Should we wait for 2 weeks before applying for SSN in New York?

[Loveofmyife 7]

Hello everyone,

 

First off thanks so much for all the good info and kindness in this forum. I'm preparing for my Fiance to finally come to America next month (May 2019) from the Philippines. Her interview is this April. We had some delays in processing and her Fiance Visa will take more than a year to process by the time she gets here in New York, we did use a lawyer and reading though this forum it seems that the process could had been faster as it always took time for the lawyer to prepare documents and process application as he seemed to outsource some work out of the USA and his staff outside the country seems slow to act when I compare it to the ones that did it on their own here, where they acted ASAP on their own.  I'm really considering doing it on my own now, because I know I can respond and follow up rapidly, our case is very straightforward and we genuinely fell in love with each other so much, and also my fiance thinks the $2200 we paid just for the fiance visa is too much. Any thoughts on this is highly appreciated.

 

Because of this all our schedule was thrown off, as we intend to have a church wedding in the Philippines in December 2019 . We are just happy  to be together. I promise to do my due diligence now and really understand the process. So the goal now is the get married the soonest when she gets here, so we can start the Adjustment Of Status right away and have an EAD and travel documents to prepare for our wedding. We need a trip before December to take care of wedding documentations and church seminars.

 

So my question is as follows:

 

1. We want to marry her first week and start AOS/ Green Card application ASAP.

2. Should we apply for her SSN (SS number)  right away (New York City)  and not wait for the 2 weeks recommendation here? In that way we can get married on the first week?

3. Or should we get married the first week , then apply for her SSN the second week?

4. Does it matter if we marry (her maiden name has changed to my last name) first then apply for her SSN?  

 

Any info and tip is highly appreciated, Thanks so much and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

[C90 376]

41 minutes ago, Loveofmyife said:

Hello everyone,

 

First off thanks so much for all the good info and kindness in this forum. I'm preparing for my Fiance to finally come to America next month (May 2019) from the Philippines. Her interview is this April. We had some delays in processing and her Fiance Visa will take more than a year to process by the time she gets here in New York, we did use a lawyer and reading though this forum it seems that the process could had been faster as it always took time for the lawyer to prepare documents and process application as he seemed to outsource some work out of the USA and his staff outside the country seems slow to act when I compare it to the ones that did it on their own here, where they acted ASAP on their own.  I'm really considering doing it on my own now, because I know I can respond and follow up rapidly, our case is very straightforward and we genuinely fell in love with each other so much, and also my fiance thinks the $2200 we paid just for the fiance visa is too much. Any thoughts on this is highly appreciated.

 

AOS/EAD/AP is easily DYI as long as you have a straight forward case (like you said you have) It's even easier than I-129F, so save yourself the cost of a lawyer.

 

Because of this all our schedule was thrown off, as we intend to have a church wedding in the Philippines in December 2019 . We are just happy  to be together. I promise to do my due diligence now and really understand the process. So the goal now is the get married the soonest when she gets here, so we can start the Adjustment Of Status right away and have an EAD and travel documents to prepare for our wedding. We need a trip before December to take care of wedding documentations and church seminars.

 

Try to not plan anything (although you prob already have) EAD/AP takes about 5-7 months currently, so in theory she should have it by December, but there are cases here on VJ that are waiting 7+ months on their EAD/AP. 

 

So my question is as follows:

 

1. We want to marry her first week and start AOS/ Green Card application ASAP. 

2. Should we apply for her SSN (SS number)  right away (New York City)  and not wait for the 2 weeks recommendation here? In that way we can get married on the first week? You can apply for SSN asap. It's pretty common for everyone (even after 2 weeks) to go through manual verification, so I would suggest go asap so they have time to do the manual verification (if needed)

3. Or should we get married the first week , then apply for her SSN the second week? Doesn't matter

4. Does it matter if we marry (her maiden name has changed to my last name) first then apply for her SSN?  No, but she has to apply in her maiden name first (even when she's married) Once she has her SSN card in her maiden name, she can go back to the SSN office and request a name change. Keep in mind, also this change has to happen before her I-94 expires. Otherwise she can do it once she has EAD/AP

 

Any info and tip is highly appreciated, Thanks so much and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

 

[Loveofmyife 7]

13 minutes ago, C90 said:

 

Hi C90!

 

Thanks so much for the very valuable insight-- this is great as off the top my head, I know we need her SSN to put her in my health insurance, open up a bank account and apply for a driver's license? not sure... Thanks so much, it's very much appreciated C90

[payxibka 10,045]

1 minute ago, Loveofmyife said:

Hi C90!

 

Thanks so much for the very valuable insight-- this is great as off the top my head, I know we need her SSN to put her in my health insurance, open up a bank account and apply for a driver's license? not sure... Thanks so much, it's very much appreciated C90

Not required for health insurance 

Needed for bank accounts 

She probably won't be eligible for d/l due to her authorized stay being so short

[C90 376]

9 minutes ago, Loveofmyife said:

Hi C90!

 

Thanks so much for the very valuable insight-- this is great as off the top my head, I know we need her SSN to put her in my health insurance, open up a bank account and apply for a driver's license? not sure... Thanks so much, it's very much appreciated C90

DL: Yes, but check the state rules. Some states only allow to get a DL once there's an EAD/green card. I think NYC only allows to get your DL with EAD/green card

 

Bank account: Depends on the bank. Our bank (capital one) needed my SSN for me to open an account, but they did allow my husband to add me as a authorized user on his cc without SSN. Know there's banks out there that don't need SSN

 

Health insurance: Usually yes if you want to add her to yours, but check your health insurance. Some apparently don't need it (my husbands health insurance did need it)

Edited April 16, 2019 by C90

[Loveofmyife 7]

2 minutes ago, C90 said:

DL: Yes, but check the state rules. Some states only allow to get a DL once there's an EAD/green card. I think NYC only allows to get your DL with EAD/green card

 

Bank account: Depends on the bank. Our bank (capital one) needed my SSN for me to open an account, but they did allow my husband to add me as a authorized user on his cc without SSN. Know there's banks out there that don't need SSN

 

Health insurance: Usually yes if you want to add her to yours, but check your health insurance. Some apparently don't need it (my husbands health insurance did need it)

Thanks payxiba and C90-- wil definitely look into it-- she does have a Philippine Driver's License and evidently she can use that for a year-- I just have to check with car insurance if I can get her covered with it.  Thanks again for all the info guys!

[Letspaintcookies 2,300]

3 minutes ago, Loveofmyife said:

Thanks payxiba and C90-- wil definitely look into it-- she does have a Philippine Driver's License and evidently she can use that for a year-- I just have to check with car insurance if I can get her covered with it.  Thanks again for all the info guys!

Check that DL thing cause from what I know things are different when you're immigrating than from using the DL as tourist. I wouldnt be too sure that her license is really valid for that time

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

1 hour ago, Loveofmyife said:

So my question is as follows:

1. We want to marry her first week and start AOS/ Green Card application ASAP.

2. Should we apply for her SSN (SS number)  right away (New York City)  and not wait for the 2 weeks recommendation here? In that way we can get married on the first week?

3. Or should we get married the first week , then apply for her SSN the second week?

4. Does it matter if we marry (her maiden name has changed to my last name) first then apply for her SSN?  

Any info and tip is highly appreciated, Thanks so much and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

1. You should be able to do this without issue. 

2. Same as #1. 

3. Get the SSN first then get married. 

4. You can certainly do this but I do not know how long it takes to get the marriage license back in NYC. So try and do #2 first. 

[HP+IC 292]

Marriage license is fast in NYC. Bank doesn't always need SSN, at least not the one we plan to deal with. Insurance doesn't always need SSN for a major family change. We are going to get married in a week after my arrival, say Friday arrived, Wednesday filed and got the license, Friday got married. Then file for the whole bunch at once. 

[Mike E 11,734]

3 hours ago, Loveofmyife said:

 

 

1. We want to marry her first week and start AOS/ Green Card application ASAP.

2. Should we apply for her SSN (SS number)  right away (New York City)  and not wait for the 2 weeks recommendation here? In that way we can get married on the first week?

3. Or should we get married the first week , then apply for her SSN the second week?

4. Does it matter if we marry (her maiden name has changed to my last name) first then apply for her SSN?  

This is the order of events I recommend, which has worked for us (in California):

 

1. The day of or after point of entry (POE), enroll your fiancee into your employer's health insurance as a domestic partner. This is a life event and can be done outside open enrollment. They will ask for an SSN, but they cannot require one.

 

2. Wait 2-10 working days after point of entry (POE) and then apply for social security card. We waited 2 days to apply, and the card arrived 10 days after application. Do not get married until after you apply. So many times we read on visajourney about SS offices who refuse to process a SSN application if the K-1 is married.

 

3. After you apply for SS card, get married in a county where the marriage certificate takes no more than a week to arrive. Do not change her name. There is plenty of time for name changes after she gets her green card.

 

4. Upgrade your domestic partner to a spouse in your employer's health insurance.  Another life event outside open enrollment.

 

5. After the SS card and marriage cert arrives, apply for state ID. California requires proof of residency. A marriage cert has an address. That plus proof of residence of the USA citizen spouse is enough for California to grant residency. Bring the letter from the SSA office that delivered the SS card too. Surprisingly, my wife got a California state ID good for several years, and not several months. Regardless, there are stories on visajourney about DMVs denying cards to people who apply 59 days or less before the K-1 visa expires. We applied at T minus 61 days.

 

6. Add you wife's SSN to your company health insurance.

 

7. Open a joint bank account. This has to be done in person IME. No online applications for non-LPRs/non-USCs.

 

8. Check your wife's credit score on line, and after you get a score, add your wife to your utility bill by phone. If you don't get a score, go to the utility office to add her.

 

9. Apply for AOS, EAD, AP. Use the health insurance card, utility bill, and bank account statement, and state ID as among the proof that she lives with you as your wife.

 

 

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,086]

31 minutes ago, Mike E said:

1. The day of or after point of entry (POE), enroll your fiancee into your employer's health insurance as a domestic partner. This is a life event and can be done outside open enrollment. They will ask for an SSN, but they cannot require one.

Check with your employer's rules on this. Mine would have needed documentation that we'd been living together for a year for this, so it wasn't worth trying to enroll Anastasia on my insurance until after we married (even if we hadn't married within a few days of POE).

 

 

[C90 376]

On 4/16/2019 at 11:34 AM, Mike E said:

3. After you apply for SS card, get married in a county where the marriage certificate takes no more than a week to arrive. Do not change her name. There is plenty of time for name changes after she gets her green card.

 

Why would you wait? Changing name after green card is granted costs a lot of money. If she decides to take his name she can apply for the green card/EAD/AP in her married name. Marriage certificate is proof of name change. Some DMV's (at least the PA ones) can also only put your DL/state ID in the name that's on the I-797 for I-485 or EAD

 

7. Open a joint bank account. This has to be done in person IME. No online applications for non-LPRs/non-USCs.

 

Depends on the bank. I opened personal and joint accounts with Capitol One online (I'm the immigrant)

 

 

 

[Mike E 11,734]

1 hour ago, C90 said:

 

We tried opening a bank account online with capital one and it wouldn’t work. 

 

As for why wait to change name, because it requires changing the name on the passport, SS card, financial accounts, etc, and each of these takes time. There isn’t much time to before the K-1 visa expires. 

 

 

[Mike E 11,734]

On 4/16/2019 at 9:11 AM, DaveAndAnastasia said:

Check with your employer's rules on this. Mine would have needed documentation that we'd been living together for a year for this, so it wasn't worth trying to enroll Anastasia on my insurance until after we married (even if we hadn't married within a few days of POE).

 

 

 

No I don’t need to check.  The domestic partner insurance deductions from my paycheck aren’t a figment of my imagination. 

[TBoneTX 44,868]

7 minutes ago, Mike E said:

No I don’t need to check.

The comment was not directed at you.  It is prudent for each individual to check.  Do not argue this point further.

-------

Thread involves questions after the K-1 stage, so thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the "Moving to the US" forum.

Edited April 18, 2019 by TBoneTX