Confusion about SSN & K-1, Got Denied

[cc131 0]

CC, seeing how this is unusual, I honestly don't know. But, I never say never. I would somehow try and initiate contact with a supervisor at the SS office and gently point out that you should have been issued a SS card with the original application. There should not have been any reason that your wife was denied. She entered legally via K1, she was within I-94 timeframe of applying for SS. (not to early, not to late)

The only thing that I will speculate on is that she did not get entered into the SAVE-ASVI system for whatever reason. Again, not your fault.

Try to speak with the SS supervisor, if they will talk to you, and see what they say.

Good luck and I feel your frustration..!!

Thanks for all the help Que Saudade, i'll try going to a different SSA Office tomorrow. ,

I went to the SSA Office one month after entry to apply for the SSN, just to make sure that she was entered in the system hahaha!

[dukeandduchess 141]

You did the steps you took should have worked. But I question the info above befor getting maried using the K1 visa. It expired when she entered. On entry the I94 was created and became valid for 90 days. Marriage is a requirement to stay beyond the 90 days but marriage does not make the I94 invalid. it stay valid for 90 days married or not.

My point is the K1 is expired (as I said a one time entry visa). The K1 gives you the right to stay for 90 days, and when I entered the I-94 matched those 90 days. Marriage doesn't make the I94 invalid, but the I94 only gives you the right to be in the country. It does not imply a legal status (I am referring to a Visa). Once married, technically you have fulfilled the requirements of your visa (get married within 90 days). So the I94 simply allows you permission to stay in the country up to 90 days. When applying for the SSN you are supposed to check off "Legal Alien allowed to work". The I94 has nothing to do with that, the K1 visa does.

When I applied for the SSN they looked at my K1, not my I-94. As I said before the I94 is simply a record of arrival/departure.

Still, I could be completely wrong. Although, I think that if the valid K1/I94 were not required then they should have been able to process my name change for me, especially since I already had a SSN in the first place.

[dukeandduchess 141]

I should add on the i-94, on the back the USCIS official added the following words:

"Extension of K-1 visa status granted until October 12, 2012 per USCIS, *Contact info*"

The person who stamped that clearly had no idea what he was doing, since the K1 was used at her initial entry. That's why I'm thinking they can't do it.

[cc131 0]

Oh man, so the SSA taking two months to tell us that our legal status was going to expire before they could issue the card really messed things up huh. And we had to pay the price for their delay.

Edited August 15, 2012 by cc131

[dukeandduchess 141]

You could try going to another SSN office as suggested, but it seems clear that you are unfortunately dealing with a lot of people who don't know what they're doing. I'd make sure to get peoples names if they keep making you jump through hoops. Good luck!

Oh, also the "extended K1 visa" makes no sense because she's already married (the K1 requires her to be single) - so that extension makes no sense to me at all!

[dukeandduchess 141]

Oh man, so the SSA taking two months to tell us that our legal status was going to expire before they could issue the card really messed things up huh. And we had to pay the price for their delay.

Dealing with the government is frustrating. I waited for an hour to get my name change and the lady just went "Oh, sorry I can't do this". Maybe I missed the part where I had to prove my legal status for a name change. Ridiculous!

As others have pointed out, you really don't need an SSN until you're able to work. As others said, you could always try another SSN office, but I'm not sure that would do you much good. It's not a huge deal so try not to stress about it

[cc131 0]

You could try going to another SSN office as suggested, but it seems clear that you are unfortunately dealing with a lot of people who don't know what they're doing. I'd make sure to get peoples names if they keep making you jump through hoops. Good luck!

Oh, also the "extended K1 visa" makes no sense because she's already married (the K1 requires her to be single) - so that extension makes no sense to me at all!

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'll head over to a different SSA Office tomorrow, but it's looking grim, will probably have to wait for EAD to come in, but it's only been a month since I received the NOA for EAD/AP/Green Card Hehe!

Edited August 15, 2012 by cc131

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

What has happen to your AOS status?

[cc131 0]

What has happen to your AOS status?

Only Received NOA and Biometrics appointment so far! Going to get fingerprinted tomorrow

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

Wow, there are people messing up all over the place. The SSA messed up and should have been able to give you an SSN with your valid I-94. Being married does not invalidate your eligibility to receive an SSN. No one should have sent you to get your I-94 extended, and the person should not have 'extended' it because you cannot extend the I-94 received from entering on a K-1. The K-1 became null and void once you used it to enter the US and your status in the US was based on the I-94 from that point. You are required to get married within the 90 days of entrance to fulfill the terms of the K-1 and be eligible to adjust status. You can get an SSN after you enter with a K-1 up until 2 weeks before your I-94's expiration date. Married or not already, makes no difference so long as the I-94 is still valid.

Unfortunately, since your I-94 is actually expired now(that extension was a mistake so do not rely on it), you will most likely need to wait until you get your EAD and apply again for the SSN based off the EAD and not your I-94 status.

If it were me, I would certainly not let it all go without complaining to the SSA about their mistakes and how their mistakes made you have to wait months for an SSN you were eligible for right after arriving in the US with a K-1.

[Daywalker 0]

Hey VJ'ers!

First of all, thanks for this great forum! I've found all sorts of useful information on this site .

Here's the situation, i'll lay it all down in a story so it will be easier to understand.

My Wife (Was fiance back at this time) entered the U.S. on a k-1 visa on 5/15 of this year. We got married on 5/30 and applied for a SSN on 6/13 of this year. We were told it would take a few weeks up to two months to receive the card.

Okay, so we wait and wait and eventually on 8/10 we get a mail that says that they could not issue a SSN card before her legal status expired, and also they were unable to verify her legal status in the U.S.

So, we go back to the S.S.A, and tell them that we need to apply again, they tell us that my wife's i-94 is going to expire (on 8/12) so they cannot issue, they told us to go to homeland security to get the i-94 extended and then re-apply for the SSN.

Today, we went to homeland security, and the person helping us thought it was a bit strange it took them this long to the point they denied us. He wrote on the back of my wife's i-94 saying the visa would be extended another 90 days until October.

So we went back to the SSA with the i-94 extended, and a different person told us that, my wife cannot get a SSA because we are married and that invalidates the k-1, also the i-94 being extended she said she had never seen that before and it does not work. She said we would have to wait until her status changes either via EAD or green card (We have applied for both already, but who knows how long it will take.) to apply for an SSN.

I'm just a bit confused with the procedures, I thought we had done everything according to rule, but we were struck with some bad luck instead. .

Also what's the incentive to hurry and get married (The immigration officer warned us to get married quickly or my wife would be illegally here) when we should in fact NOT get married first and apply for SSN?

Thanks VJ'ers! Sorry if I came off as annoyed or aggravated, it should be directed towards the SSA

Thanks!

[Daywalker 0]

Hey Newbie, its really not bad luck. You don't leave very crucial issues like this to chance. You should have tracked your SSN and gotten on top of them, calling them at regular intervals. Truly sorry but maybe this can help someone else. Thanks.

[Que Saudade 284]

Hey Newbie, its really not bad luck. You don't leave very crucial issues like this to chance. You should have tracked your SSN and gotten on top of them, calling them at regular intervals. Truly sorry but maybe this can help someone else. Thanks.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Que Saudade

[cc131 0]

Hey Newbie, its really not bad luck. You don't leave very crucial issues like this to chance. You should have tracked your SSN and gotten on top of them, calling them at regular intervals. Truly sorry but maybe this can help someone else. Thanks.

We did, but they replied it was still processing by USCIS and that it could take up to two months to get a reply.

[bigdog 376]

If you follow the two week rule or so apply for while single. When you get married and get you GC you reapply for the SS without the Homeland stamp, do a name change to match the green card etc. We did not have any issues keeping it simple, apply in about two weeks, don't wait till you are married or at the end of the K-1, (seems any excuse to not do it was the order of the day). A buddy of mine got married before getting the SSC, let see what happens to him and my theory that marriage changes everything according to SSA. Don't you just love the rule interpretations.