We are in the U.S.!....now SSN or marriage?

[Mark&Took 1]

We arrived in the US on May 2. We have started to settle in. I went by the record of deeds office in my county to check on getting a marriage license. They need a SSN for each person, among other things.....or they gave us an affidavit to use for a person who is not eligible for a SSN. They asked if we had applied for a SSN yet (and we haven't) so they gave us the affidavit form for people who are ineligible for a SSN. They said we could use that to get the marriage license but only because we haven't applied for an SSN yet. I'm curious if anyone here has been through a similar experience. It doesn't seem right since we will be eligible for a SSN when we apply.

I read if we apply for a SSN it will probably take 2 weeks to get. It seems like we need to wait 2 weeks after entry to make sure Took is in the SAVE computer system, then apply for the SSN, then wait 2 more weeks to get it. Is that what most people do?

If we marry after getting a SSN we have to go back and change her name. I was hoping to marry first then get the SSN with the married name....saving a return trip to change it. Anyone know if that is possible?

Mark & Took

[Inky 1,111]

I was hoping to marry first then get the SSN with the married name....saving a return trip to change it. Anyone know if that is possible?

Mark & Took

Yes I did this no issues. You can do this.

Soon after entry we married. 2 weeks after entry we went to the SSO and handed over my documents plus marriage certificate. Couple weeks later got my SSN in the mail with married name on it.

[Caryh 5,206]

We arrived in the US on May 2. We have started to settle in. I went by the record of deeds office in my county to check on getting a marriage license. They need a SSN for each person, among other things.....or they gave us an affidavit to use for a person who is not eligible for a SSN. They asked if we had applied for a SSN yet (and we haven't) so they gave us the affidavit form for people who are ineligible for a SSN. They said we could use that to get the marriage license but only because we haven't applied for an SSN yet. I'm curious if anyone here has been through a similar experience. It doesn't seem right since we will be eligible for a SSN when we apply.

I read if we apply for a SSN it will probably take 2 weeks to get. It seems like we need to wait 2 weeks after entry to make sure Took is in the SAVE computer system, then apply for the SSN, then wait 2 more weeks to get it. Is that what most people do?

If we marry after getting a SSN we have to go back and change her name. I was hoping to marry first then get the SSN with the married name....saving a return trip to change it. Anyone know if that is possible?

Mark & Took

The I-94 allows her to get the SS number as long as its not too close to the expiration date. My wife an I waited until after our wedding because we were getting married quickly, five weeks after her entry. This gave us plenty of time to get the SS number in her married name. As to what your local county requires, that is up to the local county and varies all over the country. We did not need SS numbers to get married where we live. I would go by what the county is telling you is valid, since it is their rules you need to follow. Getting the SS card in her married name does save the name change after marriage later, but there will come a point where you're changing the card to remove the note about requiring DHS authorization to work also. So there's no reason you can't do the name change at the same time. What you don't want to do is miss this point in time where the I-94 allows her to get the SS number. I've heard anywhere from 2 weeks to 30 days before it expires, they won't let her get an SS card.

[skylane 6]

Wait until you get an ID with her married name....save yourself a trip. We made the mistake of getting the SSN the day after she arrived.

We arrived in the US on May 2. We have started to settle in. I went by the record of deeds office in my county to check on getting a marriage license. They need a SSN for each person, among other things.....or they gave us an affidavit to use for a person who is not eligible for a SSN. They asked if we had applied for a SSN yet (and we haven't) so they gave us the affidavit form for people who are ineligible for a SSN. They said we could use that to get the marriage license but only because we haven't applied for an SSN yet. I'm curious if anyone here has been through a similar experience. It doesn't seem right since we will be eligible for a SSN when we apply.

I read if we apply for a SSN it will probably take 2 weeks to get. It seems like we need to wait 2 weeks after entry to make sure Took is in the SAVE computer system, then apply for the SSN, then wait 2 more weeks to get it. Is that what most people do?

If we marry after getting a SSN we have to go back and change her name. I was hoping to marry first then get the SSN with the married name....saving a return trip to change it. Anyone know if that is possible?

Mark & Took

Edited May 10, 2012 by skylane

[rick313 5]

Congrats on everything going well so far! We got her SSN first in her original name, and then a few weeks later got the marriage license and got married. After that, we went back to the federal govt and got her SSN changed to her married (my) name. I've read before that the way I did it was the "cautious" way to go about doing it just so her first SSN application lines up with the name on her visa. Good luck!