Social Security Office are closed to the public

[Forrest Fire 62]

I moved to Wisconsin on March 24th and have already received my marriage license to get married on May 2nd using just my passport so I'm all set with that. I have also tried to apply for a SSN by filling out my forms and mailing them along with my passport and I-94 and received a phone call today from the SS office telling me that new applicants must be processed in person. He said that if I can provide him with proof that a SSN is mandatory for my AOS filing, then he could book an interview but I'm not sure that it is.

 

Can someone please advise if I can hold off on getting a SSN? My I-94 expires June 21st if that info helps.

[Sarge2155 4,570]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:22 PM, Akrapovic said:

I talked to the social security office one more time, asking them if I could send the application by mail and they accepted it. Beware: I had to send in my original passport and marriage certificate, which is a bit discomforting, but I figured desperate times call for desperate measures. They promised to overnight the documents back immediately after checking everything. Good luck everybody .. SSN is not completely essential in the beginning but it can make life easier...

I would NOT recommend anyone doing this desperate times or not!

[Sparkle Sparkle 913]

8 minutes ago, Sarge2155 said:

I would NOT recommend anyone doing this desperate times or not!

I concur... You might just end up shooting yourself in the leg

[Just Paul 4,591]

13 hours ago, Forrest Fire said:

Can someone please advise if I can hold off on getting a SSN? My I-94 expires June 21st if that info helps.

It is great to get the SSN before getting married as you can get some banking accounts setup before marriage and makes things easier then waiting for AOS/EAD.  It is rarely needed to obtain a marriage certificate and not legally required for health insurance.  You can not get it after marriage even if there is sufficient time left on the I-94.  If you can't get in before your wedding date just select it with the EAD.  Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do in the current climate.

[Akrapovic 31]

7 hours ago, Sarge2155 said:

I would NOT recommend anyone doing this desperate times or not!

I definitely wouldn't recommend it either, but it worked for me.

 

3 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

It is great to get the SSN before getting married as you can get some banking accounts setup before marriage and makes things easier then waiting for AOS/EAD.  It is rarely needed to obtain a marriage certificate and not legally required for health insurance.  You can not get it after marriage even if there is sufficient time left on the I-94.  If you can't get in before your wedding date just select it with the EAD.  Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do in the current climate.

Could you elaborate on why you cannot get SSN after marriage?

[Sarge2155 4,570]

1 hour ago, Akrapovic said:

I definitely wouldn't recommend it either, but it worked for me.

 

Could you elaborate on why you cannot get SSN after marriage?

Some offices will some won't.  After you are married you usually can't  get it (in the married) name because it's  not in the database (save system).You can get it in the maiden name (the name on the I-94.) But like I said it depends on the clerk and the office.

If you got yours and it worked for you then that's all that matters!

[pm5k 127]

How long were you on hold when talking to the SSA via phone?  I called a few days ago, and I gave up waiting.

[Akrapovic 31]

18 minutes ago, Sarge2155 said:

Some offices will some won't.  After you are married you usually can't  get it (in the married) name because it's  not in the database (save system).You can get it in the maiden name (the name on the I-94.) But like I said it depends on the clerk and the office.

If you got yours and it worked for you then that's all that matters!

That makes sense. I kept my name so that problem never occurred, even though we had gotten married already.

 

16 minutes ago, pm5k said:

How long were you on hold when talking to the SSA via phone?  I called a few days ago, and I gave up waiting.

Not too long - I'd say less than 5 min, but that probably depends on when you call and which office you are calling.

[pm5k 127]

Did you end up getting your new card?  

[ProbeGT 43]

My local office said the same thing - you can mail us your documents and we will verify.  Not sure if we want to go down that route...

[BLM 0]

4 hours ago, Akrapovic said:

That makes sense. I kept my name so that problem never occurred, even though we had gotten married already.

 

Not too long - I'd say less than 5 min, but that probably depends on when you call and which office you are calling.

Did you end up getting your SSN, your passport and marriage certificate back?

How long did it take them? 

Also, you managed to talk to a person on the phone after 5 minutes, or are you taking about the pre recorded stuff? 

[Akrapovic 31]

55 minutes ago, BLM said:

Did you end up getting your SSN, your passport and marriage certificate back?

How long did it take them? 

I have gotten my passport and certificate back. They acknowledged my application, but the SSN hasn't arrived yet, because the documents are still going through a verification process (might take up to 4 weeks).

 

55 minutes ago, BLM said:

Also, you managed to talk to a person on the phone after 5 minutes, or are you taking about the pre recorded stuff? 

Yes, I talked to a person in our local office after 5 min. But that was 3 weeks ago - i'd imagine it's worse now.

[BLM 0]

6 minutes ago, Akrapovic said:

I have gotten my passport and certificate back. They acknowledged my application, but the SSN hasn't arrived yet, because the documents are still going through a verification process (might take up to 4 weeks).

 

Yes, I talked to a person in our local office after 5 min. But that was 3 weeks ago - i'd imagine it's worse now.

Thank you for the quick and helpful reply! 

One more question, did you apply for a new or corrected card? 

 

I have a SSN from years ago when I was a seasonal worker in the US as a student on a J1 visa. 

I recently got approved for a CR-1 spousal visa and moved to the US, so my last name and immigration status have changed, and I think I qualify for a corrected instead of a new SSN?

 

Thank you for reading all my questions, I'm a little weary of sending my passport by mail, so I wanna gather other people's experiences before I do that. 

[Pat&Jan 25]

My fiancee is on the same boat as many here. We went to the local SSA office on March 13 and was given a letter stating that additional verification would be needed, which could take up to 4 weeks.

The SAVE database has already said "Case Returned to Agency" for several weeks now but we haven't received the SSN card in the mail. Today, I was able to call the local office (use https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/ to find the number) and the man on the phone said they had to "push" the application through and I should receive it in two weeks. 

[ProbeGT 43]

On 4/15/2020 at 5:31 PM, Akrapovic said:

I have gotten my passport and certificate back. They acknowledged my application, but the SSN hasn't arrived yet, because the documents are still going through a verification process (might take up to 4 weeks).

 

 

Did you have to send them a return envelope, or did they just send it back?

Please keep us posted, thanks!