SOCIAL SECURITY WHEN ARRIVING TO THE U.S K1 VISA!

[junkmart 320]

21 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Not anymore, you can get it online now.

 

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

I've always been given a paper I-94 when crossing the US Mexico border.

[Dashinka 23,248]

19 hours ago, Mike E said:

You do not need an SSN to get married.  At least not in the states were I've been married, which includes California and Illinois. BTW, the Santa Clara County Recorder's office in San Jose is an excellent place for a quick marriage license, ceremony, and certificate.

 

Case in point, we married last week without presenting SSNs. You do need photo ID. A passport works. A USA drivers license works. She had a Myanmar passport.

 

That said, you can and should apply for an SSN soon after arriving in the USA.

 

I read the recommendations on visajourney.com and decided to ignore the one that said to wait an undefined number days for CBP and USCIS to sync up their records. 

 

We went to the social security office on January 11, 2 days after POE. We didn't go January 12 due to jet lag and I had a busy day at the office, and I knew visiting the SS office is 2-4 hour waste of time.

 

I printed her electronic I-94 from the CBP website. We went to the nearest SS office, and were seen by a very knowledgeable clerk. He processed her application and said that indeed CBP and USCIS had not synced up. He showed me his screen. USCIS had the exact same information he typed in from the I-94, her passport, and her Visa, and a stupid error message saying the information didn't match their database. He said it would take 4 weeks to get a SS card. Oh no!!!!! I was wrong.

 

On January 25, we received a letter saying her card would take two more weeks to arrive.

 

On Monday January 28, exactly 10 working days after we applied for her SS card, her SS card showed up in the mail, exactly 10 working days before the local  SS office, visajourney, SSA, etc. all said it arrive.

 

During a government shutdown.

 

Now we can open bank accounts, get state ID, file tax returns, etc.

In the most part I agree with that statement bolded, but I found something out recently.  If you go to SSA later in the afternoon about an hour or two before they close, the office is fairly empty (at least in our area).  We went with our cousins that recently arrived on DVs and we were in out in 30 minutes with two SSN applications.  I think most folks doing business at the SSA go in the mornings especially if they are looking to get checks.  Back when my wife was going through her SSA fun we went in the mornings and yes, our wait times were pretty bad.

[Greenbaum 12,258]

18 hours ago, Brazil/US2018 said:

I wouldn't be able to pull all of the people that said not to do that...but there has definitely been a few threads where several people had major problems during AOS when getting married before applying for a SSN 1st! So at this point I am not sure what to do!!

 Yes I know you have to apply for a SSN AFTER as well...but the problem seems to arise if you do not apply first! @Greenbaum any input here?

The answer is "who" your dealing with and what there requirements are. I'll post the steps below and if you follow those steps you should not have any problem. The problems that some encounter are that the SS agent doesn't know that a K-1 is eligible to apply for a SSN soon after they arrive and before marriage. You combat that issue with the document sited in the information below. The second problem that some have encountered is that the beneficiary does not appear in the SAVE database. Sometimes the SAVE updates after a few days, so I recommend that you wait till the second week the beneficiary has been in the USA. Once you get married and have your marriage certificate you can return back to the SS office and change your name.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WHOBLEkvkVlUEnW-F9FK8idDTV1bm_D3/view?usp=sharing

[Brazil/US2018 43]

So here is another question that was brought up...since the SSN number might take anywhere from 1-4 weeks to have it physically in hand BEFORE MARRIAGE...we are wondering if it will hurt the process in any way if we get married after we applied for SSN but before having the SSN physically?? So could we do it all in the same day for example?

 

Do have a lot of vacay time to waste if I can do it all at once you know?

[Ontarkie 13,917]

4 hours ago, Brazil/US2018 said:

So here is another question that was brought up...since the SSN number might take anywhere from 1-4 weeks to have it physically in hand BEFORE MARRIAGE...we are wondering if it will hurt the process in any way if we get married after we applied for SSN but before having the SSN physically?? So could we do it all in the same day for example?

 

Do have a lot of vacay time to waste if I can do it all at once you know?

it will not hurt the process at all if you do not have your SSN. AOS does not need for you to have applied or have in hand your SSN. 

[Scandi 3,970]

On 2/1/2019 at 5:41 AM, Brazil/US2018 said:

So let me ask you this then...did you have any issue with applying for the SSN AND getting married on the same day?? Is that ok to do? Will that cause any issues? So, if I get married after applying for SSN but before getting the physical card....

I didn't apply for a SSN and got married on the same day. I got married a few weeks later and had the SS card in hand by then.

[Ed&Midori1031 330]

Get the SS as soon as you can.  My wife applied for hers about 3 weeks after her arrival in the U.S. and before we got married.  All we had was the SS application, valid I-94, passport and her birht certificate.  WE received the SS card within 2 weeks.  Good luck. 

[LarryHickman 181]

Hello all, my fiancé (K1) arrives next weekend 2/23 and we will marry on 3/17. I want to get her SS card before we marry.

 

Is this correct? what she needs to bring is her Bolivia Passport with K1 Visa inside, a printed I-94, birth certificate and SS-5 form correct?

 

Also we have no plans for her to work right away so what do we put in box #5? Later maybe a year or so she will work but not right away hopefully. 

 

One last question,  her parents are Bolivian they don’t live in the USA so do we leave questions 9 and 10 blank where it request their SS number?

 

Thanks

[LarryHickman 181]

30 minutes ago, LarryHickman said:

Hello all, my fiancé (K1) arrives next weekend 2/23 and we will marry on 3/17. I want to get her SS card before we marry.

 

Is this correct? what she needs to bring is her Bolivia Passport with K1 Visa inside, a printed I-94, birth certificate and SS-5 form correct?

 

Also we have no plans for her to work right away so what do we put in box #5? Later maybe a year or so she will work but not right away hopefully. 

 

One last question,  her parents are Bolivian they don’t live in the USA so do we leave questions 9 and 10 blank where it request their SS number?

 

Thanks

I need to add one more question to this;

 

we need a SS number for her so I can add her to my company health insurance, we will be getting her SS number with her maiden name on it as we are doing the SS number before we marry not after.

 

After we marry and she has my last name then later updates her SS card with her new last name would her SS number stay the same? 

 

Thanks

[Scandi 3,970]

24 minutes ago, LarryHickman said:

I need to add one more question to this;

 

we need a SS number for her so I can add her to my company health insurance, we will be getting her SS number with her maiden name on it as we are doing the SS number before we marry not after.

 

After we marry and she has my last name then later updates her SS card with her new last name would her SS number stay the same? 

 

Thanks

Yes it stays the same. Doesn't matter if it's in her maiden name in the beginning, at least she will have a SSN which is the important thing as she will need it for certain things.

[LarryHickman 181]

27 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Yes it stays the same. Doesn't matter if it's in her maiden name in the beginning, at least she will have a SSN which is the important thing as she will need it for certain things.

Thanks Scandinavia, So all the documents we need are the following?

 

Is this correct? what she needs to bring is her Bolivia Passport with K1 Visa inside, a printed I-94, birth certificate and SS-5 form correct?

Edited February 16, 2019 by LarryHickman

[Scandi 3,970]

1 hour ago, LarryHickman said:

Thanks Scandinavia, So all the documents we need are the following?

 

Is this correct? what she needs to bring is her Bolivia Passport with K1 Visa inside, a printed I-94, birth certificate and SS-5 form correct?

Yes, and the form is available at the SSA in case you don't want to or can't print it from home. You likely have some waiting to go through at the SSA, I always use that time to fill out the form there.

[LarryHickman 181]

7 hours ago, Scandi said:

Yes, and the form is available at the SSA in case you don't want to or can't print it from home. You likely have some waiting to go through at the SSA, I always use that time to fill out the form there.

Ok thanks for your time

[DanielPlainview 368]

On 2/1/2019 at 11:07 AM, Greenbaum said:

 Once you get married and have your marriage certificate you can return back to the SS office and change your name.

 

I think there is an important clarification here.   I've been reading through this thread, and many people say "get the SSN before marriage, then get a new one after marriage".   You get a new card with name, not a new number.  

 

Thanks for your usual great info Greenbaum.   Regarding the link you posted above, is there a way to know when we get added to the SAVE system?    Call?  Check online?   Or only by visit to SS office?

 

Does this help to verify when we are in the system?

https://www.uscis.gov/save/casecheck

Edited February 16, 2019 by DanielPlainview

[Greenbaum 12,258]

2 hours ago, DanielPlainview said:

I think there is an important clarification here.   I've been reading through this thread, and many people say "get the SSN before marriage, then get a new one after marriage".   You get a new card with name, not a new number.  

 

Thanks for your usual great info Greenbaum.   Regarding the link you posted above, is there a way to know when we get added to the SAVE system?    Call?  Check online?   Or only by visit to SS office?

 

Does this help to verify when we are in the system?

https://www.uscis.gov/save/casecheck

I94. Stated in my link I gave above.