kins

Don't you get a SSN when you come over as an intern? I know I did when I came over on a J1 visa years and years ago but maybe it's changed.

Just Jenney

What you've described above IS a social security card -- it's just that it can't be used for employment, hence the legend printed on it. Many people start out with this type of SS card; Mark did after he came over on his K1 fiance visa, for instance. Most people apply for a new card (without the legend) once they have proof of work authorization and/or their green cards -- although Mark's got his citizenship application pending at the moment and he STILL hasn't done that, oops.

As it happens, J1 visa holders are eligible for SSNs, although I'm not sure if theirs come printed with the legend on it or not. I don't think they do.

As for banks and/or credit card companies requiring SSNs in order to open accounts: When I worked at Capital One, every once in a while I had to explain to customers (usually irate ones) that while credit applicants aren't required by law to supply their SSNs, the law also doesn't prohibit credit card companies from requiring the applicants to supply their SSNs as part of the application process. If the customer didn't want to supply their SSN when applying for a Capital One credit card, then the customer was basically telling Capital One to automatically decline their application. And guess what? That's exactly what would happen.

~ Jenney

Tracym

I hope his ar*e was yours!

SPARKLES

hello there

I wish to publicly apologise for being impatient and posting a new thread! (ive never been on a forum before and saw it had been viewed a lot but no replies...) anyway at least it got u lot writing something rather than nothing!!he he

I also want to thank the kind people who have replied to me to help xx

I have a j-1 visa and for those who do not wish to be "unkind" i must have come across wrong in my email as i do not any intention of applying for "credit" just to open a basic bank account to pay in my wages in the US. My savings are also for living expenses whilst im in the US and the reason I am on this forum is so i do not damage my credit rating any further!!!!

I think il get a ssn/or card because ive something in my documents thats talks about this matter which il look into xx

I hope everyone is accomodating as the people who offer advice on this site when i get over there!

oh and im a "she" xxx

tonrob

I hope you ****ing gave her what for! That's bang out of order, that is.

dbj1000

Do you know the only other person who ever told me I was an Illegal?

Some evil witch on the the Social Security "Helpline". I phoned up a couple of days after I arrived in the US on my H1-B visa, and asked about the process of applying for a SSN (in the days before I knew that the only sane answers in this world come from this forum!).

She replied that I had to come to the local Social Security office with "proof of citizenship". I replied that I wasn't a citizen, and that I was here on a visa. She said "There aren't no visas that can get Social Security Numbers. You can apply when you're a citizen.". I told her I was here on an H1-B visa, and that I needed an SSN to get paid. "An aitch-what?" - I told her it was a "work visa". She replied in an extremely angry voice that "Those things are just scams. They're not real. You're here illegally, and when the police catch you, they'll deport you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" and put the phone down on me.

Good old Social Security! They're almost as helpful as the USCIS "helpline"!

Steerpike

Sparkles - a word of advice; please take this in a positive light. Your message above lacks capitalization and basic punctuation. I recognize this as a message written by someone brought up on Text-Messaging on a mobile phone; my teenage niece used to send me such emails all the time and I got used to it ... BUT ... if you venture out into the real world, your messages could come across as being written by an illiterate moron. Texting is not common in the US and thus, texting 'abbreviations'/shortcuts are not recognized. So typing strings such as " il " and " ive " and " i " and " u " just look bad. This is a casual forum so no big deal, but the danger is you get so used to it that you also use it for more formal communications and then it IS bad.

I hired a young programmer from the UK a couple of years ago, and every email he wrote was in this same 'pidgin' English; he made a terrible impression at first.

Anyway, good luck and have a bunch of fun!