I-94/SSN issues: setback or nightmare?

[donmerlin 0]

First, the good news. We were married on 11/22/08, and the California was nice to us. We had a beautiful outside ceremony, and everything was wonderful. We've been trying to settle down in the US, and today was the first day we took at stab at the Social Security office.

Our visit was enlightening to say the list. After a perfect track record (aka, no mistakes on my I-129F petition, no mistakes on the P3, P4 or interview), today we were clobbered with countless "you got this wrong" and "you cannot do this", etc., etc..

In no particular order:

1. At the POE, my fiancee filled out the I-94 wrong. Despite having a chinese speaking immigration official helping her, he did not give her instructions or guidance on the I-94 where it asked to fill in the name. She had entered my first name as the "family" name, and my last name as the "first" name. She thought the only mistake she made was swapping the names, but it would appear that she was supposed to put her name, not my name. She made the same mistake on her son's I-94.

2. They wouldn't even look at the application for her son, as they said he (recipient of K2) required an I-776 or I766 (or something like that), a document stating that he plans to work, despite the fact he is only 8 years old. The guy even said it seemed illogical, but it is required procedure.

3. The SSN application for my wife was turned down because they wouldn't accept a first name change. Even if we reverted to her Chinese pinyin first name (as in her passport), they wouldn't accept the last name because the marriage certificate I brought was a copy, and they require the original.

We left feeling pretty dejected. Most of the setbacks are easily resolved. We'll use her Chinese first name, and we'll get the original marriage certificate. We'll also figure out what this form is we need to fill out for her son so he can get his SSN (anybody happen to know the exact form and/or where I can get it?).

The one issue that really has me concerned is the name on the I-94. We could just cross out my name and put in the correct names, but the key is what they entered into the computer system. I would think that they would have caught this at the POE, and given that they didn't, I wonder if maybe they entered the name from the passport rather than the I-94. I have a couple of questions.

Has anyone had this happen to them having the wrong name on the I-94? If so, what did you do to resolve it?

Secondly, is there any way to find out what they entered into the computer? What's the best number to call to find out?

*sigh*

(and we haven't even begun the AOS process yet)

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Not sure this helps you but our experience at Social Security was they insisted that the card could only be issued in the name on the I-94. He filled out the application with first, middle, and last names and they would not issue a card with the middle name because that wasn't on the I-94. And she said something about not finding the name in the database with all three names and she had to do an "other names used" search. So I was just wondering if your reversed name is in the database instead of hers. Might be something they could search for if you told them about it. It is another name she used, even if it was by mistake. Not sure how they would straighten it out however.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Nich-Nick

[payxibka 10,048]

2) the SSA was correct here... A K-2 is not work authorized and therefore not eligible to apply for a SSN... You must wait for EAD or greencard before the child is eligible to apply