Social security number

[mountainman 0]

Bullsh*t. You ran into another moron. The SSA is full of them.

The K-1 holder is eligible from day 1 until day 76 or their I-94. If anyone tells you anything except "OK, miss, here you go, you can call tomorrow to get your number and your card will arrive within a week" Then call for a supervisor.

You were delayed by retarded people working in the federal government because they can't find employment in businesses requiring results. NOT by going too soon. Alla arrived at 4 pm and we were at the SS office at 8am the next morning. At 8am the next morning she had her number and at 8:15 was added to our bank account, by noon of her second day in the USA she had her pre-appoved private university 50% scholarship in place and was enrolled for classes, and on the following Monday, 5 days after she arrived, began her classes.

Be aware of the law, be aware of your rights and do not let paid-by-the-pound government clerks hired under the affirmative action program deter you.

Actually the CORRECT box to check is

ALIEN ALLOWED TO WORK....this is the default classification for K-1s, NOT because they are really allowed to work (they aren't) bt because that allows ou to get a SS number. The system defaults that because some jurisdictions used to require SSNs to get married. This is why a K-1 can get the number and a K-2, K-3, K-4 cannot. The other K classes have no obligation to get married.

However you DO NOT NEED to check anything, let them do that if you want. Simply go and say "This is my fiancee, she has a K-1 visa and needs an SSN" A trained person knows what to do. Do not deal with untrained ones.

By the way they woill ask for 2 formns of government ID. You have them. Her passport ios ONE her visa is TWO. Two separate government issued photo IDs.

Go for it, Mountainman...do not let the morons keep you down.

DO NOT let morons interfere with your rights.

th eVJ guides are worng on this matter...overly conservative, actually. Gte the card in her maiden name, no matter whwere you are in the process. Change it after she has the EAD or Green card

Thanks, we will go to the SSA tomorrow.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Sorry, we inquired a bunch by phone - and spoke with supervisors that way too.

Superviosrs can be untrained also Brad. When we filed our first jojnt tax return I had to go up several levels of superviosors in our local SS office to find one that could figure out why Pasha's SSN was not computing. They continued to balme it on the IRS and I knew this wasn;t possible. After several levels of superviors, finally one knew what to do and fixed it. There is no reason not to get the card in a maiden name. It is true, Alla never changed her name, but what it says on the card is not important. Hers still says "not authorized to work without DHS ..." Blah, blah, blah. Who cares? No one asks for your SS card when you go to work anyway, you show your green card and away you go. I lost my card 30 years ago and haven't found a need for it since.

What they are waiting to check with DHS is the "SAVE" system. Unless there is a computer malfunction this info should be available the day after she arrives in her name as it is in the passport.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

As Gary said, there is no waiting period for a K-1.

My wife applied for her SSN on January 5 (her POE was December 29, marriage December 31).

She applied with her married name, giving them a copy of the K-1 and the marriage certificate.

There IS a waiting period for them getting good and ready to mail it out to you.

We are approaching mid-March and still no sign of it.

Apparently even SHE can't inquire about the status of HER card over the phone.

They only accept in-person appearances. What a backward sorry lot!

She can't easily visit their office so we will have to go together at the next opportunity.

When we applied for the number, they gave Alla a phone number to call the next day and get her SS number over the phone. We called from the bank parking lot, got the number and went into the bank and added her to our account. Local offices DO have a number to call.

The problem with government workers I find is not just that they are untrained...that would not be their fault. It is that they are untrained and THEN make up rules and laws and refuse to give out phone numbers etc. Ad people put up with that sh*t because they can't go to WalMart or Home Depot to get an SSN and that is the only reason. The government cannot compete in any process with private industry and needs a monopoly in order to lose money at everything they do. BUT, they do have certain obligations they must follow, IF you hold their feet to the fire, and you need to be informed to do so. Fortunately being smarter than the average SS clerk is not a difficult task.

[mountainman 0]

When we applied for the number, they gave Alla a phone number to call the next day and get her SS number over the phone. We called from the bank parking lot, got the number and went into the bank and added her to our account. Local offices DO have a number to call.

The problem with government workers I find is not just that they are untrained...that would not be their fault. It is that they are untrained and THEN make up rules and laws and refuse to give out phone numbers etc. Ad people put up with that sh*t because they can't go to WalMart or Home Depot to get an SSN and that is the only reason. The government cannot compete in any process with private industry and needs a monopoly in order to lose money at everything they do. BUT, they do have certain obligations they must follow, IF you hold their feet to the fire, and you need to be informed to do so. Fortunately being smarter than the average SS clerk is not a difficult task.

Thanks to everyone! We were at the SS office today and applied for the SSN. It will come in a mail in a week.

[Jo&Si 9]

Hi

We got same problem today!

I entered in USA on March 16th, got married yesterday and went to Social Security Office today...

The clerck (with a nasty attitude) told me that I CAN`T HAVE A SSN because I was not allowed to work! (I had everything I need passport, I-94 and marriage certificate)

On the I-94 the CPB officer at POE wrote on it that I can`t work...

I told her politely that it was wrong that other people got it when they are K-1 holder and that I knew that I can`t work...She just said you can`t have a SSN and I can show you the immigration document to proove it...so we left...I was so pissed off!!!!!!!!!!

I hate incompetence!

Now I am trying to find info on the web to put it on her face to show her how she is wrong!!!!!!!! But I didn`t find anything yet...don`t know what to do there is no other office here...Will try to call to the office tomorrow to talk to a supervisor...

If someone has any advice it will be trully appreciated

Thanks

Jo

[Brad and Vika 129]

Superviosrs can be untrained also Brad. When we filed our first jojnt tax return I had to go up several levels of superviosors in our local SS office to find one that could figure out why Pasha's SSN was not computing. They continued to balme it on the IRS and I knew this wasn;t possible. After several levels of superviors, finally one knew what to do and fixed it. There is no reason not to get the card in a maiden name. It is true, Alla never changed her name, but what it says on the card is not important. Hers still says "not authorized to work without DHS ..." Blah, blah, blah. Who cares? No one asks for your SS card when you go to work anyway, you show your green card and away you go. I lost my card 30 years ago and haven't found a need for it since.

What they are waiting to check with DHS is the "SAVE" system. Unless there is a computer malfunction this info should be available the day after she arrives in her name as it is in the passport.

Our problems included training of SSA employees, but also our own timing and the choices we made. Since Vika had no need or desire to work right away, we chose to wait and apply for a number in her married name. She wanted to take my nameand I was happy for it. We felt it was stupid to run off and get a SSN that would soon need a name change. So we obviously needed to be married before she could apply. What we didn't know is that once her name changes legally, Homeland Security will be unable to verify her status online, because their system (that SSA apparently pulls from) still has her maiden name. Identity verification takes weeks if done manually. We also didn't know that SSA will not process a card for any K visa holder that has less than two weeks for the original visa to run. Once her status changed, they wanted a matching EAD or green card. We then used the EAD (because it arrived first and Vika was ready for a drivers license, and the license requires a SSN here), and wound up needing to get the card changed anyway - to remove the work only condition after her green card arrived.

During the process, I spoke to several supervisors, and by phone and email with presumably higher supervisors at HQ. Some gave good answers, some didn't. My point is that had we understood the timing and ID issues we could have planned around them. I disagree with any sort of blanket advice to immediately get the card right off the plane though. I think the name that appears on the card, license, passport, marriage license, etc. is just more important to some people than others.

We could have solved the entire situation by going to the SSA offices immediatel after we got married, as there were still five weeks left on her visa then. Another argument for not waiting until the last day to marry.

Edited March 27, 2010 by Brad and Vika