K1 Visa - Problems with getting SSN

[kmartinkc 0]

Hello,

 

My fiance arrived in the U.S. about a month ago on the K1 visa. We're getting married this Friday, so we're making progress with the necessary steps. However, we also went to the Social Security office a week ago and had an issue. We brought all the necessary documents, but apparently something behind the scenes is holding things up. We got a letter acknowledging that we had properly submitted the documents and that the processing now could take up to 12 weeks. The worker at the SSA office said that it's possible that her past visas could be holding things up? She's previously been in the U.S. on a J1 and an F1 visa, so he suggested that perhaps there's some error in the system with the wrong visa type being tied to her current immigration status (or something to that effect). He suggested we call back to the SSA office every couple of weeks for a status update. 

 

I'm just looking for any suggestions or advice from someone who may have experienced something like this or might be knowledgeable of a similar situation. I don't really even know who to call other than the SSA to figure out what the issue is. Perhaps the USCIS? Any advice or suggestions are much appreciated!

[Ontarkie 14,369]

~~Moved to SSN, from K1 P&P~~

[Loren Y 2,756]

sorry to hear about the problems. I have heard people have better luck at different Social Security offices. Usually this is when they are trying to initially get the SS card processed as depending on where you live many are not familiar with anything to do with immigration and the SS card. Might be worth a try to go to another office and see what they have to say about it. you might find the 1 in a million employee that knows whats going on. well, maybe not 1 in a million, but maybe you will get someone more familiar with this type of problem. USCIS would have nothing to do with the SS card, that is a completely separate playing field there, and can not help you at all.

 

I have seen people post where trying a different office, or even getting a different person at the same office makes a difference between getting their card and getting told we can't do that.

[Boiler 45,897]

Was she previously issued a SSN?

[kmartinkc 0]

15 hours ago, Loren Y said:

sorry to hear about the problems. I have heard people have better luck at different Social Security offices. Usually this is when they are trying to initially get the SS card processed as depending on where you live many are not familiar with anything to do with immigration and the SS card. Might be worth a try to go to another office and see what they have to say about it. you might find the 1 in a million employee that knows whats going on. well, maybe not 1 in a million, but maybe you will get someone more familiar with this type of problem. USCIS would have nothing to do with the SS card, that is a completely separate playing field there, and can not help you at all.

 

I have seen people post where trying a different office, or even getting a different person at the same office makes a difference between getting their card and getting told we can't do that.

Hi Loren. Yes, we plan on going back to the office on Friday and are hoping we will speak with another employee this time. 

 

I know that USCIS wouldn't have anything necessarily to do with the actual SS card, but the employee there last time made it sound like something with her immigration status was holding up the processing for the SS card. From reading further about this it seems like the hold up could be the process of verifying immigration documents online. I read it could take a short time for this verification or up to several weeks or months, so of course we're hoping for the shorter time. I just didn't know if anyone else had experienced this and had any tips about the wait or any possible way to expedite the process. 

 

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated!

[geowrian 22,338]

Sounds like manual verification, which does take a while. This might be due to a mismatch in names (i.e. if somebody typed it wrong at POE) or something else simple.

 

What does your I-94 say online (https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/)? Does it use the exact same name as on the passport? This is not a test where it matching means there isn't a difference with the SSA system...but if it's wrong here then it likely is wrong there as well.

[Darnell 8,479]

could be a name problem.  if you have a moment, go back to the ssa office, 

ask to look up in the SAVE database, either A#, visa # or name. 

Then study - see what's 'off' - usually the name is mis-spelled in SAVE. 

 

There's a fix for SAVE, it's going to be a trek.  Without the name being correct, SSA won't issue a SSN .