Social Security Card Issues - K1 Visa

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

To be quite honest, a majority of this is probably due to incompetency at the office you are visiting.

 

In regard to being told he needed to be in the country longer - that part may have been true. When my husband arrived last spring (almost to the date of yours! He came May 16, 2018), we got some advice that we should wait at LEAST 2 weeks before visiting the SSN office. We ended up getting legally married in between that time frame, and didn't even go to the SS Office the first time until after we were married, to apply for his and update my own. Some people will tell you that you can't apply for the SSN after marriage - this is incorrect. You CAN. But sometimes, the person/people you talk to just are not well versed on the process.

 

My husband's application ended up being sent off for manual verification anyway, which worried us at first, but apparently is pretty common. His card arrived in the mail in less than 2 weeks. Because of the pushback you've been given already, I would not only visit a different SS Office, but ask for manual verification upfront.

 

Be confident in what you know. You don't have to be an a--hole about it or anything, but you can stick to what you know. While we didn't get quite that much heel digging during our SSN experience, we did when it came to completing my husband's remaining K1 vaccinations prior to AOS completion. I thought I was going to lose my mind dealing with that - office after office telling you they absolutely cannot do something that you KNOW they can. We just kept trying different doctor's offices until we found someone who would not only actually listen to us, but help us.

 

Good luck! This little bit of time between arrival and AOS can be aggravating. I had to miss so much work last year between my husband getting here, and finally submitting his AOS. Seemed like there was always something. But it's worth it, just keep your determination about you.

[beloved_dingo 1,939]

1 hour ago, NikLR said:

Dont wait too long. They wont issue the SSN if its 2 weeks before the I-94 expiring.  Since it can take a couple weeks for the SSA office to get their stuff out, end of june would be your personal cut off. 

His I-94 doesn't expire until August 14th, and we are going to a new SSA office on June 21st  

 

2 hours ago, The_Empyrean said:

Ok, from what i gathered about SSN in general.

You should apply for one right upon entry, as K-1's are eligible for one, even though you cannot work with it when you receive it. It'll say "valid only with DHS Work Authorization" or something along those lines.

When you get married and adjust the name, it's gonna be very difficult for SSO to figure out your name to match your cases, (manual verification might be an option).  That's exactly why you should do it immediately upon entry. There is a SS office employee handout which says that K-1 is eligible. If they insist you aren't, show em that.

if you do it immediately it goes like that:
Entry->SS application->marriage->change of name upon SSN receival-> fixed SSN with married namie->AoS/EAD/AP.

If you skip the application part prior to the marriage and thinking of name change, only viable option is to request for SSN via EAD, as USCIS will match you up with their data and send over all the information to Social Security office in Maryland.

From my understanding, they cannot issue you a SSN as your name has changed and it no longer matches any of Your ID names, Passport, K-1 i-94 etc, and marriage certificate doesn't help as a "proof of a name change", as they have no proof to what name you have chosen. When you apply before marriage, they have all data connected within agencies, and just have to change your last name to whatever you choose it to be, maiden, Maiden-husband's, husbands.

You can try going to different office and push for manual verification using your I-94, passport and wedding certificate, but i believe you'll be told to apply for SSN with EAD.

Just a quick tip, make sure to remember what name You put on Aos/EAD/AP forms if you change your name, because if you put different one on SSN from AoS, you'll have a massive headache.

In a nutshell, it's like doing a prostate exam through the throat. They wont care at this point, and only listen to USCIS, but it doesn't hurt to try. 

Good luck.

The first time we went to apply was before the marriage, and there is no name change involved. My husband is the K1 nonimmigrant.

[The_Empyrean 733]

3 minutes ago, beloved_dingo said:

His I-94 doesn't expire until August 14th, and we are going to a new SSA office on June 21st  

 

The first time we went to apply was before the marriage, and there is no name change involved. My husband is the K1 nonimmigrant.

K-1 I94 becomes "invalidated" per se, after marriage.
 

On first visit they should've been able to accept your application.  Now, only shot is via EAD

[beloved_dingo 1,939]

1 minute ago, The_Empyrean said:

K-1 I94 becomes "invalidated" per se, after marriage.
 

On first visit they should've been able to accept your application.  Now, only shot is via EAD

According to many of the comments and experiences here, you can successfully get an SSN after marriage on K1 so I am not going to just throw in the towel without going to another office and specifically asking for manual verification. See @Paul & Mallory's comment above, for example. 

 

I suspect that we had the mismatch error on our first visit, and the SSA agent simply didn't know how to deal with it so he gave us the old "you came too early" line, which wasn't true. 

[geowrian 22,336]

The I-94 remains valid for the 90 days regardless of marriage.

SSA staff often incorrectly won't issue an SSN in a married name (or sometimes even after marriage). It took my wife and I 3 trips to the SSA to do so.

[NikLR 13,220]

I apologize i misread your first post and got the dates backwards.  

[DanielPlainview 368]

Good information here............obviously, even the manual verification sometimes does not cut it.   We'll be making our third trip to the SS office next week.

 

 

July 4:  arrived US.   

July 15: married, no name change. 

July 18:  Applied SS, informed of mismatch and SS opened SAVE inquiry.  Told us the card would arrive in a few weeks.   No marriage info reqd on the SS-5, so not provided. 

July 19:  SAVE inquiry returned to SSA.  

July 24:   AOS documentation submitted....this would be the first indication to any federal agency that we were married. 

Aug 13:   SS called and informed us that they were unable to clear the mismatch and that we need to wait for the green card to reapply for SSC.   The girl was completely guessing that it was maybe because we were married before applying, but that cannot be right because the agency was unaware of the marriage when SAVE responded to SSA.

Aug 16:   Visited a different SSO and reapplied for SSN.  informed there was an Immigration mismatch between the i-94 (Single due to K1 visa) and now since we are married. (makes sense for this application, but not our initial application.)   Informed us that now the EAP is required prior to issuing SSN.   Not sure if correct, but EAP sounds more correct than needing a GC to reapply.   No manual verification opened.  Rep provided a letter stating he could not issue a card ...."immigration status mismatch K1=Fiance of US citizen yet applicant is married".

 

So yeah, I guess we head over next week again and ask for a new manual verification.   How do we get phone numbers for the local SS office so we can call for an update once the SAVE case is returned to SS??

 

UPDATE:   Cha-ching!   Phone number is on the letter I rec'd from the local rep.

Edited August 16, 2019 by DanielPlainview

[NikLR 13,220]

There is an issue, and there has been with the SAVE software, since ever since, that the CBP put in a name, and it pops up wrong on the SAVE database.  It often puts middle names with first names or switches them completely.  TBH I think it's less software and more between input device and head but whatever.  

My SAVE db issue wasn't fixed until I applied for a DL and CO DL sent me to the dept of revenue to (which controls the DMV here... appropriate no?) with a sheet of paper to have it fixed. 

[geowrian 22,336]

5 hours ago, NikLR said:

TBH I think it's less software and more between input device and head but whatever.  

PEBKAC error

[taximan683 66]

My K-1 fiance got her social security card two weeks after she arrived, no problem. After we got married, we returned to change her name and they said we couldn't. The irritating lady said she has worked at the social security office for 35 years and she knows what she is doing. I didn't know enough at the time to argue with her or see a supervisor. I'm getting ready to file the AOS this week. Will I have a problem if her social security card has her maiden name still? I was thinking to wait until the EAD was approved because it appears that they send you a social security card. Is that true? I'm also applying for her child, K-2, and I need the social security numbers to file my tax return. So, I am filing the EAD for the 2 year old too. Any comments?

[Bjh 39]

On 6/10/2019 at 10:45 AM, beloved_dingo said:

Good morning,

 

I need some advice on how to proceed/best course of action regarding getting my husband's social security number & card. Here's the situation:

 

My husband (then fiance) arrived in the U.S. on Friday, May 17th. We went to the social security office on Thursday, May 23rd but were unsuccessful in applying for an SSN. (1) We were told that their system was showing a "duplicate" application, as if my fiance had already applied for a social (not possible, he's used the Visa Waiver every other time he's been in the U.S.). (2) He told us this was because he "hadn't been in the U.S." long enough, and to come back in 1 week. We couldn't waste more time there on this particular day, so despite the fact I knew we were being told a load a bull, we agreed to come back at a later time. Before leaving, my fiance specifically said that we were getting married the very next day and asked if this would cause any issues when we return. We were assured that it would not be a problem. We got married as planned on Friday, May 24th. 

 

Now due to the fact that SSA is only open from 9AM - 4PM, I have to miss some work to even go up there so we were not able to go back until this past Friday, June 7th. This time, after a lot of typing into their system, the lady asks my husband if we are married. Of course, we have to say yes. (3) At this point she tells us that they cannot process his application because their system will not allow an SSN to be issued after marriage. Now I know a lot of people have encountered this type of problem before, but I also know that marriage doesn't just magically make you ineligible for a social security number. A supervisor comes over and tells me that "the fiance visa isn't valid anymore now that you are married, so the SAVE system comes back as a mismatch and DHS will not allow the application to be processed." When I expressed disbelief about this she said "they track everything with his A-number and update their system accordingly". Considering we did not provide his A-number at any point for the marriage license and it is not on the marriage certificate, I think this is a bunch of bull as well. I would be impressed if state and federal agencies were even that efficient! We wouldn't even have to provide proof of marriage for AOS if that were the case! But I digress...

 

None of this sounded right to me, but I was getting more upset by the second and it was nearing 4PM by this time so of course they didn't want to deal with us anymore. They did let me see the screen showing where the SAVE system came back with the "mismatch" error, but they did not offer to do a SAVE inquiry/manual verification, and unfortunately it didn't occur to me while we were there to ask for it.

 

After we got home, I did some research and also looked over my husband's documents and (4) noticed that the I-94 did not match the K1 visa in his passport - his visa expires July 30th, but CBP authorized his stay until August 14th. I now believe this is the actual reason for the mismatch (please correct me if I am wrong) and it has literally nothing to do with our marriage. 

 

So, my question is this - do we give it one more shot, go to a different SSA office and immediately explain the issue with the dates and ask right off for his application to be processed "manually" OR do we throw in the towel and just apply for the SSN with our AOS/EAD packet? 

 

I cannot go back to an SSA office until either June 21st or June 25th, and I plan to mail off the AOS packet by the end of this week which brings me to a 3rd question - can I ask for the SSN in the packet and still try to apply at an actual office as well? Or will this cause an issue once they process the EAD, if my husband has received his SSN but our forms say that we haven't applied for one?

 

Thank you in advance for any advice (or just moral support) yall may have. This has been incredibly frustrating, to say the least. 

 

 

I know this is an old thread but I'm going through similar pains with my SSA office too and wanted to weigh in...

(1) Had your fiance also filed i-765 with i-129f? That's the only explanation I can think of...

 

(2) I have read that people should wait at least 2 weeks after entering the US before applying for a SSN, but it sounds more like a rule of thumb than an actual requirement. 

 

(3) This is total bs. Getting married does not make the K1 visa invalid. Neither the DHS nor the USCIS have any way of knowing that you got married without you telling them. The SSA may not accept visas or I-94s that are "expired" (or less than 14 days from expiring), but it sounds like the K1 visa's and the I-94's expirations were nowhere near expiring (June 7th is way before July 30th and August 14th).

 

(4) The I-94 period of authorized stay and the visa expiration date are 2 different things...

      a - Visa expiration date is how long you have to enter the US using the visa. if you try to enter the US after the visa's expiration date, you are denied entry.

      b - The I-94's period of authorized stay is how long you can stay in the country AFTER you enter the US.

 

I hope you were able to get past their bs!!!

[payxibka 10,044]

22 minutes ago, Bjh said:

I know this is an old thread but I'm going through similar pains with my SSA office too and wanted to weigh in...

(1) Had your fiance also filed i-765 with i-129f? That's the only explanation I can think of...

 

(2) I have read that people should wait at least 2 weeks after entering the US before applying for a SSN, but it sounds more like a rule of thumb than an actual requirement. 

 

(3) This is total bs. Getting married does not make the K1 visa invalid. Neither the DHS nor the USCIS have any way of knowing that you got married without you telling them. The SSA may not accept visas or I-94s that are "expired" (or less than 14 days from expiring), but it sounds like the K1 visa's and the I-94's expirations were nowhere near expiring (June 7th is way before July 30th and August 14th).

 

(4) The I-94 period of authorized stay and the visa expiration date are 2 different things...

      a - Visa expiration date is how long you have to enter the US using the visa. if you try to enter the US after the visa's expiration date, you are denied entry.

      b - The I-94's period of authorized stay is how long you can stay in the country AFTER you enter the US.

 

I hope you were able to get past their bs!!!

Considering the post you replied to is two years old, I hope they got it resolved. 

 

Just to clarify what you posted.

 

1.  You don't submit an i765 with an i129f but the i485.

 

2.  A two week wait was required when they were issuing paper i94s.  Now that they are all electronic,  no need to wait.