I-551 Stamp at POE?

[4Toms 0]

My spouse recently made her entry through JFK. All that she got stamped in her passport is the standard arrival stamp with date of entry and handwritten IR1 and A#. No I-551 stamps or whatsoever. I was little bewildered to see that there were no temporary I-551 stamps in the passport, as against what I had read

• Is this the standard procedure these days?
• How do we go about applying for SSN at the local office w/o a I-551 stamp or I-94 ?
• How much time does it take for the card to arrive these days?

Would appreciate any inputs/ guidance who has recently been there / done this.

[Neonred 3,562]

I had the same question when my step daughter arrived on her immigration visa. I tracked down someone at the airport that pointed out to me some small print on her visa that said this visa along with an entry stamp serves as an I-551. Seems to be the way they are doing it these days. We had no problem at the SS office. Green card arrived in about three weeks if I remember correctly.

[Ryan H 3,812]

My spouse recently made her entry through JFK. All that she got stamped in her passport is the standard arrival stamp with date of entry and handwritten IR1 and A#. No I-551 stamps or whatsoever. I was little bewildered to see that there were no temporary I-551 stamps in the passport, as against what I had read

• Is this the standard procedure these days?
• How do we go about applying for SSN at the local office w/o a I-551 stamp or I-94 ?
• How much time does it take for the card to arrive these days?

Would appreciate any inputs/ guidance who has recently been there / done this.

This is now the standard, if you look at the bottom of the visa itself, you will see something that says "Upon Endorsement, acts as Temporary I-551 Valid for 1 Year." The 'endorsement' is the admission stamp with the information handwritten in. This is what CBP did when my wife arrived here.

I don't know what will happen when you go to the SSA office to apply for a number. Unfortunately, many states are likely behind on the new standard and have either not updated their regulations or adequately trained their employees. Case in point, we tried to get my wife a state ID card, I tried to explain to the DOL agent the new standard and the agent's reply to me was "we don't care about that."

[4Toms 0]

Thank You!.

When you say you had no problem at SS Office, does it mean that they just accepted the Visa + Admission stamp as proof of permanent residence and granted SSN before the green card arrived.

Just trying to figure out if going to the SSN office with just the Visa + admission stamp makes sense.

I had the same question when my step daughter arrived on her immigration visa. I tracked down someone at the airport that pointed out to me some small print on her visa that said this visa along with an entry stamp serves as an I-551. Seems to be the way they are doing it these days. We had no problem at the SS office. Green card arrived in about three weeks if I remember correctly.

Thankyou Ryan. That certainly helps to know that I am not the lone rider who has faced this dilemma.

This is now the standard, if you look at the bottom of the visa itself, you will see something that says "Upon Endorsement, acts as Temporary I-551 Valid for 1 Year." The 'endorsement' is the admission stamp with the information handwritten in. This is what CBP did when my wife arrived here.

I don't know what will happen when you go to the SSA office to apply for a number. Unfortunately, many states are likely behind on the new standard and have either not updated their regulations or adequately trained their employees. Case in point, we tried to get my wife a state ID card, I tried to explain to the DOL agent the new standard and the agent's reply to me was "we don't care about that."

[pushbrk 12,881]

If the DS230 was filled out properly, the SS Card will simply arrive in the mail within 2 to 4 weeks. If not, just go to the SS Office with the passport. All is well.

[Neonred 3,562]

If the DS230 was filled out properly, the SS Card will simply arrive in the mail within 2 to 4 weeks. If not, just go to the SS Office with the passport. All is well.

Yes, this is true. When I took my step daughter to the SS office to get her card there was no problem with the visa and entry stamp acting as the I-551, but while the guy was entering all information he noted that she had already been assigned a number. She got her card just a few days after that visit.