ssn and being able to work

[david b 2]

I have been in the US for just over 2 weeks now on my K1 and I am ready to go and apply for my SSN. After reading the instructions, it says people on the K1 are eligible to work without EAD authorization..... this confuses me.

Although, it does say employers may still ask to see the EAD.. is it best to just wait for an EAD?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Get the card now if you want a SSN for like opening a bank account or getting added to a credit card account. Don't work until you have an EAD or green card. Sometimes there's a glitch in getting the SSN with manual verification required so it takes awhile. If you get it started now, maybe you'll have a better chance of actually having a SSN by the time you get your EAD card. You don't need a SSN for the AOS application.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I have been in the US for just over 2 weeks now on my K1 and I am ready to go and apply for my SSN. After reading the instructions, it says people on the K1 are eligible to work without EAD authorization..... this confuses me.

Although, it does say employers may still ask to see the EAD.. is it best to just wait for an EAD?

I started down that same path when I read the Social Security Administration paperwork as well. The short answer to your question is: No, you cannot work until you get the EAD (It's a plastic card with your picture, a stamp on your I-94 is not valid).

The longer answer involves an explanation of the reasons behind the SSA documentation. See, a K-1 entrant is able to apply (for a fee) for an EAD based only on their K-1 entry before marriage and AOS. In an effort to help get K-1s to work faster, the USCIS and the SSA agreed to give K-1's a social security number before the EAD was issued so that the two steps to getting work could be done in parallel instead of in series. The problem was that EADs took nearly all of the time available to process (and still do!), and they were basically expiring just weeks after they finally arrived. Add to this going to get a SSN, and K-1s couldn't work at all! So the "fix" was to get the K-1's a social security number before the EAD was issued. Thus all the words about K-1's being "work authorized" etc.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Forgot to point you to the pinned topic concerning Social Security and K1s and work authorization. It's at the top of this forum Working and Traveling During US Immigration

[VanessaTony 3,567]

As stated, no, you cannot work without an EAD. When it says a K1 is "work authorised" it means that you are authorised to get a PERMIT to work, visas such as visitors visas don't have this ability, but student visas do etc. In order to work you need a SSN so that's why it has you as "work authorised" on the system, so the SSA knows you need the SSN when you get your EAD.

** moved from "Adjustment of Status (Green Card) from Family Based Visas" to " Working & Traveling During US Immigration" as this is relating to your SSN & EAD**

Edited August 17, 2010 by Vanessa&Tony