Fastest way to get proof of address documents upon arrival

[MexicoExpat 18]

Hi, 

 

My wife was approved for her immigrant visa and we will be entering the US on it this week. 
 

We are excited to get started getting her a US bank account and starting the process of getting her drivers license among many other things. 
 

All of the things we want to do in order to get her new life started, appear to require a proof of address. 
 

We will be staying with a family member temporarily - I am already on the lease agreement at this address, although my wife is not. It may complicated to get another person added. 
 

We are also open to paying a couple of the monthly utility bills for this family member and putting these utility bills in my wife's name. 
 

None of this seems like it will be a quick process though - I imagine the name change on the utility bills wouldn't reflect until the next bill comes out. 
 

We ideally would like to get started on setting up things for her new life in her first week in the US, though it seems we would likely need to wait about a month until she could get all of these documents.  
 

Our situation can't be that uncommon - what are other people doing? Just waiting a bit longer until they can get these docs? Or is there another way?

 

 

[Melc 138]

If all goes well, she’ll receive her SSN in about a week after entering. (If you ticked that box on the DS-260)

 

the letter from the SSA makes for a great proof of address.  

[MexicoExpat 18]

3 minutes ago, Melc said:

If all goes well, she’ll receive her SSN in about a week after entering. (If you ticked that box on the DS-260)

 

the letter from the SSA makes for a great proof of address.  

That's reassuring as I've been reading it could take up to 3 months. 
 

having the SS card and accompanying letter would definitely be a big help and would be 1 proof of address. 
 

will I just need to bite the bullet and wait for getting more? A license or even a non-drivers license (faster than going through the driving test process, which we will still do ASAP) seems to still require additional proof of address?

[Melc 138]

Have a look at your state requirements. 
Up in Maine they also accept affidavits of other residents. 
 

I’d also avoid a Real ID one, for now, if possible. Those have a higher threshold in terms of what can be needed to apply for one. You can always get it later. 
 

I just got a state ID card with the SSA letter. 
 

If you have a bank account/credit card in the US already, you could make your partner an authorised used. The letter with the card is generally addressed to the authorised user. That also allows your partner to get started on their credit score. 

[MexicoExpat 18]

2 minutes ago, Melc said:

Have a look at your state requirements. 
Up in Maine they also accept affidavits of other residents. 
 

I’d also avoid a Real ID one, for now, if possible. Those have a higher threshold in terms of what can be needed to apply for one. You can always get it later. 
 

I just got a state ID card with the SSA letter. 
 

If you have a bank account/credit card in the US already, you could make your partner an authorised used. The letter with the card is generally addressed to the authorised user. That also allows your partner to get started on their credit score. 

She is already an authorized user on my credit card but unfortunately when the statements come her name isn’t included. 

[Sarah&Facundo 577]

I was able to add my husband to my bank account right away. If you add her to yours and you are there, I don't recall them asking for any documents.

[MexicoExpat 18]

We will also be getting a joint account, but she definitely wants her own accounts too ASAP so she can start applying for credit cards and building her credit. 

 

The issue is less about having access to any bank (she is already an authorized user on my CC) but about being able to get the documents she needs to be able to start all other processes that will follow. 

[milimelo 4,226]

Sign her up for some magazines (plenty of choices via Amazon); have someone send her a letter/postcard to the address. 

[MexicoExpat 18]

Thanks for the suggestion we will do that. They certainly wouldn’t be official documents but hopefully enough of them could help our case. 
 

could it potentially work to show documents proving my address there, plus our marriage certificate? Or does it need to be exactly her name at exactly that address?

[milimelo 4,226]

Her name. 

[Sofitalian 132]

Do you have a bank account with Bank of America? You can check with them if your wife can open her own bank account without SSN (but with two pieces of photo ID) and the stamped visa.

[MexicoExpat 18]

So I've spent literally the entire day looking into this, and I don't think there's going to be any easy way for us to get set up easily right when we arrive. 

 

Most of the issue hinges upon the social security card arriving - which could certainly happen in 1 week, though I've heard reports of it taking up to 3 months. 

 

With the SSN, we can get her a state ID in Florida, and even if she can't provide 2 proofs of residence right away, there's an affadaivit available that will let me do it for her by providing her marriage certificate. With the license, she would have then have 2 photo ID's (passport and state ID).

 

We are pretty much completely stuck for opening her own bank account. They want 2 photo ID's and will only accept her passport as a non-US ID. Which basically means that we can't open a bank account for her until she gets a state ID. Even after we get her added to the lease (which could take a long time until the landlord feels like getting around to it), we still would not have another form of proof of residence. The state ID can't act as the proof of residence when it is also the proof of identity. 

 

I've contacted the utility companies we use at our residence and they said we can certainly add her, but it could take 2 billing cycles to reflect. 

 

I never imagined it would be this difficult just to get started getting her set up with simple things like a license and bank account, thought it would be much more intuitive upon arrival. Many of the things they are asking for a newly arrived immigrant simply doesn't have. 

[Melc 138]

It’s quite complicated, yes. I was fortunate to have opened a non-resident bank account with Bank of America before immigrating. They didn’t require a proof of address for my US mailing address, but did send my bills there. 
 

That, along with getting the SSN in about 10 days, made it all much easier. 

[milimelo 4,226]

Look into W8-ben for banking until SSN arrives. That will treat her as a non-resident and all she needs is to show her passport. May want to find a bank employee versed in this though.