Catch 22

[KeratNY 76]

18 hours ago, TexaninTaiwan said:

Hi, 

I am an American. My wife is French. We got married in South Korea 11 years ago. 

Right when we got married, she applied for and received conditional permanent residency. 2 years later, the conditions were removed. 

7 years ago, we moved to Taiwan for a short trip that turned into a long trip. We are still here now. We have 2 kids, both with US citizenship and passports. She has officially abandoned residency.

We want to move back to the US next spring. We are filling out the I-130. It asks for my wife's social security number. 

She doesn't have it or remember it. It's gone. 

To get a new SSN card, we have to show proof of her legal status as a resident, which she no longer has. So we need the SSN to apply for residency, but we don't have the SSN and we need residency to recover the SSN. 

How do we move forward? 

Actually this is an issue so don't follow people who say "no problem." A social security # stays with one FOR LIFE, regardless of losing residency. Not knowing it or remembering it is not a good reason for leaving it blank and causing delays or issues. You cannot and should not request a new SS #. 

 

In short you need to track the number down. Find any document you may have submitted that would have it. Tax returns, opening bank accounts or a cell phone, applying for a credit card or apartment lease or driver's license for instance. If you're really stuck, contact the social security administration online and figure it out. Be resourceful now or pay the price in the form of a delay later. 

[Lemonslice 4,626]

7 hours ago, KeratNY said:

Actually this is an issue so don't follow people who say "no problem." A social security # stays with one FOR LIFE, regardless of losing residency. Not knowing it or remembering it is not a good reason for leaving it blank and causing delays or issues. You cannot and should not request a new SS #. 

 

In short you need to track the number down. Find any document you may have submitted that would have it. Tax returns, opening bank accounts or a cell phone, applying for a credit card or apartment lease or driver's license for instance. If you're really stuck, contact the social security administration online and figure it out. Be resourceful now or pay the price in the form of a delay later. 

Please describe what kind of delays or issues one can expect from listing unknown.  

[KeratNY 76]

Maybe no delay. Maybe an RFE. Maybe longer processing time. Do you really want to find out? Go to www.ssa.gov and be resourceful!

[pushbrk 12,266]

12 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

Please describe what kind of delays or issues one can expect from listing unknown.  

NONE.  But, you'll have to hand write unknown.  You cannot enter it into the form.  I would still make an effort to find it, as it will be needed to file back tax returns.

[D.Ba 85]

You don't need residency to retrieve it. You need to go to the US embassy/consulate in your country.

[NikLR 13,220]

On 5/15/2018 at 5:54 AM, KeratNY said:

Maybe no delay. Maybe an RFE. Maybe longer processing time. Do you really want to find out? Go to www.ssa.gov and be resourceful!

No one will get a delay or rfe for writing unknown in this spot.  The USCIS can easily look it up on their own.  You're guessing with zero proof in my opinion. 

[Lemonslice 4,626]

On 2018-05-15 at 7:54 AM, KeratNY said:

Maybe no delay. Maybe an RFE. Maybe longer processing time. Do you really want to find out? Go to www.ssa.gov and be resourceful!

Stop with the fear mongering.

 

They'll find her SSN soon enough while gathering tax documents, but there will not be any delay for writing unknown. 

[KeratNY 76]

2 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

Stop with the fear mongering.

 

They'll find her SSN soon enough while gathering tax documents, but there will not be any delay for writing unknown. 

you call it fearmongering, I call it being prepared. It defies belief that one would open themselves to uncertainty when a bit of resourcefulness now can eliminate that. I don't think adding steps and complexity to your case is a good idea, and I certainly think it will take a case officer more than just a few minutes to pull up an SS#. An SS# is how they pull up all your other info, not the other way round. 

[Going through 5,668]

1 minute ago, KeratNY said:

I certainly think it will take a case officer more than just a few minutes to pull up an SS#. An SS# is how they pull up all your other info, not the other way round. 

Would seem easy to pull it up by entering in her name and DOB.

[KeratNY 76]

5 minutes ago, Going through said:

Would seem easy to pull it up by entering in her name and DOB.

Yes you're right, everything about the government and this process is easy. Silly me

[Going through 5,668]

5 minutes ago, KeratNY said:

Yes you're right, everything about the government and this process is easy. Silly me

Not everything is impossible and hard to obtain, either.  Doubtful such is the case when it comes to USCIS obtaining someone's SS number through their own database.

[pushbrk 12,266]

5 hours ago, KeratNY said:

you call it fearmongering, I call it being prepared. It defies belief that one would open themselves to uncertainty when a bit of resourcefulness now can eliminate that. I don't think adding steps and complexity to your case is a good idea, and I certainly think it will take a case officer more than just a few minutes to pull up an SS#. An SS# is how they pull up all your other info, not the other way round. 

It's a database.  They have her immigration records.  Her SS# is contained in them.  It might add a minute to their processing time.

 

That said, they are going to need it anyway to file back taxes and it is not difficult to obtain.