annuitants can enroll for $48.00 for the first year in lieu of national and chapter dues. Upon the anniversary date for renewal, these members will have the option of renewing for multiple years. The one-year rate is $48.00, plus one-year chapter dues of record; the two-year rate is $72.00, plus two years’ chapter dues of record; or the three-year rate is $102.00, plus three years’ chapter dues of record.

By signing an authorization form, retired members and survivor annuitants instruct the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to withhold 1/12 of their annual Association dues each month from their annuity. OPM will send the money to NARFE. This can be arranged for both national and chapter dues. Dues cannot be deducted from the paychecks of active federal employees.

Yes. Member Records at 800-456-8410 can respond to questions regarding billing, dues withholding, renewals or change of information. Dues also may be submitted via the NARFE website, www.narfe.org. In the menu at the top right, select FOR MEMBERS and then Renew Your Membership. You will need to log in the NARFE website with your User ID and password to get to the renewal form.

It’s your choice. You can also join your local Chapter and depending on the chapter the dues will vary. You can find a chapter in the Chapter tab.

You can donate to NARFE’s Alzheimer’s Fund, NARFE-PAC, the scholarship fund or other areas of interest. However, these are all voluntary contributions. None are required.

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In addition to NARFE’s legislative efforts on behalf of members, membership includes: advance information on changes to your federal retirement, health and other employee and retiree benefits; an award-winning monthly magazine and exclusive website access; access to live and recorded webinars about employee and retiree benefits; special member discounts and eligibility for college scholarships and disaster relief grants. For more information, visit the Benefits of Joining NARFE or NARFE Perks pages on our national website.

Membership is open to civilians in any agency of the federal or the District of Columbia governments who contribute(d) to a federal retirement plan, either the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). This includes current employees, former employees, retirees, spouses and surviving spouses of those eligible to join NARFE, and former spouses who are legally eligible for a survivor annuity. You don’t have to be retired to join NARFE. One out of every five new members is an active federal employee.

Military service does not qualify for membership in NARFE. To find other groups you could consider joining, see Wikipedia’s list of US Military Associations or Reserve & National Guard Magazine‘s list of veterans’ organizations.

Yes, postal employees and retirees are eligible for NARFE membership.

To join other active and retired federal workers who are NARFE members, you can click the Join NARFE link at the top right of this page. Or you can contact Recruitment and Retention at 703-838-7760, extension 204 (8 am to 5 pm ET), email hq@narfe.org or write to NARFE Recruitment and Retention, 606 N Washington St, Alexandria VA 22314-1914.

Spouses are encouraged to join NARFE so that they can participate in activities of the Association, vote, hold office and become more knowledgeable about federal employee and retirement benefits.

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NARFE’s Federal Benefits Institute is staffed with skilled professionals waiting to assist you in resolving benefit and insurance problems. In addition, there are 122 service centers nationwide maintained by NARFE in federal agencies or on military installations. Chapters also have volunteer Service Officers ready to help. You can contact the Institute by filling out the online form on their web page.

Contact Member Records at 800-456-8410 regarding missed magazines and other membership mailings.

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Pages for Zoom Instructions, Newsletters, and Meeting Minutes are locked to casual visitors of our website. NARFE has a policy in place to protect the sensitive and personal information of NARFE organizational units and its members. We don’t allow non-members and robots with access to the World Wide Web

(1) to access ZOOM Links to our Federation/Chapter meetings,

(2) to read personal information published in our Newsletters, and

(3) to learn our Federation/Chapter finances printed in our Meeting Minutes.

All NARFE members may gain access to these pages by logging into their individual NARFE accounts. We therefore assume that NARFE members respect any information associated with our Chapter and its members.

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