Insure spouse who has no ss# yet

[Needing advice 6]

My son married his wife who was from Guatemala In April after bringing her here on a K1 Visa. They applied for her green card and work authorization immediately. On the paperwork they said she wanted a social security number. She contacted USCIS and they told her she can’t get it until they send work authorization. My son works at GM and wants to insure her through his job but they need a social security number. She is college educated and had a great job in Guatemala. I feel bad because not only is there no way to insure her, she can’t drive yet even though she was licensed there. Everything was sent out in early May and today they told her still a 9-12 month wait. She’s already done biometric appointment. Has anyone else gone through this? Is this because of covid? I married a Brazilian in 2014 and he got his social security number before we even sent out the green card application. Can’t figure out why things have changed so much. Any suggestions on what she can do? Hate to see her stuck at home all the time with no medical insurance. If something happens it could be bad. Sucks when they do everything by the book and can’t get insured while they bring people in and give them benefits right away.  

[Adventine 3,196]

***Moved to the Social Security Numbers forum, where similar topics are discussed***

 

From your post, it seems the difference is: you and your spouse applied for the social security number BEFORE applying for the green card and work authorization. While in your son and daughter-in-law's case, it seems they applied for the SSN AFTER the GC and EAD. 

 

She is now obliged to wait for either the GC or EAD to apply for an SSN.

The good news is that she does not need an SSN to get health insurance. Her husband's HR dept just needs to enter a placeholder SSN until she gets it (ex. 999-99-9999 or 000-00-0000). If the HR officer refuses to do it, escalate to a supervisor. I know it is possible because I didn't have an SSN when my husband added me to his health insurance. No trouble at all.

 

Source: https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/questions-and-answers-about-reporting-social-security-numbers-to-your-health-insurance-company

You can also search the forums for similar cases.

 

[JeanneAdil 6,489]

This is why we all suggest marriage in foreign country and going the CR1 for spouse

 

he can purchase health care thru marketplace insurance (but don't do  medicaid)

he could have applied for SS card within 90 days with I 94 entry paper /  but now must wait for EAD

 

and yes ,  things have slowed down considerable because of covid related issues 

he'll even be filing tax returns with no SS # /  very frustrating ,  we know

 

I know he comes home from work tired, but he'll have to get some energy and get her out of the house so sh'e'll be very homesick

whatsapp and other apps to talk to family back home till help 

 

[powerpuff 6,685]

Had they done proper research beforehand, they would know that it is critical to apply for SSN right after arriving in the US and before her I-94 expires. It would make life much much easier. Unfortunately, there’s nothing to be done but wait for EAD/GC to get SSN.
 

Processing times have only gotten worse in the last few years. Hopefully EAD will come soon so she can start driving and working. And its true: by law, she cannot be refused health coverage because she doesn’t have SSN yet. You have to be very firm and persistent, I have read success stories here regarding that.