No SSN?

[Techniix 7]

Hello everybody,

 

Here is our situation. We applied for SSN about 5 weeks ago. We were married on the 15th. Today we went back to the SSA office to record the married name. We found out that the reason we had yet to receive her card in the mail was because there was no record in the system of us having applied. So we treated this as a new one. But got an "immigration status mismatch" error that the agent explained needed to be looked into. We have to file AOS before July 9th. Should we wait for the SSN? Or is it possible to file without it?

[payxibka 10,045]

Just now, Techniix said:

Hello everybody,

 

Here is our situation. We applied for SSN about 5 weeks ago. We were married on the 15th. Today we went back to the SSA office to record the married name. We found out that the reason we had yet to receive her card in the mail was because there was no record in the system of us having applied. So we treated this as a new one. But got an "immigration status mismatch" error that the agent explained needed to be looked into. We have to file AOS before July 9th. Should we wait for the SSN? Or is it possible to file without it?

Ssn not required for AOS.   

[Marieke H 2,512]

You do not need a SSN for AOS. And because she is now married, her marital status does not match anymore (she was single when she entered). You'll likely have to wait for the EAD or Greencard before they'll be able to issue a SS card.

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

Not directed at the OP but for others reading:

The safest bet is to apply for the SSN in the maiden name even if you are married. Too many of us wanting to update their SSN name to the married name before their I94 expires fall in the hands of an inexperienced SSA agent who does not know how to process K1 Visa Holders after marriage. 

Having it in whatever name you can get is far better than not getting one at all and that is usually what happens if the attempt is made to apply in the married name. 

The SSN name can be updated after EAD or GC issuance and that's as usually as good as it gets. 

[Techniix 7]

Thank you @K1visaHopeful. That brings up another question for me in this case. Since we're not going to be able to get the SSN stuff sorted out before we need to submit our AOS package... that means the SSN won't be updated with the married name. So far I have filled out the AOS forms using my wife's married name. As far as I know a marriage certificate does not change the name... so should I re-do my forms and fill them out with her maiden name instead?

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

1 hour ago, Techniix said:

Thank you @K1visaHopeful. That brings up another question for me in this case. Since we're not going to be able to get the SSN stuff sorted out before we need to submit our AOS package... that means the SSN won't be updated with the married name. So far I have filled out the AOS forms using my wife's married name. As far as I know a marriage certificate does not change the name... so should I re-do my forms and fill them out with her maiden name instead?

I believe a marriage certificate is a legal name change document in every state.

 

Some states give you more flexibility than others in terms of what name changes are allowed automatically with marriage (which is why in California you have to specify what you want to be known as after marriage on the marriage license application if you're changing your name), but in the simplest case of the wife taking the husband's surname and making no other name changes, you're good everywhere with just a marriage certificate.

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

1 hour ago, Techniix said:

Thank you @K1visaHopeful. That brings up another question for me in this case. Since we're not going to be able to get the SSN stuff sorted out before we need to submit our AOS package... that means the SSN won't be updated with the married name. So far I have filled out the AOS forms using my wife's married name. As far as I know a marriage certificate does not change the name... so should I re-do my forms and fill them out with her maiden name instead?

Firstly let's move away from using the term "change your name" and call it "obtain ID in your new married name".

The MC is a legal name change document. It IS what enables her to go by your last name. Whether an immigrant is able to obtain any ID in the new married name right away is the real issue.

 

She needs to apply for AOS in her new married name in order to start the ball rolling on obtaining identification in her married name. A photocopy of the MC will be submitted with each AOS package form proving she is entitled to use the name she has applied for the form in because that name appears somewhere on the MC.

Obtaining ID in the married name for most immigrants will most likely go as follows:

1. Receive EAD or GC in the new married name.

2. Go to SSA and update the name. The EAD or GC proves lawful presence and also proves the new name. 

2. Go to DMV providing both SSN in married name and EAD or GC in married name and apply for state ID or DL in married name.

 

For US citizens who marry, the first place they can obtain new ID is at SSA.

Through no fault of our own and due to the miseducation of many SSA agents on the K1 SSN protocol, we dont get to do it that way. 

 

As soon as you receive your official MC, EVERYONE is entitled to use that document to update their names on Identifications. The immigrant procedure for doing that is much different though.

 

[Techniix 7]

So... here is the issue and where I still have confusion. In Kentucky... the marriage license does not legally change the name. And for non-citizens I have been advised that... for a legal name change my wife would need to file another SS-5 with the updated info. Which is what we tried to do and failed due to the status mismatch and due to the fact that they somehow didn't even process the first SS-5. So no SSN or card at all... so at this point. As I have said... I have the forms filled out with her chosen married name in the traditional Filipino format. That is... First name, middle name is maiden name, and new last name is her married name (my surname.) As far as I know... since the marriage license does not constitute as a legal name change in Kentucky.. there are no records changed to show her new name. Thus my worry with having the forms filled out in this name. So... I just want to be 150% sure before I mail the forms out at the end of the day today. Should I change it to her maiden name?

[Techniix 7]

11 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Firstly let's move away from using the term "change your name" and call it "obtain ID in your new married name".

The MC is a legal name change document. It IS what enables her to go by your last name. Whether an immigrant is able to obtain any ID in the new married name right away is the real issue.

 

She needs to apply for AOS in her new married name in order to start the ball rolling on obtaining identification in her married name. A photocopy of the MC will be submitted with each AOS package form proving she is entitled to use the name she has applied for the form in because that name appears somewhere on the MC.

Obtaining ID in the married name for most immigrants will most likely go as follows:

1. Receive EAD or GC in the new married name.

2. Go to SSA and update the name. The EAD or GC proves lawful presence and also proves the new name. 

2. Go to DMV providing both SSN in married name and EAD or GC in married name and apply for state ID or DL in married name.

 

For US citizens who marry, the first place they can obtain new ID is at SSA.

Through no fault of our own and due to the miseducation of many SSA agents on the K1 SSN protocol, we dont get to do it that way. 

 

As soon as you receive your official MC, EVERYONE is entitled to use that document to update their names on Identifications. The immigrant procedure for doing that is much different though.

 

Okay... so I may have been misinformed or confused. So... will I be okay to submit the forms in the traditional format for Filipinos? My wife wants her name in the FN: First MN: Maiden Name SN: Married Surname format, which is how the forms are currently filled out. I just don't want to run into issues down the line. Thank you everyone for your advice and patience in this matter. Preparing these forms can be stressful and you find yourself second-guessing what would seem to be the most straight-forward stuff. 

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

A MC (not marriage license) entitles you to update her names on IDs. That is the record showing her new name. Her first ID in the married name will be her immigration document. Then you change the rest.

 

You submit 3 photocopies of the MC with your AOS packet, one for each form and apply for AOS in the married name. You dont need ID to prove the married name when applying for AOS. You need THE MC.

 

 

Your error was applying for the SSN in the married name when you didn't even get an SSN in the maiden name. If you still have lots of time on the I94 you could back to a different office and try to do that. If not then she just wont have any ID in the new married name and that's what happens to 90% of us. We wait until our first immigration benefit comes after applying in our married name using our MC as proof and then we update our IDs then.

This is the normal procedure for us.

 

This is talked about repetitively so if you are having a hard time believing me please do a search of VJ using the search bar for such topics as "K1 Name change" or "what name AOS" or "married name SSN". There will be hundreds of posts.

 

 

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

17 minutes ago, Techniix said:

Okay... so I may have been misinformed or confused. So... will I be okay to submit the forms in the traditional format for Filipinos? My wife wants her name in the FN: First MN: Maiden Name SN: Married Surname format, which is how the forms are currently filled out. I just don't want to run into issues down the line. Thank you everyone for your advice and patience in this matter. Preparing these forms can be stressful and you find yourself second-guessing what would seem to be the most straight-forward stuff. 

Yes! Submit AOS in the name she wants to be legally known as now after marriage. Those immigration benefits will come in that name and then you can legally change everything else.

[K1visaHopeful 2,817]

PS cuz I know you're gonna ask this/are thinking this.

Her new married name she wishes to be known by WILL NOT appear IN WHOLE on the MC. But every single individual name WILL appear on the MC, which is why she is allowed to use those names in combination as her new, legal name.

[NikLR 13,227]

~~moved to SSN from AOS. Topic is about SSN~~

[Marieke H 2,512]

16 minutes ago, K1visaHopeful said:

Yes! Submit AOS in the name she wants to be legally known as now after marriage. Those immigration benefits will come in that name and then you can legally change everything else.

This is exactly what I did. My MC does not state what my married name is. I chose to make my maiden name my middle name (as I did not have a middle name yet, and middle names are so common here, so I wanted to fit in 🤣), and my husband's last name is my new last name. I filed AOS in my new name, and there is a space on the form to mention previous names used. Got my EAD and later my Green Card in my married name.

I had to go back to the Social Security office very quickly after receiving my EAD, to change the name on my Social Security card (I had managed to get a card in my maiden name before we got married) because I got an e-verify rejection at my new job, as my names on my EAD and Social Security card did not match. That was a very easy and quick thing to fix though. 

It is a bit of a hassle, and it takes a while, but once USCIS issues a document (EAD or greencard) in the new name it is easy to get everything else sorted.