Credit report - no Social Security Number

[JL & ML 20]

Hello,

 

We are one of the few fortunate couples who managed to be together in spite of the pandemic. I (a Canadian citizen and resident) crossed the border days before it closed indefinitely. We were married in a very small, intimate ceremony on April 11. We understand the situation is so hard for so many people and we do not wish to make light of any of that.

 

We are about to file for my adjustment of status - even if their offices are closed, they will see we did our part to comply with their requirements within the ninety days. I am wondering if anyone else has had trouble with item 11 on page 6 of Form I-944 (Declaration of Self-Sufficiency), the new required form since February of this year. That item asks the applicant to provide either a U.S. credit score from a credit agency or a confirmation from a credit agency that the applicant has no U.S. credit score.

 

I understand new entrants to the U.S. are entitled to apply for a social-security number immediately. I do not have a social-security number since offices were closed. Thus, in phoning different credit agencies, none of them could help me, since without a SSN they can't look anything up. I have prepared a page outlining for USCIS all the steps I have taken to try to obtain this confirmation of absence of a U.S. credit score, but I am wondering if it is enough. There doesn't seem to be anything left to do. On top of this, there is a space on Form I-765 for requesting a SSN - so I imagine USCIS would understand that not all applicants through the K-1 program will have a SSN at the time of requesting AOS. I am wondering if we have exhausted all our options for this pesky item 11 on page 6 of Form I-944.

 

Wishing you all well, most sincerely,

Jules and Mary

[minails 28]

Hi! I don’t have any answers for you, but as a fellow Canadian feeling the stress I just wanted to pop in. We filed AOS before the new requirements and were “ready to be scheduled for interview” before the shut down. 
 

Wishing you all the best! This is so much harder than anticipated. If you’d like to commiserate please get in touch! 🇨🇦

[Greenbaum 12,259]

16 hours ago, JL & ML said:

Hello,

 

We are one of the few fortunate couples who managed to be together in spite of the pandemic. I (a Canadian citizen and resident) crossed the border days before it closed indefinitely. We were married in a very small, intimate ceremony on April 11. We understand the situation is so hard for so many people and we do not wish to make light of any of that.

 

We are about to file for my adjustment of status - even if their offices are closed, they will see we did our part to comply with their requirements within the ninety days. I am wondering if anyone else has had trouble with item 11 on page 6 of Form I-944 (Declaration of Self-Sufficiency), the new required form since February of this year. That item asks the applicant to provide either a U.S. credit score from a credit agency or a confirmation from a credit agency that the applicant has no U.S. credit score.

 

I understand new entrants to the U.S. are entitled to apply for a social-security number immediately. I do not have a social-security number since offices were closed. Thus, in phoning different credit agencies, none of them could help me, since without a SSN they can't look anything up. I have prepared a page outlining for USCIS all the steps I have taken to try to obtain this confirmation of absence of a U.S. credit score, but I am wondering if it is enough. There doesn't seem to be anything left to do. On top of this, there is a space on Form I-765 for requesting a SSN - so I imagine USCIS would understand that not all applicants through the K-1 program will have a SSN at the time of requesting AOS. I am wondering if we have exhausted all our options for this pesky item 11 on page 6 of Form I-944.

 

Wishing you all well, most sincerely,

Jules and Mary

I believe you can get an SSN via online application. See the details here https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/

[Ontarkie 14,218]

~~Moved to AOS Family K1/K3, from K1 P&P- this is now an AOS process question.~~

[RCable 75]

On 5/1/2020 at 8:27 AM, Greenbaum said:

I believe you can get an SSN via online application. See the details here https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/

Can you apply for an SSN while you’re applying for AOS?

 

My Canadian husband flew down for my birthday late February. He was planning on staying a few months while we waited for his interview for the CR1. Then everything kicked off and we decided to go with the AOS. We just wrote in the application that since he doesn’t live here and has never lived here, he doesn’t have an SSN and therefore doesn’t have a credit history. 
 

We’re still waiting for the AOS package to be accepted or denied. And I’m getting worried.

 

The whole I-944 makes zero sense for people who came here on a tourist or K-1 visa since most of them would have never worked here. So they don’t have health insurance, don’t have an SSN, a credit history, etc. It makes more sense for people who are extending GCs or change their status from a work visa or something. But that whole I-944 was really tough for us to fill our since he’s just here on a B2 visa.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

1 hour ago, RCable said:

Can you apply for an SSN while you’re applying for AOS?

 

My Canadian husband flew down for my birthday late February. He was planning on staying a few months while we waited for his interview for the CR1. Then everything kicked off and we decided to go with the AOS. We just wrote in the application that since he doesn’t live here and has never lived here, he doesn’t have an SSN and therefore doesn’t have a credit history. 
 

We’re still waiting for the AOS package to be accepted or denied. And I’m getting worried.

 

The whole I-944 makes zero sense for people who came here on a tourist or K-1 visa since most of them would have never worked here. So they don’t have health insurance, don’t have an SSN, a credit history, etc. It makes more sense for people who are extending GCs or change their status from a work visa or something. But that whole I-944 was really tough for us to fill our since he’s just here on a B2 visa.

 

 

The best one to answer this @geowrian as I am not that well versed in the CR-1 process.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Greenbaum

[geowrian 22,337]

2 hours ago, RCable said:

Can you apply for an SSN while you’re applying for AOS?

You must have a "valid reason" for needing an SSN. Since you are not authorized to work yet, you generally would not meet that requirement. You would need an EAD or green card before you can apply for an SSN (with the expectation of having it approved).

 

Quote

The whole I-944 makes zero sense for people who came here on a tourist or K-1 visa since most of them would have never worked here. So they don’t have health insurance, don’t have an SSN, a credit history, etc. It makes more sense for people who are extending GCs or change their status from a work visa or something. But that whole I-944 was really tough for us to fill our since he’s just here on a B2 visa.

I get that the I-944 is not well suited for many groups of people. But tourists overstay all the time. Some work illegally. Same with K-1 holders. Or maybe they worked or lived in the US previously (i.e. via a student, work, ore exchange visa). So it's not really a matter of what visa you are adjusting from but more of a case of one's personal immigration history. That determines if you have a credit history, SSN already, tax returns, etc., not so much what visa you're AOSing from.

 

You can obtain health insurance w/o an SSN (any ACA plan prohibits requiring one), so that question still applies.

The I-944 does not apply to anybody extending/renewing a GC.

Edited May 2, 2020 by geowrian

[Nikol993 17]

On 5/1/2020 at 1:10 AM, JL & ML said:

Hello,

 

We are one of the few fortunate couples who managed to be together in spite of the pandemic. I (a Canadian citizen and resident) crossed the border days before it closed indefinitely. We were married in a very small, intimate ceremony on April 11. We understand the situation is so hard for so many people and we do not wish to make light of any of that.

 

We are about to file for my adjustment of status - even if their offices are closed, they will see we did our part to comply with their requirements within the ninety days. I am wondering if anyone else has had trouble with item 11 on page 6 of Form I-944 (Declaration of Self-Sufficiency), the new required form since February of this year. That item asks the applicant to provide either a U.S. credit score from a credit agency or a confirmation from a credit agency that the applicant has no U.S. credit score.

 

I understand new entrants to the U.S. are entitled to apply for a social-security number immediately. I do not have a social-security number since offices were closed. Thus, in phoning different credit agencies, none of them could help me, since without a SSN they can't look anything up. I have prepared a page outlining for USCIS all the steps I have taken to try to obtain this confirmation of absence of a U.S. credit score, but I am wondering if it is enough. There doesn't seem to be anything left to do. On top of this, there is a space on Form I-765 for requesting a SSN - so I imagine USCIS would understand that not all applicants through the K-1 program will have a SSN at the time of requesting AOS. I am wondering if we have exhausted all our options for this pesky item 11 on page 6 of Form I-944.

 

Wishing you all well, most sincerely,

Jules and Mary

Hi
Please see below<
I believe you will find some answers

And

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/733177-questions-about-i-944/

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Nikol993

[JL & ML 20]

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for your help. We sent in the AOS package last Monday, the 4th. Judging by people's replies and by what we heard from an immigration lawyer whom we managed to speak with last minute (my wife's friend's brother-in-law who gave us twenty minutes of his time over the phone), especially for people like me who don't even have a SSN, it seems we don't need to worry too much about this item. The lawyer told us that as long as we show we did what we could, USCIS will know we followed the requirements to the best of our ability. So I'm including a document I included in the AOS application to explain to USCIS the steps we followed to try to complete Form I-944. It might be overkill, but we've adopted a rather exhaustive approach since I-129F exactly one year ago, and we've had a seamless process until now, in spite of COVID. See attached if you wish!No credit report^J explain why.pdf

 

Best regards to all.

Jules and Mary