ATTENTION: SSN and Name change after get married!!

[chinausa 7]

Hi everyone,

For FIANCEEs: If you're going to take your husbands' last name after get married, and want to apply SSN before submit your application to adjust your status with immigration, you should follow the steps as below, because I just applied my SSN this morning, and the following steps are the CORRECT way to do it:

1. fill out the SSN application form with YOUR OWN LAST NAME which is on your passport and K1 visa;

2. bring your passport with I-94 attached on it, marriage certificate, birth certificate (bring it just in case, most of time it is not required);

3. go to the social security office in your location, inform the person who take your application form that you will take your husbands' last name , and the person will put this information on you file. (that's what the lady did when I told her I'd like to take my husband last name);

4. Apply for AOS (I-485), use your NEW last name (your husband's last name) for all the forms you need to fill in, DO NOT FORGET attach a copy of your marriage certificate with

your I-485 application package;

5. As soon as you received your greencard, you should go back to your local social security office to change your married last name.

**You CAN NOT change your last name with Social Security until you HAVE CHANGED your last name with the Immigration Department.**

you are all set!!

GOOD LUCK, LADIES~~

XH

[Barbara J 115]

Hi everyone,

For FIANCEEs: If you're going to take your husbands' last name after get married, and want to apply SSN before submit your application to adjust your status with immigration, you should follow the steps as below, because I just applied my SSN this morning, and the following steps are the CORRECT way to do it:

1. fill out the SSN application form with YOUR OWN LAST NAME which is on your passport and K1 visa;

2. bring your passport with I-94 attached on it, marriage certificate, birth certificate (bring it just in case, most of time it is not required);

3. go to the social security office in your location, inform the person who take your application form that you will take your husbands' last name , and the person will put this information on you file. (that's what the lady did when I told her I'd like to take my husband last name);

4. Apply for AOS (I-485), use your NEW last name (your husband's last name) for all the forms you need to fill in, DO NOT FORGET attach a copy of your marriage certificate with

your I-485 application package;

5. As soon as you received your greencard, you should go back to your local social security office to change your married last name.

**You CAN NOT change your last name with Social Security until you HAVE CHANGED your last name with the Immigration Department.**

you are all set!!

GOOD LUCK, LADIES~~

XH

It is so much easier to get SSN in your married name if you do it a few weeks after your marriage and before I-94 expires. I got my ssn in my married name and so applied for AOS so I don't have to change anything.

[Darnell 8,478]

item 2 can be problematical

IF and ONLY IF

you not pay attention to the time window for 'when you can apply'.

It starts 14 days after the POE date (yer in the SAVE database by then)

and stops 14 days prior to I-94 expiration date (SSA won't let you apply then)

re: FIANCEE - yer instructions are useful for MARRIED K-1 ppl, but

any FIANCEE can do it, as well, just no name change this trip.

[Messybrownhair 251]

If I get it 10-14 days upon arrival, then there is no way to have a marriage certificate yet. This is not needed right?

and thanks!

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Follow the SSN guide here: http://www.visajourney.com/content/ssn

Apply for your SSN after 10 days of arriving in the US, and before there are less than 14 days remaining.

If you are married at the time you can apply in your married name as long as you have your marriage certificate. If you aren't married then you can get it in your maiden name.

If you get it in your maiden name you can change it at any stage, even once your I-94 is expired. Some offices don't know their own rules though so sometimes you might have issues. In which case you can just wait till you get your EAD.

You don't need your SSN to file AOS. If your SSN is in your maiden name name there's no issue with filing AOS in your married name, I did this. Only JUST got around to changing my SSN (got my GC in July 2010).

**You CAN NOT change your last name with Social Security until you HAVE CHANGED your last name with the Immigration Department.**

I don't know who told you this but they were wrong. There are many posts about this, including where IQuit (SSA expert) listing the specific rules that permit a name change while your I-94 is expired and without USCIS having changed it.

Edited January 24, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[LDG 2]

It all depends on who you get at the SSA office and how well they know their own rules. Everyone seems to have different experiences with getting their SSN (or not getting it). My wife got her SSN card with her new married name on it just fine. Applied for it a week after we married. No EAD, no special document explaining why she needs the SSN. Just her passport with unexpired i94, visa, marriage certificate.

[Florianns Man 7]

In our case, we applied my SSN after we got married and my 1-94 has an ample time for expiration ( 47 days before expiration) but the officer refused to accepts our application as we already married and K1-visa is no longer applicable in our case. If we applied before we got hitched then he will accept and process our application and change to my married name thereafter once we got married and bring the marriage certificate as a proof for name change. He told us to wait for my EAD or Green Card (3 mons of waiting is sucks!)everything seems hold for awhile without SSN. I would say,it all depends on the officers others they dont have problem getting SSN.

To be safe, apply SSN before you got married ( 14 days) after arrival..and apply for name change thereafter once you got hitched and bring MC as a proof of name change.

[HappyRs 8]

It all depends on who you get at the SSA office and how well they know their own rules. Everyone seems to have different experiences with getting their SSN (or not getting it). My wife got her SSN card with her new married name on it just fine. Applied for it a week after we married. No EAD, no special document explaining why she needs the SSN. Just her passport with unexpired i94, visa, marriage certificate.

exactly! well said!

[chinausa 7]

well, that's what I told the lady who took my application. I told her that I'd like to apply for my SSN with my husband's last name, and she told me that I could not do so.

sign...........

It seems that government employees are not fully standardize trained, because everyone tells different story. You definitely don't know who is right who is wrong, just prey that your case fall into the right hands.

Thanks for all the information.

[Darnell 8,478]

chinausa - alas - the SSA workers represent a strata of US Residents that mostly could not get work in the real world. Any bosses there rose up from the bottom, with the same problem. Keep in mind, some are trainable - and it's up to you to train them, until you get what you want.

[Darnell 8,478]

so you get a number or card yet? wassup?!?!!

[Maleman 5]

You can in fact get your married name applied on your SSN card before an update of an I-94 from USCIS. My wife is proof of this reality. As stated previously, you need to have been married and have a certified marriage license with you. Again, you want to wait at least (14) "business" days after your POE so your data will be within the (SAVE) system. Additionally, you must apply before your I-94 has expired. The SSN policy does not change due to the fact you are a K-1 visa candidate. With the exception of the evidence of your passport, I-94, and your certified marriage license, the process should be applied as standard operating practice. Ask for a supervisor at the SSN office, as well as conduct some research on-line. Think about the logic here, your passport and I-94 substantiates your identification and last name. Your marriage certificate shows reason to change your last name. Be diplomatic when you approach the SSN supervisor, but be firm on your position.

[jalie 3]

chinausa - alas - the SSA workers represent a strata of US Residents that mostly could not get work in the real world. Any bosses there rose up from the bottom, with the same problem. Keep in mind, some are trainable - and it's up to you to train them, until you get what you want.

I agree! And like what Maleman sez, be diplomatic but firm. I myself encountered a difficulty when I applied for my SSN. I wanted my husband's name in my card but the employee who was working on me disagreed because she believed its not possible. I insisted and so she asked her co-worker what can she do with my case. At the end she came back informing me that yes I can have my SSN card with my new married name in it in the mail in 1 to 2 weeks. It hit the mail box in one week.

The SSN employee who treated me was evidently not the smartest but I admired her humility and enthusiasm to do (and learn) her job.

We do not encounter such person everytime we go to a government office!

[Haarp425 26]

Same thing happened here.

My fiancee arrived here in the US in January 2011 and we went to the SSA Office in Everett, WA. We were told to wait 10 days after to get the SS card for her.

Well, 9 days later, we got married and we have our certified marriage certificate the next day. So, exactly 10 days, we went to the SSA Office in Everett, WA to get my wife her SS Card. We were told by the SSA staff that SSA will not give out SS card due to the fact that we have already married and we must notify the USCIS of status change.

I told the SSA staff here in Everett, WA that my wife still have a valid K1 Visa and her I-94 is still valid until April 2011 and my wife should be able to obtain an SS card. Still the SSA staff at Everett, WA will not allow my wife now to obtain her SS card even though we showed the SSA staff my wife's K1 Visa, unexpired I-94 and certified marriage certificate.

I called SSA toll-free number and I was referred back to SSA Office in Everett, WA. I explained the situation again and I was told that a supervisor will call me back. The supervisor called me back 2 days later. She told me that SSA will not provide SS card to my wife until my wife gets her EAD or work permit. I told the SSA supervisor at Everett, WA that it will take at least 3 months or so to get the EAD and the SSA supervisor just said that they can't help us because it is the SSA policy and procedure.

So, reading from other user's posting. It seems that SSA policy and procedure depends on how the SSA staff in a certain location interprets the SSA policies and procedures? It should not be based on interpretations. The SSA policies and procedures should be either "allowed or not-allowed" by the whole SSA office locations.

I will email SSA again and get further clarifications. Also, I might get clarification by sending my local US Representative a letter explaining my wife's situation and get further clarification from SSA. If the actual policy states that to those K1 visa holders who are already married must wait for the EAD to get SS card then so be it.

Here’s my advice to other K1 visa holder. Wait 10 to 14 days after arriving in the US. DO NOT get married yet. Go and get your DMV Photo ID showing your address here in the USA. After 10 or 14 days, get your SS card. Once you have your SS card then get married. (Female only) Once you have your certified marriage certificate, go to DMV and get your name change and have your picture taken again. File I-485 along with the work permit, advance parole. With the SS card, it will be easy to add your wife or husband name in your bank account, get driver's permit, enroll at school, etc.

[Messybrownhair 251]

What is the dmv photo id for?