Social Security BS

[~ameriptian~ 54]

Hey everyone,

I applied for my SSN about 4 months ago (on May 4th, 2010). While at the social security office, the employee told me and my husband that they have my birth date wrong in their system due to the immigration officer's mistake at my POE. Anyway we gave the SS employee all the proof we had at the time of my correct birth date, like a copy of my birth certificate in Arabic, a copy of birth certificate in English, a copy of the first page of my passport, a copy of my visa, a copy of my I-94, a copy of our marriage license, a copy of our marriage certificate, and all of them showing the correct birth date. The employee they will verify my information and get back to us within 2 weeks to 1 month.

Two weeks later we received a letter from SS in the mail, saying they are working on verifying my info in their system and it should take up to 4 weeks from the date they sent the letter. Oh well.

We took 3 more trips to the office in different occasions while we were close by, and made various phone calls to see what the hold up is..and all we get is: "No updates."

Last time we called last week, the representative told my husband over the phone: "We can't do anything about her SSN application, since her I-94 expired. When her AOS is approved, we can resume working on the application."!!!!!!

SSN and AOS are totally different things, right??? What are these people talking about?? Is it normal that an SSN application can take that long to get processed?

I applied for SSN over a month and half before my I-94 expired...is it at all true that they can't resume working on an application if the I-94 expired?

N.B: Please, feel free to to move this thread, if this is not the correct forum.

[h1a1 5]

I had similar issues and I am having to wait until I get my GC as my I-94 is expired (I originally applied for a SSN about 2 weeks after my POE). I suppose I could try again once I get my EAD but I'd rather skip all issues with maiden name/married name.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

The Social Security number can only be issued while the I-94 is still valid. This is a quirk in the Social Security regulations, as most other non-immigrants cannot get an SSN under any circumstances. An exception was made for K1's because, at one time, an SSN was required in some states in order to get a marriage license. This was a Catch-22 for K1's, since they have to marry in the first 90 days before they can get an EAD and otherwise be eligible for an SSN. The Supreme Court has since determined that an SSN cannot be required to get a marriage license, but the Social Security regulations were never revised. I suspect that the Social Security regulations will eventually catch up, and all K1's will have to wait for their EAD to get an SSN.

[~ameriptian~ 54]

The Social Security number can only be issued while the I-94 is still valid. This is a quirk in the Social Security regulations, as most other non-immigrants cannot get an SSN under any circumstances. An exception was made for K1's because, at one time, an SSN was required in some states in order to get a marriage license. This was a Catch-22 for K1's, since they have to marry in the first 90 days before they can get an EAD and otherwise be eligible for an SSN. The Supreme Court has since determined that an SSN cannot be required to get a marriage license, but the Social Security regulations were never revised. I suspect that the Social Security regulations will eventually catch up, and all K1's will have to wait for their EAD to get an SSN.

Does this mean that once I get the EAD card, I automatically receive an SSN? Or do I have to reapply?

[Darnell 8,478]

you'll have to re-apply.

[~ameriptian~ 54]

you'll have to re-apply.

Thank you for your answer!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Does this mean that once I get the EAD card, I automatically receive an SSN? Or do I have to reapply?

Yep, you gotta reapply. It's not really a big deal, since there's not much you can do with the Social Security number, other than open a bank account. It wouldn't be valid for work authorization until after you get the EAD.

[iowaseabee 0]

Yep, you gotta reapply. It's not really a big deal, since there's not much you can do with the Social Security number, other than open a bank account. It wouldn't be valid for work authorization until after you get the EAD.

How many times have you heard someone only read the first line on the card and interpret that the SSN is only valid for work, not reading the entire statement that it is only valid for work with DHS authorization. We have heard that very many times and people just don't want to understand.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

It shouldn't have taken that long but once the I-94 expires (actually 2 weeks before it expires) then you can no longer get a SSN until you have the EAD or GC.

In the EAD case you will get it saying "valid only with DHS Authorisation" and if you wait till the GC then it won't have that restriction on it. You can always go back once you HAVE the GC to have the restriction removed, that's what I'm doing (I just haven't yet).

** moved from "Adjustment of Status (Green Card) from Family Based Visas" to " Working & Traveling During US Immigration" as this is relating to getting a SSN**

[I'm Gone 60]

The Social Security number can only be issued while the I-94 is still valid. This is a quirk in the Social Security regulations, as most other non-immigrants cannot get an SSN under any circumstances. An exception was made for K1's because, at one time, an SSN was required in some states in order to get a marriage license. This was a Catch-22 for K1's, since they have to marry in the first 90 days before they can get an EAD and otherwise be eligible for an SSN. The Supreme Court has since determined that an SSN cannot be required to get a marriage license, but the Social Security regulations were never revised. I suspect that the Social Security regulations will eventually catch up, and all K1's will have to wait for their EAD to get an SSN.

Wrong Go read the OIG report. Had nothing to do with getting married.

http://www.ssa.gov/oig/ADOBEPDF/A-08-07-17044.pdf

[Peppen and Don 0]

i have the same issue as you do..last month june 4th i received my EAD and in the next day we went to the social security office to re apply my social security number then the employee said that i have to wait 2 to 4 weeks. Then i still haven't receive my ssn card or letter from them. Last week we went to the office and we talked two of the employees in the office and they said they have to contact to uscis bcoz they can't release my ssn card until my application is approve..they check my status in it's still pending...so yesterday i received a noticed from immigration and said that my application has been approved and i should receive it within 3 weeks..so i have to wait 3 weeks so that i can show my card to the ss office so they can release my ssn card...

[gvt 0]

When my fiancee applied for a SS# the office two weeks after arrival, they told us that the system showed that at the POE they misspelled two letters in her name. Apparently only one letter is allowed to be different. They had to send a electronic verification to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/USCIS to get her name verified and said it should take less than a week. Three weeks went by with several phone calls and still no update from DHS. After visiting the office they told us there are three steps to verification:

1) send first electronic verification to DHS/USCIS and wait for a response.

2) send second electronic verification to DHS/USCIS and wait for a response.

3) send a written verification through the mail to DHS/USCIS and wait for a response.

When I went into the office they told me they are on step 2 and sending it again. They said there was nothing they can do until they hear back from DHS/USCIS.

There was one guy in our office who was solely responsible for dealing with immigration SS#s. After week 5 we went to the office again and the front representative spoke directly to this guy about our case (after I asked the representative nicely if there was anything she could do to help) and the guy told her that he would look into it. Most likely he then sent in the written verification. A week and a half later we had our SS#, a total of around 6 weeks after applying.

I do believe the SS office's hands are somewhat tied and they have to wait on getting verification back from the DHS. But if they only tried once to get it verified then the local SS office is not doing all they can from what they told me. I found our local SS# office really friendly and helpful but it is small and probably deals with a lot less immigration cases and has a lighter workload. So perhaps it depends on DHS AND how much effort the SS office puts into the steps I stated above. Or if they have too much backlog, workload, etc can also be factors. I can imagine that the Florida offices are dealing with a lot more immigration applicants and is probably pretty overloaded compared to a small city in Vermont.

We also tried to change my fiancee's name after we got married and only had three days left on her I-94. They said that we would have to wait until her work authorization was approved since there was less than the required amount of time left on her I-94 to change the name. So according to my office you don't need AOS approval but simply need your new EAD work authorization card to get anything changed with a SS#. I assume that would also apply to an application in your case.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Edited July 29, 2010 by gvt

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

We had issues with Joseph ( Last name was in the computer with 2 i's where a w goes ) We managed to get it fixed ,but we were told the easy way to fix it would have been to go to an international airport and find an immigration officer to fix the computer entry,

[Darnell 8,478]

i have the same issue as you do..last month june 4th i received my EAD and in the next day we went to the social security office to re apply my social security number then the employee said that i have to wait 2 to 4 weeks. Then i still haven't receive my ssn card or letter from them. Last week we went to the office and we talked two of the employees in the office and they said they have to contact to uscis bcoz they can't release my ssn card until my application is approve..they check my status in it's still pending...so yesterday i received a noticed from immigration and said that my application has been approved and i should receive it within 3 weeks..so i have to wait 3 weeks so that i can show my card to the ss office so they can release my ssn card...

This is bonkers - with EAD in hand, you are eligible to apply. Smells like you got some screwy brain-dead workers at the SSA. I apologize, profusely, for their ignorance, government service is not for the smarties these days.

[And_Sam 44]

Aya~

I have found the FL SSA is not the brightest bulb in the box....

Let's put it this way, we have been to the SSA so many times that now when we walk into the door, the security officer automatically hits the "foreign" button to give us a number in line!

The last visit we had to make was because they didn't put the same last name that was on my husbands GC and when we went to the DMV for his FL ID card it was unverifiable via homeland security!!!

So waiting until you get your GC might be a blessing in disguise!!! Just make sure they put the name EXACTLY on the SS card as on the GC!