Work without SSN - I-485

[Camila Aquino 0]

I entered the US as an au pair 2.5y ago. I may have overstayed my visit for 180 days, although I'm not sure, but that's another story. After I stopped being an au pair, I moved in with my boyfriend (who's a US citizen) in Feb and we got married in Apr.

 

After I moved in, however, I got a job at a local grocery store for 2-3 months to gather money for rent and my green card application. I filed some official forms there (like the W-9), but I didn't use any SSN for any of that, only my name and address, and my paychecks were only in check form, never deposited in my account. Nowadays, I just do some odd jobs around town (walking dogs, delivery, etc), so nothing so official.

 

My question is: should I disclose that I worked there on my I-485 form, since I didn't even use my SSN? Could my GC get denied because I worked? Or because I didn't disclose?

[Becci391 340]

You are not allowed to work without a valid work permit/ Green Card!

 

If I was you I would be completely honest with USCIS.

[Camila Aquino 0]

I understand that I'm not allowed to work, but it's really hard to get by in that position.

 

My question is if I could get in trouble for telling the truth? Or, in case I decide to omit this, if they would be able to track this down with my name only, since I didn't use my SSN?

[mallafri76 1,012]

59 minutes ago, Camila Aquino said:

I understand that I'm not allowed to work, but it's really hard to get by in that position.

 

My question is if I could get in trouble for telling the truth? Or, in case I decide to omit this, if they would be able to track this down with my name only, since I didn't use my SSN?

It’s illegal to work. If you and your boyfriend didn’t have the money for you to stay at home until you got approval to work, you should have married, gone back to your home country and done the spousal visa, with which you are allowed to work as soon as you enter. 

 

Yes you can get into trouble for working but you’ll get into even more trouble if you lie to US immigrations about it. If you base your green card and future US citizenship on a lie, which in your case will be seen as misrepresentation, once USCIS finds out, they can take your green card/US citizenship away and deport you. You don’t want to have that constantly hanging over your head for the rest of your life?! Always tell US immigrations the truth, and everyone else too, for that matter.

 

Edit: What did you tell the grocery store when they hired you? If you don’t have a SSN, they must get a bunch of other information from you, including what date you applied for your SSN. And how did they fill out the I-9 without your SSN??? You didn’t say you were a USC, did you? Because that’s is really really REALLY bad.

Edited November 18, 2017 by mallafri76

[Camila Aquino 0]

39 minutes ago, mallafri76 said:

It’s illegal to work. If you and your boyfriend didn’t have the money for you to stay at home until you got approval to work, you should have married, gone back to your home country and done the spousal visa, with which you are allowed to work as soon as you enter. 

 

Yes you can get into trouble for working but you’ll get into even more trouble if you lie to US immigrations about it. If you base your green card and future US citizenship on a lie, which in your case will be seen as misrepresentation, once USCIS finds out, they can take your green card/US citizenship away and deport you. You don’t want to have that constantly hanging over your head for the rest of your life?! Always tell US immigrations the truth, and everyone else too, for that matter.

 

Edit: What did you tell the grocery store when they hired you? If you don’t have a SSN, they must get a bunch of other information from you, including what date you applied for your SSN. And how did they fill out the I-9 without your SSN??? You didn’t say you were a USC, did you? Because that’s is really really REALLY bad.

You have some good points, thank you. I didn't go back to my country because we didn't want to spend half a year apart, so that was the next best choice. I was planning on gathering money while working as an au pair to apply for my green card as soon as I was done, but I had to leave the au pair program sooner than expected due to a medical problem, so I wasn't able to gather the money, and the last thing I want to do is to be a financial burden for my husband (even though I know technically he's supposed to sponsor me).

 

According to the USCIS website, however, unauthorized work is forgiven for immediate relatives, such as spouses. So could I actually get in trouble for that?

 

I told the grocery store that I was applying for a green card and didn't have a SSN yet, which was true, and they accepted that. I don't remember giving any information about the date I applied for my SSN, because I don't have such info. Also, could you explain what you mean by USC? I'm not familiar with that term.

[Becci391 340]

8 hours ago, Camila Aquino said:

You have some good points, thank you. I didn't go back to my country because we didn't want to spend half a year apart, so that was the next best choice. I was planning on gathering money while working as an au pair to apply for my green card as soon as I was done, but I had to leave the au pair program sooner than expected due to a medical problem, so I wasn't able to gather the money, and the last thing I want to do is to be a financial burden for my husband (even though I know technically he's supposed to sponsor me).

 

According to the USCIS website, however, unauthorized work is forgiven for immediate relatives, such as spouses. So could I actually get in trouble for that?

 

I told the grocery store that I was applying for a green card and didn't have a SSN yet, which was true, and they accepted that. I don't remember giving any information about the date I applied for my SSN, because I don't have such info. Also, could you explain what you mean by USC? I'm not familiar with that term.

USC means US-citizen.

[belinda63 3,051]

The legally could not have paid you without a social security number or an ITN. So either the grocery store improperly employed you or at some point you provided a number.

[pushbrk 13,184]

19 hours ago, Camila Aquino said:

According to the USCIS website, however, unauthorized work is forgiven for immediate relatives, such as spouses. So could I actually get in trouble for that?

 

You are correct that unauthorized work is forgiven in your situation but lying about it is not.  Tell the truth and stop worrying about it.

[Ryan H 3,834]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Adjustment of Status from Work, Student, & Tourist Visas forum.