ian-mstm

Ah... that's interesting! I didn't know... so, my bad!

For future reference - for you or anyone else reading, I suggest you contact the owners of the site and let them know that their request for a SSN is tantamount to discrimination against those who are protected, by law, against having to reveal their immigration status. Further, having a SSN doesn't mean you're employment authorized... so whatever information they're gathering certainly isn't for employment purposes.

Ian

gnasher12

that's very useful thankful, i recieved my welcome letter the day after i posted which was wierd, so I will wait for my documents to arrive.

jeffreyhy

Sounds good, but having done that, scratch that particular employer off of your list of possibilities. Do it too often and I fear that you're likely to have an exceedingly short list of job possibilities.

Regards, JEff

Roys

Hi sorry to ask a question that seems like the same one but can someone tell me if i have read this correctly. 1 I dont need a ssn to apply for a job only to get paid and whilst i am waiting for it to come i can still be paid?
2 the ssn can take upto a month from regestering to get ?
3 How soon after getting my visa approved can i apply eg can i apply online from the uk to speed thing up?
4 How easy or hard is it to go about setting up a business in the states? (I am a butcher / chef by trade)

Sorry to ask so many questions but I (well we) are starting to worry that we wont be able to live in the USA having just started our visa process. Were hoping that the economy will pick up before we get over.

Noorah101

Yes.

After you apply, if SS sees you in their verification system, usually the number is issued the next day, and you can go back in person to get the number. The actual card comes in the mail about 2 weeks later.

If you're getting an immigrant visa, there is a box you can check on the visa application forms to ask for your SSN to be processed as soon as you arrive in the USA. In that case, you don't need to go in person to apply, unless that request got missed being input (as sometimes happens). If you're coming on an immigrant visa, it can take up to a month after arrival to get your SS card in the mail.

No, you can't directly apply from the UK. The best you can do is check that box on the immigrant visa application. If you're getting a K-1 visa, then you don't have that option, and can't apply for the SSN until you are physically in the USA.

It depends what kind of business, how big the business will be, etc. My husband is self-employed (i.e., has his own business). But it's just him, he has no employees, he works as an independent contractor, so it's been very easy to set up his business. I also might depend on the state you're living in...or the city...whether you need a business license or not, etc. Do some google searching on Small Business Administration in the city you'll be living in.

A legitimate concern, for sure. Just be prepared financially in case the economoy does not pick up before you get over.

Rene

jleebeane

For what it's worth, my husband and I had a much longer wait for his SSN. He came here on a K1 so we had to wait until we had the marriage certificate. We went down the second week of July to get my card in my new name and apply for his SSN. We were told my card would come quickly (which it did) and that his would take about 4-6 weeks to arrive.

Eight weeks later, the day before my husband was going to go back to the Social Security Administration office to see what the delay was, the card came in the mail.

The worst part of the delay is that we're both without health insurance for another month (luckily not longer) because we couldn't apply through the Mass Health Connector without a Social Security number for him.

Noorah101

I'm not sure why this was the case for you guys, but it's not typical. A person who enters on a K-1 visa can apply for a SSN even before marriage, so there is no need to wait for a marriage certificate nor present it to SSN after marriage. If this is what they told you at the SS office, then they were mistaken.

This is also what a lot of people report about signing up for health insurance...they are asked for a SSN. But it's not really a requirement. The health insurance company just neeeds a unique identifier number (or in my husband's case, no number at all)...that can be his passport number or A-number for example. You can provide the SSN to the insurance company once its issued.

Rene

jleebeane

I agree with you that most places that ask for a SSN just want a unique identifier, but the Mass Health Connector is a bit different. Because of the Massachusetts mandate requiring all residents to have health insurance, the Commonwealth runs the Mass Health Connector as a means for individuals to purchase insurance that meets the minimum state requirements. Presumably they require a SSN because your Mass state income tax return needs to include information on whether or not you have health insurance. My understanding is that one of the few legitimate uses for an SSN (unlike back in the day when it was my college ID number!) is for tax purposes.

Perhaps you are correct that we could have used something else initially, but if so, no one told the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that. Certainly there was no way to not answer the question on the website.

jeffreyhy

No, he did not have to wait until he had the marriage certificate. A K1, while they are in K1 status, has USCIS authorization to work incident to status. That's all that's required to get a SSN.

Being married is not a requirement for a K1 to get a SSN. Indeed, some misguided SSA employees have been known to deny a SSN on the basis that getting married has ended the K1 status.

Regards, JEff

jleebeane

Thanks JEff and Rene for the corrections regarding not needing to be married. In our case, we were married only a week after my now-husband arrived in the country, so by the time we waited the 10 days for him to be "in the system" we had the marriage certificate in hand. But I'm glad to have you guys keeping me from giving wrong information to anyone else reading!

But really, my point in posting was that, like everywhere else in immigration, time lines are only guidelines and your experiences and the length of your wait may be different. Most people wait two weeks for an SSN. We waited eight. Such is life.

Noorah101

That was our situation, too. We got married one week after my fiance's arrival in the USA. About a week later (so 2 weeks after his entry to the USA), we went to the SS office to apply for his SSN. Even though he was "in the system", they still said they had to do a manual verification of his status because he's from Iran. It took about 9 weeks to get his SS card in the mail.

Rene

Wolfy

There many things being told by IO, Social security offices.

I have been here just over 3 weeks also

By my experiences so far and based on my visa type of CR1 here is what I was told in the state of Michigan.

I am in Hillsdale which is not a major town and the SS office here only opens for half a day in a morning once a week and as I assumed that as I had also ticked for my ssn to be sent to the address, but it does not say will be sent to you, but a number will be assigned, you have to apply in person to the office that covers your area, in my case it was a 45min drive each way to Jackson and then they say it will take up to 2 weeks and issued me with a paper, stamped stating this. I know Britishspouse was quite fortunate to go into her office and they gave her a printout of her number, but she would need to wait for her card to be delivered. I asked the same, but was told they dont do that.

Its advisable to go into the ss office after 10 days has lapsed of your arrival and request it and I guess its to make sure you have entered the U.S and are in the area you claim you are living, but each state may have their own practices as I found with the driving licence issue, I can only drive on a uk licence for 30 days in the state of Michigan.

As for the resident card ( greencard) I was told at Dublin that it should be sent automatically within 12 months, but if it hasnt, I must chase it up!!!

Its worth checking with your local government offices and dmv if you have a licence to see what applies to you!

hockeysarah

I have been here nearly 3 weeks now. I have got a welcome letter, saying that they will contact me again within 30 days. Does that mean they will be sending my SSN? Or do i need to go to an office?

Wolfy

I would go into the nearest SS office IMHO!

britishspouse

yeah I would go in too.

The order in which I got my things were ....

SS number - then 2 days later SS Card

Welcome letter - about 2 weeks after arriving

Green card - 3 days after welcome letter