Michael D. Young

EM-03061 Effective Date: 06/24/2003

NOTE: Effective Immediately: Do not release SSNs or any other personal
information based on telephone requests if the caller does not provide
the SSN.

B. DO NOT RELEASE SSNs BASED ON TELEPHONE REQUEST

Do not release SSNs, or any other personal information, over the
telephone, by FAX or by mail as a result of a telephone request when the
individual does not provide the SSN. Do not attempt to locate an SSN in
SSA records based on a telephone request when the individual does not
provide the SSN.

Dekka's Angel

Why would I shoot you? It sort of scares me that this wasn't always the policy to begin with......

donahso

Calling for your SSN after applying....they can't give to you unless you already have it?

lairdside

It wouldn't be a problem surely if more employers were willing to allow people to work, provided that they could satisfy the I-9 requirements by giving the required documentation and having applied for an SSN?

I know - I am dreaming....

Having said that my local DMV has no problem issuing a DL provided that the applicant can show the requisite documentation even in the absence of an SSN. They simply ask that you sign an affidavit (included as part of the form) stating that you have never been issued an SSN and then update them as soon as you have it.

They don't even blink an eyelid as long as everything else is in order.

Dekka's Angel

Last week, I met with a potential client who wanted help with a balky creditor following what appears to have been a theft of her identity (and subsequent nightmarish debt run up in her name). These cases are a nightmare. Usually, they start by the thief gaining access to full legal name, through stealing mail that is thrown away or simply lifting it from people's mailboxes, going through records, once in a blue moon installing backdoors and data miners onto people's computers (those who don't believe in virus/anti-parasite software, etc.) Once a thief has your name, if he or she also has your social security number it is quite easy to wreak utter havoc with your entire life, or even if the thief is not not the type to open up then default on $50,000 worth of credit card accounts. He or she can simply assume your identity when she or he cannot use his or her own.

Identity theft is an extraordinary problem in the US. Given that, I admit that I was surprised to hear that with a mere phone call you could get someone's (theoretically your own, but how does the phone worker possibly know this?) social security number told or sent to you, rather than having to pick it up in person with ID, or in some way that is far more secure and reliable than the telephone. I realize that a wait for someone to get their actual number after it is issued seems like forever, particularly if they have a job lined up. But the need to secure that number to me, on balance, is just as important if not more so.

Hopefully, SSA has developed some procedures to allow employers, for example, with perhaps unique identifying numbers such as their EIN, to confirm that an SSN *has* been issued by phone for an employee, pending receipt of the actual number at some future time. That would address both issues, it seems.

But even if it has not yet, it is a dangerous business in a world where people are wholescale assuming the identity of other people to just hand out the most unique identifier a person has in the US based only on a telephone call.

lairdside

In my experience the SSA already does have more secure procedures for claims for Medicare benefits. Upon application the applicant is issued a claim number which is confidential and which they must submit, togther with other personal information, in order to access the status of their claim and to enquire about such said status.

I realise that this would require more work on the part of the SSA but was also surprised at the lack of any such procedure in relation to SSN's.

Michael D. Young

donahso wrote:

    > Calling for your SSN after applying....they can't give to you unless you
    > already have it?

Hi All,

Yep that's the policy now. So anyone applying for an SSN should be sure to
request the SSA office call you with the SSN once it's assigned and hope
they remember. The dumbest thing about this new policy is they can't even
tell you if an SSN has been issued, since you aren't supposed to do an ALPHA
search for the SSN.

I wonder which 800# rep will be called an MF by a parent next year when they
need a child's SSN to file taxes. LOL


Take care,


Mike

Scout

I have to admit I was pretty surprised that we could get Pete's SS# over the phone. I thought at the time that it wasn't a good security measure, but then again we were dealing with a government agency & most of the time they don't seem to follow a logical course of action.


Cheers,

Leslie

Dekka's Angel

OK that part is dumb. Confiming the existence of a number harms nobody.

shaakq

I have a question from all the SSN Savvy people... Everyone in this board says to get the SSN number before marriage...meaning i USC should not marry her(my fiance) until she has her SSN... But i looked at the SSN application and it does not ask for marital status ??? So what difference does it make if she is married to me and applied after the marriage... I know i am missing something so help me all...

Thanks

lairdside

I believe it's because for those on a K-1 visa, that they are entitled to apply for an SSN whilst they are on their K-1 (I think that they may need to have at least 60 days remaining validity?). As the K-1 has an inherent right to work for 90 days.

Once the K-1 has expired you require to be married, have filed for AOS, EAD and have received the EAD to apply for a SSN.

Therefore it's best to apply for it asap.

shaakq

thanks for the info... so that means even if i get married to my fiance right after her arrival and then say in 10days she applied for SS and she still has 80days left on I-94 she should be good to go right ????

thanks

Just Jenney

Assuming that I'm reading your question right, the answer would be "no."

That's because a requirement of applying for a SSN is work authorization. The K-1 visa automatically gives your fiancee work authorization -- but once she marries, her K-1 status is effectively over and, along with it, that work authorization. Once she marries, then she must have a EAD in hand before she applies for her SSN. And that could take several weeks or months.

At the same time, if you marry right after her arrival but apply for her SSN beforehand, it's very possible that not enough time will have elapsed to allow for her name to be entered into the BCIS's "SAVE" system. This is the system the SSA must crosscheck, and if her name isn't in it, that could delay her SSN processing for weeks or months.

My husband (!) Mark just went through this process. We decided to postpone our wedding to allow 3 weeks between his entry into the US and his SSN application, to make sure his name was in the BCIS system and avoid a possible delay. Well, it did the trick: Mark applied for his SSN last Tuesday, and got his card less than a week later.

Obviously, there isn't really a golden timeframe to go by, but many people on the NG recommend waiting at least 10 days after US entry to apply for the SSN, but before marriage. We decided to wait 13 business days, and it worked for us.

~ Jenney

lairdside

This is where I am unclear

I have read that after marriage you must have an EAD in order to apply for a SSN. I have never read WHY this is the case though.

As far as I am aware the 90 day validity of the K-1 as far as someone being in status is not affected by marriage and the employment authorization incident to status (for 90 days) is not affected either.

Sorry that I can't give you better answer on this one - I'm hoping that someone else can as I would like to know why this is the case also.

kjdrga

I tried to get my husband's over the phone but they would not give it to me, they would only give it to him. He didn't speak English and happened to be out of the country anyway, so we just waited and it came in the mail about 3 weeks after we had applied for it. Just in time for his return to the U.S. and start of a new job.