They ran out our visa clock with slow SSN processing. Now what?

[Diane and Chris 651]

10 hours ago, Marieke H said:

What I was told when I went through this, was that you need to apply for your SSN before getting married, so your information still matches with what the SS office find in the "immigration system" (not sure what system they check, but apparently they need to verify your information somewhere). So you need to apply while you are still unmarried, because that is what you were when you entered the country. After marriage, you go back to the SS office and have your information updated.

If you apply for your SSN after getting married, your information doesn't match with your immigration records anymore (you are now married), so they can't issue a SSN. You will have to wait until your immigration records are updated (after receiving either the EAD or green card) before a SSN can be issued.

 

This is what I was told at my SS office. Not sure if this is exactly how it works, but it makes sense to me.

That is what we did. It worked for us and we had the social security business done before marriage. It was one of the first things we did. 

[Siggy 42]

19 hours ago, Lucky Cat said:

This is exactly the recommended way to do it. 

What if  we apply for SSN with our maiden name (without using new last name) though we are married..? 🤔

Edited March 4, 2021 by Siggy

[Scandi 4,166]

1 hour ago, Siggy said:

What if  we apply for SSN with our maiden name (without using new last name) though we are married..? 🤔

Some SSA workers believe that marrying changes the conditions of the FIANCE visa and therefore refuse to issue a SSN. It's always recommended to apply for a SSN before getting married, no matter if you're planning on changing your name or not.

 

Under normal circumstances you apply for your SSN a day or two after entering the US, that gives them plenty of time to issue a SSN before the i-94 expires. 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Scandi

[tony3841 2]

I'm surprised that you are able to get a SSN before the EAD/AOS. I thought the consensus (3 years ago when I was going through this) was that they only issue SSNs if you are allowed to work (when you have the EAD in hand).

Anyway, I had no problem opening an account at Wells Fargo without a SSN.

[Siggy 42]

1 minute ago, Scandi said:

Some SSA workers believe that marryibg changes the conditions of the fiance visa. It's always recommended to apply for a SSN before getting married, no matter if you're planning on changing your name or not.

 

Under normal circumstances you apply for your SSN a day or two after entering the US, that gives them plenty of time to issue a SSN before the i-94 

Ok..that makes sense... but they were not giving any appointment until its dire urgent. It's weird situation.

[Scandi 4,166]

1 minute ago, tony3841 said:

I'm surprised that you are able to get a SSN before the EAD/AOS. I thought the consensus (3 years ago when I was going through this) was that they only issue SSNs if you are allowed to work (when you have the EAD in hand).

Anyway, I had no problem opening an account at Wells Fargo without a SSN.

Nope, as a K-1 you just walked into the local SSA and applied for a SSN the same day you arrived, or a few days later, but preferable within the first week after arrival. It's been like that for as long as I can remember, I went in 4 days after my arrival in 2016 and had my card 4 weeks later.

[Siggy 42]

4 minutes ago, tony3841 said:

I'm surprised that you are able to get a SSN before the EAD/AOS. I thought the consensus (3 years ago when I was going through this) was that they only issue SSNs if you are allowed to work (when you have the EAD in hand).

Anyway, I had no problem opening an account at Wells Fargo without a SSN.

You cant have insurance without SSN (self Employed)..

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, Siggy said:

You cant have insurance without SSN (self Employed)..

For health insurance the Gov says to do the following: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-about-reporting-social-security-numbers-to-your-health-insurance-company "You should advise your coverage provider that you do not have an SSN or TIN and give them the date of birth for each covered individual."

[tony3841 2]

3 hours ago, HRQX said:

For health insurance the Gov says to do the following: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-about-reporting-social-security-numbers-to-your-health-insurance-company "You should advise your coverage provider that you do not have an SSN or TIN and give them the date of birth for each covered individual."

Yep I was added to my wife's insurance without a SSN. The only thing that was a slight problem was being added as a user on her Amex. They asked for driver's license, I had only a foreign one that doesn't have an expiration date which seemed to confuse them a lot, but I ended up getting it.

In the end, since you're not allowed to work without an EAD, you don't really need an SSN...

Edited March 4, 2021 by tony3841

[Crazy Cat 41,857]

14 minutes ago, tony3841 said:

In the end, since you're not allowed to work without an EAD, you don't really need an SSN...

Not true.  Filing Taxes, opening a bank account, renting an apartment, etc. are all much easier with a Social Security number.....they are used for a lot more than employment.

There have been a number of members who couldn't put their spouse on a lease without a SSN.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[tony3841 2]

7 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Not true.  Filing Taxes, opening a bank account, renting an apartment, etc. are all much easier with a Social Security number.....they are used for a lot more than employment.

Well by the time I had to file taxes, I had my EAD, and my SSN.

Opening a bank account, Wells Fargo let me open one without.

Renting an apartment, I was added to my wife's lease without an SSN. So maybe if I had to look for a new apartment on my own it would have been a problem?

[Crazy Cat 41,857]

Just now, tony3841 said:

Well by the time I had to file taxes, I had my EAD, and my SSN.

Opening a bank account, Wells Fargo let me open one without.

Renting an apartment, I was added to my wife's lease without an SSN. So maybe if I had to look for a new apartment on my own it would have been a problem?

Life for a K-1 entrant is much easier with a SSN.....and applying immediately after entering the US is the recommended procedure as explained in the VJ SSN guide.  Your experience was far from the average.  In the end, a SSN is needed for much more than employment.

[Marieke H 2,506]

2 minutes ago, tony3841 said:

Well by the time I had to file taxes, I had my EAD, and my SSN.

Opening a bank account, Wells Fargo let me open one without.

Renting an apartment, I was added to my wife's lease without an SSN. So maybe if I had to look for a new apartment on my own it would have been a problem?

But many people end up having to file taxes without having their EAD yet.

It is easier to open a bank account when you have a SSN, so you don't have to shop around to find a bank that lets you open an account without one.

Not all landlords will add you to a lease without a SSN.

 

All these things may be possible without a SSN; however, having a SSN makes it so much easier to get all this sorted.

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

On 3/3/2021 at 11:45 AM, x3n said:

The lady on the phone said she could not do anything because (at this minute) my wife does not have a legal status. As for why they just sat on the SSN paperwork until the I-94 expired rather than finishing the processing, I've no idea.

 

Now I expect that, at the interview, they'll look negatively on us not having a joint bank account - when the only reason we won't have a joint bank account is because we could not get an SSN - despite us following the rules, making the appointments, and going to the SSN office in the middle of a pandemic.

 

 

 

 

Don't worry about that. My husband had SSN issues as well, and he wasn't added to my bank account until 3 weeks before our AOS interview. Not everyone's situation is the same, so it's important to just be honest about your situation and explain the circumstances if it comes up. Funnily enough, the IO didn't even ask to look at our bank statements or anything like that, though he did add it to our file. 

 

Honestly, your experience with the SSA isn't as unusual as it should be...we had an awful time trying to get my husband's SSN and I found so many similar stories here and on other websites where people have similar experiences. The first time we went to the office, it was 4 days after he arrived in the U.S. and we were told it was "too soon" (which wasn't true) and when we went back twice over the next couple of weeks, they wouldn't process the SSN request because we got married a few days prior. We weren't able to resolve it until AOS. 

 

As others have noted though, some banks will let you add a spouse with an SSN. I was able to do that at my bank (BBVA). They added him as a foreign spouse, or something like that. And they could only do that for accounts that don't accrue interest, so he was added to my checking account but not my savings account. Additionally, my landlord let us sign a lease agreement before he had his SSN as well. A lot of things depend greatly on where you are and who you are dealing with. 

 

[tony3841 2]

27 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Life for a K-1 entrant is much easier with a SSN.....and applying immediately after entering the US is the recommended procedure as explained in the VJ SSN guide.  Your experience was far from the average.  In the end, a SSN is needed for much more than employment.

Well I guess they updated the guide or maybe i mis-remember it. Like I said I did that 3 years ago. Other ppl in the forum seemed to do the same I did: wait for the EAD to get a SSN.

 

26 minutes ago, Marieke H said:

But many people end up having to file taxes without having their EAD yet.

It is easier to open a bank account when you have a SSN, so you don't have to shop around to find a bank that lets you open an account without one.

Not all landlords will add you to a lease without a SSN.

 

All these things may be possible without a SSN; however, having a SSN makes it so much easier to get all this sorted.

I guess I was lucky... I didn't shop around for a bank, I walked into a Wells Fargo (because my wife already had an account with them) to ask what documents I needed to open an account and it turned out I just needed my passport. And I had it with me so I opened one on the spot. (OK, they wanted 2 government IDs and didn't like my foreign driver's license with no expiration, but they accepted my K1 visa as a 2nd ID. It is government issued and has a picture...)

 

Maybe living in a big city where they see non-immigrants with no SSNs all the time helps.

 

To go back to OP's lack of SSN: I would say don't worry too much, most things can be done without an SSN. You'll get your SSN when you get your EAD.

Edited March 4, 2021 by tony3841