Getting Soc Security Card

[Ryan76 46]

So my wife arrived on 8/24 and we're now married, just got back from the honeymoon, and I'm doing all the adjustment of status paperwork. I took a break from that to look at the information from my job / health insurance to get her signed up, but it says i need to give a Social Security Card.

After doing some research it appears to be fairly straight-forward. We just take the I-94, her Passport w/ Visa, and fill out the Soc Sec Card application and we go to my local federal office to apply.

When looking at the application form i noticed there was a box to be checked for "legal alien allowed to work" or "legal alien not allowed to work"...which one do we check? Obviously as of right this moment she can't work, but she will be able to as soon as the paperwork goes through.

I want to get this Social Security card stuff finished up as soon as possible so she can get on my insurance plan. Any tips or advice here? Anything I'm missing?

[khwaidee1 196]

So my wife arrived on 8/24 and we're now married, just got back from the honeymoon, and I'm doing all the adjustment of status paperwork. I took a break from that to look at the information from my job / health insurance to get her signed up, but it says i need to give a Social Security Card.

After doing some research it appears to be fairly straight-forward. We just take the I-94, her Passport w/ Visa, and fill out the Soc Sec Card application and we go to my local federal office to apply.

When looking at the application form i noticed there was a box to be checked for "legal alien allowed to work" or "legal alien not allowed to work"...which one do we check? Obviously as of right this moment she can't work, but she will be able to as soon as the paperwork goes through.

I want to get this Social Security card stuff finished up as soon as possible so she can get on my insurance plan. Any tips or advice here? Anything I'm missing?

Check the last box that says "Other". When they see your fiancee's passport and I-94 that's all they'll need. And be prepared to wait at the SS office for about 2 hours. Your health insurance plan can request the SSN number but you do not have to give one. I added my fiancee without it.

Edited September 7, 2012 by khwaidee1

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

*** Moving from K1 to SSN forum ****

[Andrea&Henry 311]

Until she has no EAD (employment authorization) she is an alien NOT allowed to work. I came here on april and I already submitted my AoS package and I dont have SSN yet. My husban has a friend who works in one of the office and she strongly suggest to wait for my EAD to get my SSN. The first reason is that I deciide to change my last name for my husband's. If I get my SSN without the EAD or the greencard, my ssn will have my maiden, thing that i ddnt want. So, when i filled for my AoS, i did it with my new name. So my ssn will have my new name. Second reason, is that if she gets her ssn now, not only will have her maiden name but also this will be an ssn for alien not allow to work, that means that you two will need to come back again after her adjustment to get a new ssn. I m in my husband health insurance as a beneficiary and they never asked for my ssn, but they will need eventually. The point is, that, if she is planning to changer her name, i strongly suggest to wait for her EAD, cause if her social has her maiden name, every single document including credit card, driver license, bank accounts etc will have her maiden name, and after her AOS she will need to change all her documents again to her ew name

[del-2-5-2014 1,339]

So my wife arrived on 8/24 and we're now married, just got back from the honeymoon, and I'm doing all the adjustment of status paperwork. I took a break from that to look at the information from my job / health insurance to get her signed up, but it says i need to give a Social Security Card.

After doing some research it appears to be fairly straight-forward. We just take the I-94, her Passport w/ Visa, and fill out the Soc Sec Card application and we go to my local federal office to apply.

When looking at the application form i noticed there was a box to be checked for "legal alien allowed to work" or "legal alien not allowed to work"...which one do we check? Obviously as of right this moment she can't work, but she will be able to as soon as the paperwork goes through.

I want to get this Social Security card stuff finished up as soon as possible so she can get on my insurance plan. Any tips or advice here? Anything I'm missing?

That's taking care of business

Congrats.

[Dave&Roza 748]

So my wife arrived on 8/24 and we're now married, just got back from the honeymoon, and I'm doing all the adjustment of status paperwork. I took a break from that to look at the information from my job / health insurance to get her signed up, but it says i need to give a Social Security Card.

After doing some research it appears to be fairly straight-forward. We just take the I-94, her Passport w/ Visa, and fill out the Soc Sec Card application and we go to my local federal office to apply.

When looking at the application form i noticed there was a box to be checked for "legal alien allowed to work" or "legal alien not allowed to work"...which one do we check? Obviously as of right this moment she can't work, but she will be able to as soon as the paperwork goes through.

I want to get this Social Security card stuff finished up as soon as possible so she can get on my insurance plan. Any tips or advice here? Anything I'm missing?

As a K-1 visa holder, in the eyes of the SSA you are "legal alien allowed to work". You are eligible for a SSC with the K-1 visa, the I-94, passport and I would take along another form of ID which proves age like a BC. You can get the SSC in the married name using a marriage certificate, but some SSA people do not know this and will tell you that you will have to wait blah blah blah. Two options: 1) file in maiden name, receive SSC go back and try to change name using marriage certificate, 2) apply in married name, told this cannot be done (or maybe you will be lucky and have no problems) make note of date, time, person you spoke to and ask for a supervisor if still no luck leave and send an e-mail to the main SSA website explaining what happened and they should send you an e-mail to educate their employees on what a K-1 visa holder is allowed to do.

As for legally being able to get a job and work, you will need to wait for the EAD or GC for that. Have a look at the I-9 form that an employer will have you fill out to see what documents are required. Some people have waited unit the EAD or GC to get the SSC and if your I-94 is within 16 days of expiring you WILL have to wait for one of those documents. The SSN has become a pseudo national ID number and you need it for all kinds of things, so getting one now makes sense.

Good luck,

Dave

P.S. you might want to search the forums here on VJ for SSN to see other people's experiences.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Dave&Roza

[Ryan76 46]

Thank you all for the advice that's a big help.

It turns out that I will be allowed to add her to my insurance with only the marriage certificate, and I can call and give them the SSN later, but i still want to get it taken care of as soon as possible.

I'm just going to take all the information / documents listed, plus the marriage certificate and fill out the application using her new married name.

So..we've got one person that says in the eyes of the SSA, with the K-1 visa we can check the box "legal alien able to work", and someone else who says to check the "other" box. I'm still not sure exactly what we should do here.

Would it be a big deal if we leave some of this stuff on the application blank and then ask them at the Social Security office?

[Dave&Roza 748]

Thank you all for the advice that's a big help.

It turns out that I will be allowed to add her to my insurance with only the marriage certificate, and I can call and give them the SSN later, but i still want to get it taken care of as soon as possible.

I'm just going to take all the information / documents listed, plus the marriage certificate and fill out the application using her new married name.

So..we've got one person that says in the eyes of the SSA, with the K-1 visa we can check the box "legal alien able to work", and someone else who says to check the "other" box. I'm still not sure exactly what we should do here.

Would it be a big deal if we leave some of this stuff on the application blank and then ask them at the Social Security office?

Given the IQ of the SSA workers as seen here on VJ, no I would not ask them. I would check the box "Legal alien allowed to work" as that is what a K-1 visa holder is--this has been asked and answered many many many times here on VJ and read the guides for getting a SSC here. It is just that you cannot work without DHS authorization and the SSC will come with "NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT WITHOUT DHS AUTHORIZATION" on it. That authorization is the EAD or GC. Please remember that you are dealing with two federal agencies that have two entirely different tasks here and they do not play well together.

Good luck,

Dave

[Andrea&Henry 311]

She is an "alien NOT allowed to work" until she gets her EAD. I went through that already. And the SSN will have the name listed on her only legal id identification: her passport. You can have your marriage certificate wih you, but if she doesn't have a proper identification with her new name like an EAD oh her green card, they only aloud you to use her maiden name. Trust me on what Im saying

[Dave&Roza 748]

She is an "alien NOT allowed to work" until she gets her EAD. I went through that already. And the SSN will have the name listed on her only legal id identification: her passport. You can have your marriage certificate wih you, but if she doesn't have a proper identification with her new name like an EAD oh her green card, they only aloud you to use her maiden name. Trust me on what Im saying

For the SSC she is "A LEGAL ALIEN ALLOWED TO WORK" You are right in that she cannot work legally until she receives the EAD or GC, but for the purposes of getting a SSC you select "LEGAL ALIEN ALLOWED TO WORK" Sorry to hear, but you had one of those SSA people that did not know what they are talking about. This issue comes up all the time. I QUIT was a VJ member who used to work at the SSA and would tell evenone what the SSA was SUPPOSE to do with K-1s, but there are a lot of stories of "I went in to the SSA and they told me....". We went a bit over two weeks after my wife arrived and applied for a SSC and used the "LEGAL ALIEN ALLOWED TO WORK." We had no trouble. Think of it this way. You are admitted to the US legally. So you are a legal alien. You can work with proper documentation--the SSC and EAD or GC. There are those that are no allowed to work and their SSC have a statement about not being valid for work. Big difference between a card that says "NOT VALID FOR WORK WITHOUT DHS AUTHORIZATION" verse "NOT VALID FOR WORK" One you can work with proper authorization and the other you cannot.

As long as you have more than 2 weeks remaining on your I-94, you can apply for a SSC using your passport, the I-94, the visa to show immigration status, and another form of ID like a BC. You can also apply in your married name if you have the marriage certificate and the SSA employee is knowledgable. There are more stories about people being able to do this than not, but it is hit and miss as not all SSA employees are trained correctly or maybe more to the point they do not give a damn about your situation because it falls outside the norm of what they see day in and day out.

Just one question. Say I am a USC woman and just got married. I go into the SSA to change my name from my maiden name to my married name and I bring a long the only documentation I have that has my married name--the marriage certificate. Based on what you are saying I cannot change my name because I have no documentation in my married name. The SSA says that the marriage certificate is a valid document to change your name. It does not say if you are a USC you do this and if you are a LPR you do that. Unless you tell them, how do they even know?

Dave

[Ryan76 46]

Okay, well it's been a while since i touched base....but i was able to put my wife on my health plan without the Social Security number. So my next question is when should we get the social security card? Should we wait until AFTER she has the EAD? Her Biometrics was two weeks ago so we're hoping the EAD comes before the end of the months.

The main reason i wanted to get here a Soc Sec card when i started this topic was for insurance coverage reasons, but now that's not an issue so i'm wondering when is the best time to move forward and get the SSC. Will she get one automatically when the EAD or Green Card is approved?