Marriage License - SSN Before or After?

[kwbaille 0]

Hey everyone, my fiance is set to arrive to the US very soon and I was wondering if we should get a SSN before or after we get married? I've heard this saves time as you don't need to go through the name change on the SSN, but I've also heard of people who have gotten denied SSN from applying after marriage.

I used search and found similar topics but times and laws change so often I wanted to get "newer" thoughts on this.

Also if it matters I live in Minnesota.

Thanks for your input!

[bigdog 376]

Apply for your Social two week after arriving, as per the guides in VJ. Worked for us. She then got a drivers license and we got married. In most stated you need a social to get a DL or permit. After receiving our green card at AOS, it was issued with her last as a middle and my last (her request). Apply for AOS as you want your name and the green card will come that way. After receiving the green card we changed the social name which also removed the DHS statement and drivers license which extended the expiration date till the end of the GC. Hope this helps.

[YuAndDan 153]

In some states to get a marriage license requires SSN, this is why a K-1 is allowed to get one withing the 90 days after arrival.

NY is not a state that required SSN, so my wife got the SSN just after our marriage. However it has been reported some SSA offices sometimes give problems about this after marriage and sometimes hold out for EAD or green-card before issuing one.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You can get the SSN the day after she arrives in her maiden name (as in passport) Do not leave until you get a receipt for the application. If they have any trouble ask for a supervisor. Change the name after she has a green card (if you want to, not required)

[kwbaille 0]

You can get the SSN the day after she arrives in her maiden name (as in passport) Do not leave until you get a receipt for the application. If they have any trouble ask for a supervisor. Change the name after she has a green card (if you want to, not required)

Is the processing time longer if I apply right away vs waiting two weeks? Going this route can I apply for SSN the day after, and then immediately go apply for marriage license (assuming I don't need a SSN for marriage license)?

[afoyoswa 178]

I started a thread on a similar topic in March of this year, and was told, "There was a federal law passed that states cannot require a SSN from people that do not have one."

We are planning to go for the marriage license just after he arrives and before he has applied for his SSN. Of course, he will not be changing his name, so that part of it is not an issue.

[rocks 494]

If you are planning to get married soon after her entry I would wait to apply for SSN. We got married a week after my entry. After I had been here for 2 weeks we went to the SS office, I took my marriage certificate with my passport and got my SSN in my married name, no questions asked.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Is the processing time longer if I apply right away vs waiting two weeks? Going this route can I apply for SSN the day after, and then immediately go apply for marriage license (assuming I don't need a SSN for marriage license)?

Alla arrived on a Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning we went to the SS office and she applied for her number. Friday morning we went back to the SS office and they gave her the NUMBER, which is all you really need. We added her to our bank account a few minutes later and she went and finalized the papers for her 50% private grant for her Masters Degree a few minutes after that. Less than 48 hours after she arrived she had an SSN, a bank account, a Master Card with a $500 limit in her own name, and a $16,000 education grant in her name.

She got the SS card in the mail on Tuesday, 6 days after arriving and the day she started her Masters Degree classes.

We applied for our marriage license on the next Friday, 9 days after arriving and got married that evening. Her SSN is on the marriage license but it was not required. She was added to my insurance on the following Monday morning when I took our signed marriage license to the records office and waited while they entered it and gave me certified copies. I took those to my office and added her to our medical and life insurance.

All this was done within 12 days of her arrival.

If you are planning to get married soon after her entry I would wait to apply for SSN. We got married a week after my entry. After I had been here for 2 weeks we went to the SS office, I took my marriage certificate with my passport and got my SSN in my married name, no questions asked.

The name on the card does not matter and you can change it anytime you want. You may need it for insurance, bank accounts, credit cards, student funding etc. It is an important number.

I started a thread on a similar topic in March of this year, and was told, "There was a federal law passed that states cannot require a SSN from people that do not have one."

We are planning to go for the marriage license just after he arrives and before he has applied for his SSN. Of course, he will not be changing his name, so that part of it is not an issue.

That is true. As of summer of 2009 I believe. When the SS administration catches up they will stop issuing SSns to K-1s. In the meantime it is a valuable thing for other reasons also.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Is the processing time longer if I apply right away vs waiting two weeks? Going this route can I apply for SSN the day after, and then immediately go apply for marriage license (assuming I don't need a SSN for marriage license)?

No, Waiting two weeks is overly conservative. They cannot get an SSN without being recorded in the SAVE system which records legal entries into the USA. The SAVE system is updated every night. It is possible that there could be glitches and something does not get entered but it is rare. The SSN is also generated overnight and if you go back the next day you can ask the clerk for your SSN. The card comes in a week or so, but you do not need the card.

MANY SS office employees do not know how it works, so be prepared to ask a supervisor.

[Krikit 1,164]

Moving from K-1 Process to the SSN section.

[kwbaille 0]

No, Waiting two weeks is overly conservative. They cannot get an SSN without being recorded in the SAVE system which records legal entries into the USA. The SAVE system is updated every night. It is possible that there could be glitches and something does not get entered but it is rare. The SSN is also generated overnight and if you go back the next day you can ask the clerk for your SSN. The card comes in a week or so, but you do not need the card.

MANY SS office employees do not know how it works, so be prepared to ask a supervisor.

Thank you! I'll take that route then and have her apply for SSN immediately, and the next day go back and apply for marriage liscense!

[rocks 494]

The name on the card does not matter and you can change it anytime you want. You may need it for insurance, bank accounts, credit cards, student funding etc. It is an important number.

I didn't need it to be added to my husband's bank account, I just gave it to them later. It was much easier than going back to the SS office and changing my name later. The office was impossible for me to get to without my husband taking time off work to take me there. It was only two weeks, not exactly a long wait. I wasn't thinking about applying for credit cards after being here for a week.

[Peter_Pan 661]

I suppose one would need a SSN to obtain a learner's permit?