ITINs, SSNs and EADs, Oh My.

[Pennycat 880]

Bit of a crazy long story but I'll try to boil it down:

First note: husband is changing his name in this process. His name follows the Latin naming traditions so he is FirstName MiddleName FatherSurname MotherSurname. He's dropping FatherSurname (biological dad who wasn't in the picture) to take my Surname, and keeping his MotherSurname. For simplicity's sake, I'll call it his "single name" and "married name".

He has an ITIN with his single name on it because at the time of filing taxes, he didn't have any ID with married name on it.

His EAD will be in his married name

We will obviously have to change the ITIN into an SSN at some point, and to change his name with SSA (do they have his name yet or is this just the IRS for now) but the question is will we have to before he can accept employment? Can one be employed on an EAD and an ITIN or do you need the SSN AND if yes, is the name thing a problem or not?

[aaron2020 11,651]

He needs an SSN to work.

An ITIN is only for reporting taxes and for people not eligible for an SSN.

Get your husband an SSN for work since he is eligible.

[Pennycat 880]

He's not eligible yet. We missed the cutoff before the I-94 expired (I'd known it was important to do it by a certain date, but forgot why and how important, he and a friend went right before that date, saw the line and gave up and went to a location the next week at which point it was too late). EAD is probably literally in the mail. I was hoping that he'd be able to work right away instead of waiting the month or so that the SSN takes, and then correcting the paperwork once the SSN gets in.

When he fills out an I-9, the EAD is sufficient for proof of ID and work authorization. When does the ITIN/SSN come into play? (Not arguing, legitimately wondering)