Appointment required to apply for first time SSN/card?

[InaneTripe 27]

Hello y'all,

 

My foreign citizen spouse and I visited not one, but *two*, SSA offices in Austin, Texas today and were told at both places that appointments are now required for all first-time SSN/card applicants. The Kafkaesque element lies in the fact that nowhere on the blessed ssa.gov site can I find a link to schedule an appointment. It does give you the option to schedule at the end of the online SS-5 application but that requires an account which you cannot create witout a SSN in the first place! Of course, my wife doesn't have an SSN and couldn't avail of this "feature". Furthermore, an agent on the 1-800 line told me that they couldn't schedule in-person appointments in Austin. 

 

An employee at the second Austin SSA office did schedule us for a late Feb date using their terminal. He was insistent that he did so from www.ssa.gov but in all my searching I couldn't find the page where outsiders such as myself could schedule without a login.gov or ID.me account. My question is whether others have run into this issue? The helpful SSA officer did tell me that the process for first time applicants changed around 6 weeks ago. Not sure whether this is a Texas only thing or nationwide. I'd really appreciate some insights, recent experiences with SSA. Thank you!

 

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,842]

 

That's odd.......and they wouldn't schedule an appointment at the local office when you were there?

You can schedule, reschedule, or cancel an appointment by calling us at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. local time, or contacting your local Social Security office.

Edited January 23 by Crazy Cat

[InaneTripe 27]

Right. The agent at the first office kept repeating "make an online appointment" and wouldn't even listen to my pleadings as to why that was not possible in our situation. The agent at the second office scheduled us in but I suspect he had access to a link or systems that outsiders don't. I spent a lot of time before and after using a variety of browsers and search engines to unearth this magic link but with no success.

 

Also, I'll add that I had requested in the DS-260 that an SSN be automatically assigned. However, there was no sign of a card in the mail although my spouse arrived as an IR1 over 6 weeks ago.

[mam521 2,062]

Ugh...sorry you're dealing with this.  The SSA seems to fail to properly train their staff and they end up being very "jobsworth" as a result.  We had to try and get SSN's during COVID for my kids and it was a nightmare!  

 

Good luck!

[InaneTripe 27]

Many thanks for your kind words!   Our USCIS process took a while but was entirely trouble free. To think that I am having more issues with the SSN which ought to have been straightforward!  

[InaneTripe 27]

On 1/23/2024 at 2:59 PM, InaneTripe said:

Hello y'all,

 

My foreign citizen spouse and I visited not one, but *two*, SSA offices in Austin, Texas today and were told at both places that appointments are now required for all first-time SSN/card applicants. The Kafkaesque element lies in the fact that nowhere on the blessed ssa.gov site can I find a link to schedule an appointment. It does give you the option to schedule at the end of the online SS-5 application but that requires an account which you cannot create witout a SSN in the first place! Of course, my wife doesn't have an SSN and couldn't avail of this "feature". Furthermore, an agent on the 1-800 line told me that they couldn't schedule in-person appointments in Austin. 

 

An employee at the second Austin SSA office did schedule us for a late Feb date using their terminal. He was insistent that he did so from www.ssa.gov but in all my searching I couldn't find the page where outsiders such as myself could schedule without a login.gov or ID.me account. My question is whether others have run into this issue? The helpful SSA officer did tell me that the process for first time applicants changed around 6 weeks ago. Not sure whether this is a Texas only thing or nationwide. I'd really appreciate some insights, recent experiences with SSA. Thank you!

 

 

 

My wife had her scheduled appointment for a new SSN on February 23, 2024. I had already started the SS-5 application online which saved time at the office. They only asked for my wife's foreign passport with I-551 MRIV and admission stamp and gave us a notice telling us the new card would arrive in 2 weeks. My wife's SAVE status showed "Returned to office" for SSA the very same day. The card arrived by mail on March 02, which was 8 days after the appointment. Much relieved that this, at least, is done!