ONCE I MOVE HERE TO THE STATES...CAN I GO AND GET A SSN CARD RIGHT AWAY?

You can apply after 14 days

Adele

Adele,

Or, she can apply before 14 days.

Yodrak

Your name has to be in the so-called SAVE system before you will be issued an SSN. It seems that it typically takes 2 to 3 weeks after your arrival before your name is in. Once in SAVE, SSA will accept your application.

G

Wait 2 weeks then get Your ssn# before being married. As a K-1 recipient You are entitled. Do not wait till after You are married as You will have to wait for completion of Your AOS then.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR INPUT...WILL KEEPTHIS IN MIND..THANKS AGAIN

Claudeth waited two weeks and then applied and got her card in about 10 days.

OK here is the real story. Some people have got it in their heads that you must wait to apply for an SSN after you get here as a K-1. There is NO requirement to wait any amount of time to apply. All waiting does is allow some time for your info to be entered into the SAVE system so that when the SSA office tries to verify your status through SAVE it verifies and you should have your SSN card in a few weeks.

If they can't verify your status through SAVE the SSA office has to send a form G-845 to immigration to manually verify your status, which can delay things weeks and in some cases months. However, SSA procedure says for the SSA office to hold the application if you apply before you have been here 10 days and don't verify through SAVE. Then they requery SAVE once you have been here 10 days and then send the G-845 if your status can't be verified.

So if you want to wait a few weeks before applying it probably isn't going to hurt, but it's not required.

md,
When we applied for my wife's SSN, the local office suggested that it was better for us to retry after a few days, rather than to submit the application, because, as you pointed out, a G-485 application can take a while. That seemed like a sensible approach to me, since it effectively reduced the waiting time for my wife. I might be wrong, but I think we had to visit 3 times before her name was in SAVE.

G

thanks for the info...will wait a tad before trying

Is this really true??? If a K1 holder gets married in America, that person must wait until completion for AOS before they can file for SSN?? Doesn't sound right to me!

NO!!! Now whether the person can apply in the married name or not is going to depend on if the marriage certificate has the person's age or date of birth.

SSA will not assign an SSN or issue a card in your status has expired or is within 14 days of expiring.

K-1 status is good for 90 days, so that only gives you 76 days to be assigned an SSN and issued a card. After that time you will need an EAD or I-551 card to establish authorization to work. Before that time your
I-94 showing K-1 status is the document that establishes authorization to work for SSN purposes.
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a. Bride Takes Groom’s Last Name

In all 50 U.S. States (this means the 50 States, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa) the bride may take her husband's last name (surname or family name) as her new last name. (EXAMPLE: Jane Doe married John Jones and she may change her name to Jane Jones.)

Interim Guidance: If the bride wants to take her husband’s last name, accept the marriage document as a legal name change for the bride if the new name can be derived from the marriage document; even if the marriage document only shows each partner’s first names, the bride’s prior surname and husband’s surname. The marriage document alone can be accepted as evidence of identity for both the old and new names when it meets the criteria described in RM 00203.200G.2.
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https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203200#g2

2. Determine if the ID Document Has Required Information

Ask the applicant to submit one or more documents that show the person’s name AND provide:

Biographical information in addition to the person’s name that the reviewer can compare with the data on the SS-5 (e.g., date of birth, age, or parents' names) and/or

Physical information that the reviewer can compare with the applicant (e.g., physical description, photograph).

NOTE: A non-picture identity document must have the person's name as well as information that can be compared to the Numident, the applicant or other documents submitted (e.g., age, date of birth, or parents' names).
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C. Procedure - Immigration Document as Evidence of Legal Name

When issuing immigration documents, the Department of State and DHS issue them in the person’s legal name. The legal name is also generally the name in which the foreign passport was issued.

When an alien applies for an SSN card, we presume the name on the immigration document is the legal name unless the applicant presents evidence of a legal name change (e.g., marriage) that occurred after the immigration document was issued.

This is in addition to proof of current lawful employment authorized status.

You can find detailed information on the SSA Website at:

http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203210
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The SSA office will try to verify your status through the SAVE system while you are in the office. If they can't, they will send a form G-845 to immigration for manual verification. This could delay the assigning
of an SSN and/or issuing a card for weeks and some times months.

If the SSA office does send the G-845, I suggest that you go back to the SSA office no more that once week with your documents to (1) ask them to check SAVE again (2) ask if they sent a G-845 (3) if yes, did it come back (4) after 30 days ask if they have followed up on the G-845 by calling or sending another mark “second request.”
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This may stop them from sending a Form G-845 if they can verify the work authorized status if you apply with the married name:

http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203735#E

E. PROCEDURE—ONLINE SAVE QUERY RESPONSE INFORMATION DOES NOT AGREE WITH IMMIGRATION DOCUMENT

1. Name

e. Applicant Has Changed His/Her Name But SAVE Query Response Shows Old Name

In some cases, the applicant may have changed his/her name after DHS issued the immigration document (e.g., he/she has married and is now using the spouse’s last name) but does not present an immigration document showing the new name. In these cases, the DHS system reflects the new name only when the person provided the name change information to DHS and requested to have his/her immigration record changed to show the new name. When the SAVE query response shows the old name that is shown on the immigration document presented and not the new name on the identity document presented, do not consider this a name discrepancy for enumeration purposes. See RM 00203.200 when the applicant presents an identity document in the new name that is more recent than the immigration document to determine if the identity document is acceptable. Tell the applicant he/she must report the name change to DHS so that DHS can update its records.

Note From Me: Procedure say to tell you to report the name change to DHS, not that the application cannot be processed.

No, you're misreading.

A K-1 applicant can apply for a Social Security card as soon as he or she likes after arriving stateside; however, for the reasons mdyoung mentioned, it's best to wait about 2 weeks or so. BUT there are a few restrictions to keep in mind:

--If the K-1 holder has 14 or fewer days remaining on his or her K-1 status (i.e. the I-94 is two weeks or less short of expiring), SSA will not issue a number.

--If that's the case, the K-1 applicant will have to wait until the EAD comes through to get a SSN. And then, of course, you can't work without the SSN anyway, so there'll be the wait for the EAD + the wait for the SSN before the K-1 can work.

Needless to say, it makes a heck of a lot more sense to apply within that 14-76 day window.