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Listing 2.03

Contraction of the visual field in the better eye

This listing covers severe loss of peripheral (side) vision in your better eye, which is common in conditions like glaucoma or retinitis pigmentosa.

Read the full plain-language explanation

SSA measures how much of your visual field remains using formal visual field tests (perimetry). You only need to meet one of the three options (A, B, or C). Option A also counts as legal (statutory) blindness.

Read Listing 2.03 on ssa.gov

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What Listing 2.03 asks for

What SSA looks for — see the 3 items

We will check your records against each of these. Every item comes straight from SSA's own listing.

    • The area you can see in your better eye has shrunk so much that its widest part is 20 degrees or less around the center.
    • You only need to meet A, B, or C — not all three.
    • Meeting A also means you are legally blind under Social Security law.
    Read the original wording

    The area you can see in your better eye has shrunk so much that its widest part is 20 degrees or less around the center. You only need to meet A, B, or C — not all three. Meeting A also means you are legally blind under Social Security law.

    (Listing 2.03, criterion A)

    • A special visual field test of your better eye shows an average loss (called mean deviation or MD) of 22 decibels or more across the central 30 degrees of vision.
    • You only need to meet A, B, or C — not all three.
    Read the original wording

    A special visual field test of your better eye shows an average loss (called mean deviation or MD) of 22 decibels or more across the central 30 degrees of vision. You only need to meet A, B, or C — not all three.

    (Listing 2.03, criterion B)

    • A kinetic visual field test of your better eye shows that you have 20 percent or less of a normal field of vision, using SSA's formula (adding what you see along eight directions and dividing by 5).
    • You only need to meet A, B, or C — not all three.
    Read the original wording

    A kinetic visual field test of your better eye shows that you have 20 percent or less of a normal field of vision, using SSA's formula (adding what you see along eight directions and dividing by 5). You only need to meet A, B, or C — not all three.

    (Listing 2.03, criterion C)

How long it must last:

The impairment must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 months, except there is no duration requirement for statutory blindness under title XVI (SSI) when 2.03A is met.