Purple_Paladin

Quick Update: I called the SS office and asked what I'd need. The agent said that the K1, his passport, and the I-94 should be enough. The agent reccomended that my fiance bring his French identity card as well.

So you're saying that they ask for the SSN when you apply for a marriage license, but it's not mandatory to have the SSN to get the license?

Maybe I misunderstood but, as I understand it, both of these things can't be true. If we must both have an SSN to get married, then how would we apply for the SSN months after marrying? Also I checked the County website and here, in PA, it's not necessary to have a SSN to marry.

The Real ID rules are the same here, but it's unclear if he'll be able to get a standard non-Real ID license without the SSD. We'll go and try and hope for the best. Thank you for the reply!

I really hope this holds true for us. He's currently applying for another copy. The website says it's about 20 days, but that's a rough estimate and govt tends to shut down in the summer in France. Add to that, he has to have it sent to his aging parents and hope that it comes before he leaves, otherwise it's at them to send it to us and that's another 10 days, best case scenario. We shouldn't have the name-change issue since I'm the one changing my name, not him. Although, as a cute aside, there was a confusing conversation when we spoke about my new last name, because I will hyphenate. He kept arguing about the order of my hyphenated name, because here, it's traditionally the woman's last name first, which is the way I want it. And in his country, it's the man's last name first, which sounded confusing to me. Professionally, I'd like to have my own last name first. Finally he said he wants the same for himself and that's how I understood that he thought we would BOTH change our names to my hyphenated name followed by his. He thought his would be hyphenated with my maiden name as well, lol! I found that adorable. 😄

I find a lot about the French system is counter-intuitive to the US system. It's frustrating. As a US citizen, I have the habit of always having a copy of this, so it never occured to me to tell him to be sure he had one. I knew he had it for the K! application. I didn't know that they took it and he didn't have another. I just looked it up. It's tricky because in PA, you need a SSN to get the license. BUT, he can driver for up to a year with his French driver's license. I'm not sure if he can get a transfer license. We'll have to go to the DMV and try. It's always something it seems.

It took 3 months for him to get the last copy. It took even longer for his daughters copy. He has a French official identity card. In France, you can't get copies of birth certificates as easily as here, they don't give multiple copies at a time and you must justify why you even need it. He's going to apply for another copy, but he's coming in less than a month. He'll have to have it sent to his father, ten have it sent from his father to here. It might be September by the time he gets it. Can he get a drivers license without an SSN, just with the passport and I-94? If so, he could maybe get the drivers license right away and we could use that for the SSN.

So the embassy kept his original birth certificate. They gave him the translation of his birth certificate but it's not a certified copy. We aren't sure if they put his birth certificate in the sealed packet they gave him with the K1 or not. Is that what they did with your spouse? Was it in the sealed K1 packet? Did the POE agent give the documents back to you after opening the packet?

Follow-up ? As seen below from the SS appointment website, he needs proof of identity and a passport isn't listed. How does that work? Doesn't he need the SSN to get a drivers license here? I was hoping to make an appointment for him for the day after he comes. Documents we accept include: Permanent Resident Card (I-551), Green Card Arrival/Departure Record (I-94), along with unexpired foreign passport Admission stamp in an unexpired foreign passport Employment Authorization Document (I-766), work permit One proof of your identity Documents we accept include: Permanent Resident Card (I-551), Green Card Employment Authorization Document (I-766), work permit U.S. driver's license or non-driver's state-issued ID

The feels! lol! There is so much! And then I feel like everything that I delegate to him, I have to double-check anyway to be sure that he understood it correctly, not at all his fault, English isn't his first language and things translate differently in French, but it gets over-whelming!

The more I read here, the more I'm a bit lost. So forgive me if this has been covered but I'm trying to be sure that I "get it." My fiance is coming July 16 with his daughter (on the K1) and his cat. The plan is: we file for the marriage license the next day, July 17, and as soon as it's issued, we get married. Could we go to the Social Security office the same day we file for the marriage license? The time line below says that we should apply for his SSN before getting married. We don't need to wait for his SSN to apply for the marriage license? Do we? In PA it takes 3 days to get a marriage license, so I don't want to wait because I could only take off 2 weeks from work to get as much as possible done. Also: on the app for the SSN card it states that our proof of documentation must be certified original copies. If we use the I-94 travel document, he gets that when he comes into the country, correct? We won't need the actual certified marriage certificate? How many certified copies should I ask for? What about his daughter? One of the links here stated that she must have her EAD before she can file for the SSN. Does anyone have experience with this? Does this mean that she won't be able to also open a bank account (or do much of anything really) until much later than him since she'll be waiting on the EAD? What about him? How long does it usually take to get the SSN and have the ability to open a bank account and move his funds? The timeline after he arrives really confuses me. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Wouldn't it work regardless due to the fact that you're getting two new phones on two new lines and closing out their previous plans? Are you doing it a different way? Thank you!

Update for those following: They gave him the new passport, they asked him to submit a declaration that he would destroy the old passport (standard in France) once he's finished using it since the embassy attached the K1 to the old passport. The cat has had all of his medical appointments/shots and now has his own passport. Regarding his cell phone: it's showing signs of age so we'll just get him a new one on my plan when he gets here, same with step-daughter.

So we got the visas in the mail yesterday. Of course there are a few snags (aren't there always?) For one, his passport was due to expire in October and they attached the K1 to it, so he's worried now about coming with a passport that will expire so soon. In France, you must relinquish the old passport to have the new. Also you can't file for a new updated passport earlier than sometihng like 6 months before the expiration. He did all he could for that, but his interview happened while waiting for the new passport so they took the old and attaached the K1 to it. Now he's not sure what to do about that. He can't relinquish the passport because of this. France doesn't give out passports unless you relinquish. He'll techinically come with a passport that has 'enough' time left on it... but only just. He's worried about what documentation he'll have while waiting for his COS to process. The other concern/question was: Is it possible for him to open a bank account here before he comes? He wants to close out his financials over there and would like to open his bank account here before coming so that his money is already here. Is this possible? Then there's the little things, he's bringing his cat... we're trying to figure out the best way to do that. Does anyone have experience with this? What about his cell phone? Can he use the same phone that was bought in France here and just change the cell service provider? I'm guessing that they'd just change the chip? TIA for any helpful tips!

I wouldn't. His daughter has a savings account set aside specifically for her education. He's more interested in training of some sort and hopes to save a bit of money from the sale of some of his assets before moving here. As I've stated in prior posts, we're weighing our options and gathering information to find the best way forward.