How important is SSN?

[marj&kev 0]

I was reading in this site the steps on what to do after i arrive in the US. Do I have to get SSN after 2 weeks of arrival or can I just wait until we're married to get one so i won't have to change my name?

[Jasman0717 9]

You can wait but then you will need something from the USCIS such has the EAD or GC for the Social SEcurity folks. Claudeth got her card after she was here two weeks and then changed her name when she received her EAD and it wasn't that much trouble.

[BUHOK 0]

Getting an ssn after the wedding is fine for as long as ur I-94 is atleast 2 weeks valid..The validy og ur I-94 is 90 days from the day you arrived here in USA. If you will apply ofr an ssn after the wedding and ur I-94 is expired already then you need to have a green card or atleast an EAD.

Why ssn is important? For so many reasons, to get a job, open an account etc etc etc...

[I'm Gone 60]

I was reading in this site the steps on what to do after i arrive in the US. Do I have to get SSN after 2 weeks of arrival or can I just wait until we're married to get one so i won't have to change my name?

SSA will not assign an SSN or issue a card if your status has expired or is within 14 days of expiring.

K-1 status is good for 90 days, so that only gives you 76 days to be assigned an SSN and issued a card. After that time you will need an EAD or I-551 card to establish authorization to work. Before that time the

I-94 showing K-1 status is the document that establishes authorization to work for SSN purposes.

The status/documents of all aliens must be verified before SSA will assign an SSN and/or issue a card and the 14 day limit applies even if you pass the 76th day while waiting for your status to be verified.

The SSA office will try to verify your status through the SAVE system while she is in the office. If they can't, they will send a form G-845 to immigration for manual verification. This could delay the assigning

of an SSN and/or issuing a card for weeks and some times months.

There is no requirement to wait 10 days to apply for your SSN, but waiting 10 days probably isn't going to hurt anything, just the longer you wait the more you cut into those 76 days.

Applying before or after you get married isn't as much the issue as what name are you going to be able to apply with. Even if you apply after getting married, if your marriage certificate doesn't have your age or date of birth you will have to apply in your maiden name until you get an EAD card or I-551 card in your married name.

http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203210

RM 00203.210 Changing Numident Data

a. Bride Takes Groom’s Last Name

In all 50 U.S. States (this means the 50 States, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin

Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa) the bride may take her husband's last name

(surname or family name) as her new last name. (EXAMPLE: Jane Doe married John Jones and she

may change her name to Jane Jones.)

Interim Guidance: If the bride wants to take her husband's last name, accept the marriage

document as a legal name change for the bride if the new name can be derived from the marriage document; even if the marriage document only shows each partner's first names, the bride's prior surname and husband's surname. The marriage document alone can be accepted as evidence of identity for both

the old and new names when it meets the criteria described in RM 00203.200G.2.

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http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0100203200#G2

2. Determine if the ID Document Has Required Information

Ask the applicant to submit one or more documents that show the person's name AND provide:

Biographical information in addition to the person's name that the reviewer can compare with

the data on the SS-5 (e.g., date of birth, age, or parents' names) and/or

Physical information that the reviewer can compare with the applicant (e.g., physical

description, photograph).

NOTE: A non-picture identity document must have the person's name as well as information that

can be compared to the Numident, the applicant or other documents submitted (e.g., age, date of birth,

or parents' names).

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C. Procedure - Immigration Document as Evidence of Legal Name

When issuing immigration documents, the Department of State and DHS issue them in the person's

legal name. The legal name is also generally the name in which the foreign passport was issued.

When an alien applies for an SSN card, presume the name on the immigration document is the

legal name unless the applicant presents evidence of a legal name change (e.g., marriage) that

occurred after the immigration document was issued.