i got to Philadelphia february 14, we have not married yet, we will get married this saturday, I went to get the SSN but they did not give it to me bcz they said i did not need SSN if i was not allowed to work, oh and he told us that if i wanted to work we had to make an appointment with inmigration, then last week we try to go to another SSN place and the girl did not ask any questions then she came back with a letter, and she said they were going to give me the SSN in 1 month or so bcz they were going to send my petition of SSN to inmigration to see if the info with inmigration matches. any of u have had the same problem? what should we do? just wait? i want to open a bank account, get my drive lincense, and im not really looking for job right now.

As long as you wait at least 2 weeks after entering the U.S. to go to the SSA office, you should have no problems getting a SSN card as a K-1 Visa holder.

A lot of the employees at the SSA office are not aware that K-1's are allowed to get a SSN without having work authorization. Go back and ask to speak to a supervisor.

we went twice, i came here in february 14th, we went to an office february 27 and they sent us to inmigration, we did not go to inmigration, and we went to another office on monday, then the girl gave us that letter.

this is what the letter says:

Dear Adriana ....

This is to show that you requested a Social security card on March 27.2006. we cannot issue you a social security card until we check the document(s) you gave us to show your citizenship or alien status, we will check the document(s) with the agency that issued them, This will take about four weeks.

If that agency tells us their records agree with yours, we will mail you a social security card. if they tell us their records do not agree with yours, we will let you know, in writing, that we can not issue you a card.

this letter does not mean that we will issue you a social security card, it also does not show you have the right to work in the united states.

I would say that you will probably just get your SSN card in the mail in due course, from reading that letter.

That's just a notice acknowledging you have submitted an SSN application. Nothing is going to happen until SSA can verify your status as being work authorized.

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.

The status/documents of all aliens must be verified before SSA will assign an SSN and/or issue a card and the 14 day limit applies even if you pass the 76th day while waiting for your status to be verified.

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.”

http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203720
RM 00203.720 Verifying Immigration Documents

http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203735
RM 00203.735 Requesting Online (Primary) Verification By SAVE

You can try calling the SSA Regional Office if you have waited at least 30 days and your local SSA office doesn't seem to be concerned about following up on the G-845

http://www.ssa.gov/otherssasites/

Refer them to:

http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203740
RM 00203.740 Requesting Additional (Manual) Verification By DHS


Step 6

DHS should respond to SSA within 15 federal work days after receiving the Form G-845. If DHS does not respond within 15 federal work days from the receipt of the G-845 from SSA, follow-up with the DHS, USCIS Immigration Status office. (Allow 15 days plus five additional federal work days of mail time for the G-845 to be received at and returned from DHS. Follow local practice to follow-up with DHS.

Some SSA offices have an arrangement with the DHS, USCIS office to telephone for the follow-up contact; other SSA offices send a copy of the original G-845 annotated “second request.”) If the DHS response is still not received within 15 federal work days after the follow-up contact (if the follow-up is by mail allow five additional federal work days of mail time for the G-845 to be received at and returned from DHS), make a second follow-up contact. If the DHS response is not received within 15 federal workdays (again, if the follow-up is by mail, allow five additional federal work days of mail time for the G-845 to be received at and returned from DHS), after two follow-ups, contact the Regional Office (RO). Also report to the RO any trend that shows a serious deviation by DHS from the above time frames. The RO will consult with central office.

My husband got the same letter from the SS office when he went to get his SSN (before we were married). The card never came (but that's because I believe my postman hates me fore some unknown reason). Anyway, we went back to request a card again. SSA will give you a print out of your number on a sheet of paper and stamp it so if you need your actual number for anything before you get your card you can use it, such as opening a bank account. But yes, you will have to wait a while for the SSA to check with USCIS to make sure you can get a SSN. My hubby was sent a letter saying that SSA had received verification or something like that and the card should be mailed within two weeks or so. After you are verified then you can get the letter I mentioned earlier. Good Luck!!!

K.

thank you so much

If you want to get a copy of the card that never came, then you will have to re-apply for the SSN itself; even though you already have an SSN. This means that, when you re-apply, they will have to forward all your information (copy of passport, I-94, etc) BACK to DHS... which means you have to wait. Again.

We got this same letter. It was because my husband's information was not entered into the SAVE system correctly, so they needed a manual verification from USCIS. We got the SSN in the mail 5 weeks later.

Hopefully your number will come sooner than that. It's useful to have.

Hello phillybogota,

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

I was able to open a bank account without having a SSN. You should go to different banks and ask their procedures for opening an account. They will need you to fill out an IRS W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Witholding). If opening a bank account is an urgent necessity for you at the moment, then you can do this. If not you might want to wait the issuance of a SSN.

As for drivers license...I do not know how it works in your state but I was able to get a State ID (I do not drive) by showing the DMV, USCIS NOA1 letter showing my place of residence (it has to be at least 30 days old). Again it depends on how your state does it.

My suggestion for SSN is that you keep visiting SS office and ask about the progress.

It is annoying I know... Even after they confirm your status and the authenticity of your documents with USCIS the SS card they give you says that it is valid for work only with DHS authorization. As if they gave people SSN without seeing work permit (K1 is different)...

Good luck with this bureaucracy.