Question about updating social security card status after US citizenship

[Hypnos 6,576]

After becoming a US citizen it takes USCIS a few days to update your SAVE database entry now indicating that you're a US citizen. This is the database that the SSA checks when you go there and claim to be a US citizen, and so you'll experience problems if you try to update your citizenship with the SSA but USCIS still shows you as only an LPR. This is why they state to wait a few days so that all records are updated on USCIS' end.

[geff44 30]

I just found this thread and want to know if my wife who recently got her citizenship needs to update anything. Her SS card always has allowed her to work.  Is this really a requirement now to go to SSA and notify them of changing from LPR to citizen?  When I became a US  citizen back in 2005 and had our oath taking done at the Newark federal office nobody told us we had to go to SSA office nor there was a table that has a SSA representative waiting for new citizen to notify them of your status change.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

It was advised to oath takers at my wife's ceremony and they had forms in the back where you could immediately fill it out and drop off. It really has to do with a difference in benefits associated with citizens vs green card holders, from my understanding. Might not make a difference to update it until you're about to draw benefits.

[Mike E 11,739]

On 4/15/2019 at 7:36 AM, geowrian said:

I would just add that you could have done this with your green card alone. There was no need to wait for citizenship to remove that wording on the card.

FWIW, at my oath ceremony in Campbell, CA, in Jan 2017, we were told we needed go to the SSA office a few weeks later to get new SS cards, regardless what wording was or was not on the SS card.

 

It seemed odd to me, especially since I had never updated my SS card after getting a green card (SS cards were not annotated with limits in 1981), but I did it anyway.

[Hypnos 6,576]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:37 AM, geff44 said:

Is this really a requirement now to go to SSA and notify them of changing from LPR to citizen?

Yes. It's literally stated in the documentation you receive at the oath ceremony.