SSN issued but never delivered - what to put in I-485

[flybywire 0]

Hey everyone. My wife arrived in the US on a K1 visa back in April. We applied for an SSN by mid May and she was approved. We've had nothing but problems getting the SSN card because the post office never delivered it and we're at least 1 month away from getting the card, and her SSN itself, on hand. Local SSA offices all need appointments here and they are a month out, so even if they give us the number onsite, it's still a month out

 

We got married end of May and are about to submit the I-485. However, we have a problem.

 

Part 1 question 19 asks if you have an SSN. If yes, you have to enter the number. We called SSA and they told us it was issued and sent, but USPS never delivered it, so she was issued an SSN and we know it was, but don't have the number. So if we put No on the form, that's not true. If we hit Yes, then we need to provide the number, which we never received.

 

What should we do? All I can think of is to hit Yes (an SSN has been issued), put N/A in the SSN field on the I-485, and explain on the Additional Information page. Is this the right thing to do? If so, will this lead to an RFE and downstream delays?

 

Thank you!

 

 

[smilingstone 460]

I had this same problem too.

 

I was able to call my local SSA office and explained that I'd never received my card after waiting 4 weeks since my first appointment. The lady told me my number over the phone, so I was able to move ahead with my AOS.

 

She also scheduled me for a further appointment 2 weeks ahead, should my original card never show up. Needless to say, my original card did never show up, so I attended the 2nd appointment to arrange a replacement, which I did receive about 2 weeks after that...

 

If you Google your town/city and "SSA telephone" hopefully you can find what you need. But if there is no number listed for yours, you will have to call the national number and be warned you will be on hold for anything from 2+ hours.

[MalloryCat 670]

just be aware that the standard is that they don't tell you the number over the phone.

 

we had the issue with USPS not delivering it for my husband. had to call the post office and speak with the post master to add my husbands name to our address, things with his name started to get delivered with no problem. so you may need to do that.

 

we were able to go into the SSA office (we went without an appointment, but we had to wait quite awhile) and they were able to tell him the number in person.

you may have to bite the bullet and take the appointment for a month out.

 

the national number for the SSA sucks to call, cause the wait times are usually terrible, but when I called the first time to make an appointment (to actually apply for the SSN for my husband) they were able to get me an appointment for the next day. not sure if that is the number you called or if you called the office directly.

 

but you may need to wait to submit the AOS paperwork until you get the SSN.

it will either be rejected (not denied, rejected means they send you the whole packet back, which could take several weeks to receive) or you get an RFE for the number

[Crazy Cat 44,031]

A Social Security number is not required for Adjustment of Status.

[JeanneAdil 7,004]

you can try calling but the office shouldn't give out info over the phone

 

Try the SS webpage 

www.SSA.gov

 

and also take a copy of photo ID (passport and National ID are good) / they may require 2

mail the ID along with  a letter to the main office telling them your issue to get the number

they were quick to respond to me when someone stole my SS number

 

send copy of this also to local office

 

The Social Security Administration's (SSA) central office is located at 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235. The office's phone number is (410) 965-1234

[mam521 2,459]

If you'd fill out your timeline, it would be helpful to the rest of the community here: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=489507

 

As @MalloryCat said, over the phone is extremely rare and not the norm.  

 

For now, leave it blank.  In this instance, it's better to get the paperwork filed.  The SSN is really more important for getting a bank account and doing income taxes.  

[TBoneTX 47,266]

You can ask ChatGPT for a local number for your SSA office.  Ask also for street address and hours of operation.

[OldUser 9,395]

5 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

You can ask ChatGPT for a local number for your SSA office.  Ask also for street address and hours of operation.

There's official website with posted phone numbers and addresses

 

https://www.ssa.gov/locator/

 

The risk of using Generative AI is hallucinations, e.g. it doesn't guarantee accuracy of information, it can be made up.

[TBoneTX 47,266]

1 minute ago, OldUser said:

The risk of using Generative AI is hallucinations

True.  I double-confirmed it.  Already had Chat GPT window open for something else.   

[flybywire 0]

I decided to answer Yes and leave the SSN field blank, but include the details in the Additional Information form. The SSA will not give the number over the phone and we are a month or more before we can get a new card in card (assuming it delivers this next time), so we will submit the I-485 and if we get an RFE, at least we will have the SSN to give them by then.

[pushbrk 13,539]

10 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

A Social Security number is not required for Adjustment of Status.

Correct.  Just enter zeros instead.  When the number is available, just use it going forward.