adar24

On 6/5/2020 at 1:12 PM, heretoreply said:

Thank you! I ended up calling 4 local offices. None of them were able to do a search using USCIS number, but one of them understood my request and we were able to get the SSN!

No such luck for me. I contacted 4 local offices and none of their employees had any other response than "wait for offices to open, we cannot search for your SSN number and cannot give it to you on the phone". At least they were consistent with their response - so that's something  So, we are waiting for offices to open. 

On 5/26/2020 at 2:08 PM, Lehcim said:

For what it's worth, I just received mine in the mail, 12 days after entering the US on my CR1. 

 

I received it on the address I filled in on the DS260, which is not my address but a temporary one where a relative lives. They addressed the envelope to me as well as the person who we designated on the DS260. 

Thanks for the post. Glad you got your SSN card. Welcome to the US.

34 minutes ago, razorontour said:

I'm not sure but one would assume so given it's a government document. I did not have informed delivery at the time and it's too far back to check online. My understanding is that the card is returned as undelivered. Unclear exactly what location to which it's returned. And I'm in NY.

Thanks! I had no luck yet in calling local SSN offices. Both offices said wait until it reopens to apply. Sigh. Will update this forum if anything changes. Will try again in a couple of days. 

1 hour ago, razorontour said:

Just an update on this. Today I spoke to a really helpful lady at my local SSA card production center. She was able to find and give me my SSN over the phone. Turns out a card had been mailed to me but it was never delivered (and I didn't even know they had attempted delivery) because government documents are not delivered to mailboxes that do not have the name of the recepient written inside the mailbox (who knew?!). So to anyone who: applied for a SSN on their visa application form, lives in an apartment complex, entered the US more than 3 weeks ago and is still waiting for their SSN, do the following:

1) call your SSA field office (can be found on the SSA website) and ask for the number of your local card production center (if one exists).

2) Call the card production center and ask them to search for your record using your your USCIS/Alien registration number. It's important they search with that number in case your name has been entered incorrectly. 

 

Finally, make sure your name is written on a card somewhere INSIDE your mailbox.

 

Hope this is helpful to someone.

Very helpful, thanks! Just a couple of questions: do you know if the card was going to be delivered via US Postal Service? Has the card been sent back to the production center? What state are you in, if you don't mind sharing that.

On 5/9/2020 at 8:52 AM, razorontour said:

In case helpful to others, I arrived 22 April at EWR and have received neither SSN nor GC. I've spoken to both SSA and USCIS. Neither of them can confirm whether the SSA is even aware of my entry, much less if they've started the process of producing a SSN. So I would suggest you don't waste time calling them. The central SSA people will not even entertain a conversation if you can't provide a SSN. Unfortunately it seems all you can do is wait until either i) a SSN turns up in the mail or ii) the offices reopen and you can take the matter into your own hands and apply directly. 

Thanks for the update. Yes, that has been my experience as well. We got the GCs (both parents), but not the SSN cards. Called local office as well, they said - just come in when it opens 🤨

21 hours ago, razorontour said:

In case helpful to others, I arrived 22 April at EWR and have received neither SSN nor GC. I've spoken to both SSA and USCIS. Neither of them can confirm whether the SSA is even aware of my entry, much less if they've started the process of producing a SSN. So I would suggest you don't waste time calling them. The central SSA people will not even entertain a conversation if you can't provide a SSN. Unfortunately it seems all you can do is wait until either i) a SSN turns up in the mail or ii) the offices reopen and you can take the matter into your own hands and apply directly. 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, all we can do at this point is wait for the reopening. Please post an update if you do receive either cards.

On 5/7/2020 at 9:58 AM, saladboye said:

 

Not sure, it doesnt cost me anything to mail it so I did. I think you can mail your originals and they will mail you back

 

 

I'm in Texas, I haven't gotten a reply back yet,

Thanks very much for the reply. Would appreciate if you post when you do get a response back.

On 4/29/2020 at 10:55 AM, saladboye said:

To provide some data point.

 

My wife immigrated 3 weeks ago on April 8, she had her SSN in the mail within 7 business days. She came on a wednesday and had the SSN following thursday in the mailbox. Fastest I think it has ever been.

 

We just selected to get it mailed on the DS-260 and did not go to any other office.

 

The name was misspelt and we have mailed in the SS-5 for correction to our local office and awaiting the new card.

 

Also already mailed in the ITIN to SSN transfer to IRS and awaiting acknowledgement on that too.

 

 

Also the SSN offices are processing forms if you send via mail. Just send the SS-5 filled form along with a copy of passport and greencard to you local office and wait. Just probably need 2 envelops and 2 stamps.

Hi - would u mind sharing the port of entry for your wife? I called the local SSN office and the fellow said they are not processing applications until offices open. We are in California under lockdown, so wondering if other states have a different experience. 

On 4/29/2020 at 10:55 AM, saladboye said:

To provide some data point.

 

My wife immigrated 3 weeks ago on April 8, she had her SSN in the mail within 7 business days. She came on a wednesday and had the SSN following thursday in the mailbox. Fastest I think it has ever been.

 

We just selected to get it mailed on the DS-260 and did not go to any other office.

 

The name was misspelt and we have mailed in the SS-5 for correction to our local office and awaiting the new card.

 

Also already mailed in the ITIN to SSN transfer to IRS and awaiting acknowledgement on that too.

 

 

Also the SSN offices are processing forms if you send via mail. Just send the SS-5 filled form along with a copy of passport and greencard to you local office and wait. Just probably need 2 envelops and 2 stamps.

Thanks for sharing. Good to know re. the SS-5 via mail, but I am not sure we can apply for a new card while we are waiting on the one applied via DS-260 to arrive. We will wait a week or so more, then figure out  what to do. 

24 minutes ago, tonyzg97 said:

May I ask when did you or your parents paid for the GCs? I am still waiting for mine to arrive and I got into the country March 14th..I did paid them Feb 25th.

 

Thanks

Hi - the payment was done last year. Their arrival had been delayed due to some personal reasons.

Update: My parents' GCs have arrived - mom's arrived on Friday (24-April) and dad's today (Monday, 27-April) - so that's 6 weeks from their entry into the US. No sign of SSN cards yet. Likely will have to go into the SSA office once the lockdown is lifted. Will update if we see any other movement. 

3 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

If you mean their visa packets, no it’s not normal. Those are meant to go into the A file. Suggest you take them to a deferred inspection point once the lockdown is over.  Not everyone gets physical packets anymore, so just in case check there is no annotation on the visa saying “IV docs in CCD”, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting both physical and electronic. 
however... if you mean the medical packets with the xrays, which it seems is what some people refer to when they say “packets”, then yes it’s normal and no worry.

The Xray CDs were given back to my parents by the officer at port of entry, but the entire unopened packet was taken. SusieQQQ has good advice on what you might want to do . 

On 4/14/2020 at 10:02 AM, mrsalfayad said:

I'm in the same boat. Parents arrived March 16th. No SSNs yet. Strangely enough, the officer at JFK did not take their packets. Is this normal?

Hmm. My parent's packets were taken by the officer. Not sure what to make of the JFK officer not taking them. 

14 hours ago, erzengel said:

We have a CR1 visa, but we're in the same boat.  My husband entered via LA on March 21, and we absolutely checked the box to have the SSN issued.  Three weeks and still no sign of receiving a SSN soon.  I've been checking the SAVE Case Check website almost every day.  His info (alien # or passport) can't even be found.  It's very concerning, but I have to trust the process will work for now, since I can't do much more at this point.  I'll wait another 2 weeks and then try calling.  I'm anxious to get his SSN, so I can file my 2019 taxes.

Hopefully it is a temporary delay due to this temporary (fingers crossed) situation. I will let you know if there is any progress on our side, will you please do the same?

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

Also my first thought, OP you may have just inadvertently confused the agent you spoke to with talk of parents and IR5, it’s irrelevant what type of immigrant visa it was. A simple enquiry about new immigrants and whether they are all facing a delay or not (in the latter case you know you’d need to follow up) is probably what you should do...if you can get hold of someone again. 
We do occasionally see people who have checked the SSN box on the DS260 not get their cards and have to go to a SSA office, so if there is a hitch like that you can’t resolve it until the offices open again anyway.

Yes, very likely I confused the agent. I told her that it was an immigrant visa. The agent kept asking for some documentation that they are eligible for SSN.  Anyway, will try calling again to see if there is a delay. In any case, will wait as there really is no other option at least until offices open. Thank you everyone for reassuring us. Strange times with the Covid-19 situation. Stay safe. 

2 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

Yes, just the matter of time. If they can't wait, they can also come in person when they open again.

Alright. Thanks for the response. Good to know that we were not wrong in expecting it to be mailed, just that it is delayed. We will wait. Will post here when they receive it as it may help someone else in this situation.

Will appreciate if others who have received SSN cards for IR5 confirm. 

2 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

Do they recall of choosing the option "SSN card" when they were filling out the DS-260 online? If they didn't check that option, they need to go to a nearby SSA office when everything open again. 

Yes, they certainly have checked the option for SSN card on DS-260 when they filed that form. They took a printout of the submission and it is checked. So, should they receive it in mail - even if it might be a few more weeks/months from now? 

8 minutes ago, NancyNguyen said:

All agencies are super backlogged now due to the virus, there is nothing you can do except waiting for it to be over. 

Thanks! I appreciate and understand the backlog. I should have asked the question: should IR5 (parents of US citizens) expect to receive a SSN card (even if delayed)? The agent I called gave confusing information saying maybe they don't receive a card at all. 

Hello - 

My parents entered the US on IR5 (Immigrant Visa) on 15-March through San Francisco Airport. We were expecting their SSN Card to arrive in 3 weeks after their arrival. They had requested the SSN on DS260 form, so as we understand no separate application is necessary. Some delay due to the Covid-19 situation is expected, but it has been past 4 weeks now. Under normal circumstances, I would have been able to enquire at the local SSN Office, but those offices are closed due to Covid-19. I called the SSN general number and after a long wait reached an agent who did not have much knowledge about IR5 visa (Parents of US Citizen) and its eligibility to obtain a SSN card. The agent said it will only arrive after the green card will arrive, but from reading previous posts, I know that the SSN card typically arrives within 10-15 business days whereas the green card arrives in 4 months or so. She also asked me about work eligibility. I believe IR5 parents are eligible to work and therefore eligible for SSN.  

What has been the experience of others whose parents have recently entered into the US? Have your parents received SSN cards? 

Appreciate the help.

10 hours ago, adar24 said:

Hi All - 

 

We have filed an immigrant visa application for my parents. Mumbai Consulate, India. Both of their appointments were scheduled for end of Jan, but my mother's was canceled by the consulate as she needed additional tests. Now the medical reports are complete and have been sent to the consulate and we got an email that she needs to schedule her appointment at Mumbai Consulate. But when I check online at ustraveldocs as instructed, there are no appointments available. Has anyone experienced this and have you been able to get appointments soon after? When do they open appointments every day?

 

Any input will be greatly appreciated. We are in the last stage of our process and this forum has been very helpful

 

Adar24

Update: One appointment opened later in the day for next week. Acted quickly to book it. Will update this link with more info. once we are done with the appt. so others in similar situation can get some help.

2 hours ago, Cr7gb11 said:

Yea, she got something saying similar. I emailed ustraveldocs and according to them we don't have to appear at the scheduled interview and once they receive the medical results they will notify us to reschedule the interview so similar process I guess.

Please keep me posted how long it takes you to get it rescheduled. 

Good luck!

Hello - OK. So looks like you have similar process as IR5. I tried again this afternoon and saw 1 (literally 1) slot available next week. Acted quickly to schedule it. Maybe they release appointments as they get canceled for every day. Who knows. So, once you get the email from ustraveldocs, do check on ustraveldocs at least 2 times a day, but not too many times either (it almost locked me out saying "You are nearing maximum number of views on this page"). Weird, but that's how it works probably to keep people from checking too many times. I have seen elsewhere that if you do get locked out, the lock is reset every day at midnight EST. Lots of info. you probably didnt need right now, but this forum is useful only if everyone shares  So, good luck! 

On 3/11/2019 at 8:00 AM, Cr7gb11 said:

Hi,

My wife in India was referred to a sputum test for TB which would take 2 months to come back. The interview is in a week from today. So my question is would the hospital automatically let the Mumbai embassy know and cancel the interview until the results come back or do we still attend it without the medical results? 

And when the results come back, will we have to reach out to the embassy to reschedule the interview or will the hospital send the results to the embassy and they will reschedule it automatically. 

I know all countries proceed differently with this so any help would be appreciated as we are very confused about it. 

Did your wife get a letter from the medical clinic? My mom was in similar situation - she was asked to undergo sputum test and was given a letter which said "Do NOT come to your scheduled visa interview" in bold at the top. It may be different for IR1 visa as my mom's is IR5. Anyway, we waited patiently for 8 weeks and the results came negative. Results were sent by clinic directly to the consulate. Today we got an email from ustraveldocs saying we need to schedule interview (Category 2), so looks like no automatic interview scheduling  - but on checking, no immigrant visa appointments are available. So there goes. Now we have to keep checking to see if we can get anything. I hope we have better luck tomorrow. 

I don't know if IR1 is allowed to attend interview without medical reports - the process could be different for IR1 than it is for IR5 - you must follow the instructions the clinic gave you. 

Hi All - 

We have filed an immigrant visa application for my parents. Mumbai Consulate, India. Both of their appointments were scheduled for end of Jan, but my mother's was canceled by the consulate as she needed additional tests. Now the medical reports are complete and have been sent to the consulate and we got an email that she needs to schedule her appointment at Mumbai Consulate. But when I check online at ustraveldocs as instructed, there are no appointments available. Has anyone experienced this and have you been able to get appointments soon after? When do they open appointments every day?

Any input will be greatly appreciated. We are in the last stage of our process and this forum has been very helpful

Adar24

On 2/14/2019 at 11:27 AM, arpatel said:

Thanks Adar !

 

 

1 ) Can you tell me in how many days you got an interview date in email/mail from embassy after your parents case completed ?

2) Did Embassy give you OFC(biometrics appointment) date also or you scheduled that by yourself before an interview ?

 

 

 

 

Thanks,

The interview dates are released in batches every month, so depends on when your case is complete during a month. Observation has been that if your case completes in the 1st half of month, you should get interview email next month. If 2nd half, you may have to wait for another month. This is not exact, but a general rule we have seen.

You have to register on ustraveldocs to schedule FP appt. You will get instructions in the email with your appt.

On 2/11/2019 at 7:19 AM, arpatel said:

Hi All,

 

My parents I130 applications are approved and NVC case status also shows completed.

 

My father's case was completed on January 23,2019 and my mother's case was completed on February 07,2019.

 

My parents are in India and they will give an interview at Bombay (Mumbai) embassy.

 

My questions are :  1) Since both the cases were completed on different dates, Mumbai embassy will scheduled interview separately for both or Embassy will scheduled interview for both at a same time ?

                                   2) How much time it will take to give us an email notification about an interview date and time ?

                                   3) When we can expect the date of interview after case completion ?

 

 

Thanks in advance.

Hi - 

NVC will schedule interview on same date as your parents' cases will be linked together - you being the petitioner on both. You can call NVC to confirm this. My parents also had case complete on different dates. But were scheduled for interview together at Mumbai Consulate

On 2/4/2019 at 9:48 AM, Lane O said:

@adar24

 

We got my mom result and she passed. They gave us a letter and they say if we ever have a problem in immigration just show the letter.  Basically, the letter is just saying my mom doesn't have TB.

OK. That's great - good to have that letter for records. Thanks Lane. It is incredibly useful to have you respond to all our queries.