Hi Folks!

My husband had his naturalization ceremony last week Thursday. At the ceremony, the officer mentioned that once the ceremony was completed, he will need to update his social security status. Can anyone guide us into what she meant? Change what status?


Many thanks!

Simple, he takes his naturalization certificate to the ss office and has them update his records to reflect his new status of US Citizen.

At the present, your husband status with the SS administration is legal permanent resident. That is the status that will need to be updated to citizen.

We failed to do that, don’t remember ever being advised to do so. 22 years later, back in England and applying for Medicare was told by the FBU at the US embassy in London that their records have not been updated so I need to send or take in my US Passport and Certificate of Naturalization. The fact that the Naturalization certificate was used to get my US passport is irrelevant, SSA need to lay eyes on it.

I don't remember being told that either, and I don't think I ever showed SSA my certificate. Not sure why Medicare would need proof of citizenship anyway, since Medicare is available to permanent residents.

We weren't told it by an official either but being a member of the founding group of this forum, it was discussed back in 2000 and hubby went with this naturalization certificate to the SSA office and updated his file after naturalization.

Me neither, and I only discovered by chance that I should have notified the SSA, when I decided, rather belatedly, 12 years after naturalizing, that I should update my SS card to remove the "only valid for work with authorization" wording stamped in red on it .... and discovered that as a former permanent resident that wording should never have been stamped on my card in the first place!

Yup, just another “me too!” post.

I became a citizen in 2006, and when I applied for my SS benefits about eight years later, I was asked to come into the SS office to show my documents to prove I was a citizen. So, really no big deal if you fail to do it immediately after naturalization. BTW, all interactions I’ve ever had with SS have been super friendly, helpful and considerate - it’s their mission to help folk out, so they don’t get all overbearing and threatening, like some government officials.

So you would think, but health insurance through healthcare.gov (ACA/Obamacare) also requires it. The time I checked out policies for myself and my wife (2014?) not only was I asked if we were US citizens we were then asked if we were Naturalized and on answering yes the website required me to enter the registration "number" on the Naturalization certificate. However, the number format on the website would not accept the format on our certificates. I had to upload copies to a special area and then wait a few days while it was manually verified before I could continue to look at policies. A friend of mine whose wife is a Naturalized USC also had exactly the same problem and had to upload a copy for manual verification.

There is nothing in the regulations that restricts access to ACA policies, Medicare or SS to non-citizens, and even though "they" seem to have to know if you are, or are not, a Naturalized USC, why they don't accept a US passport as proof is beyond my understanding.

Yes that was my experience too. In addition to the customary question about my accent (that I have come to expect from most people I meet for the first time), and related chat about my background, and how I came to be living in Podunk, NC, I got distinct vibes that I was much easier to help than most of her "customers", as I had come prepared with passport, drivers license, and utility bills, and unlike many, also spoke English as my mother tongue. As far as I remember, in a very quiet SSA office (the officer appeared to under no pressure to move on to the next person, as I don't think there was anyone else waiting for her) our meeting of around 20 minutes was about 50% business and 50% chat.

Wow, totally forgot to do this and have been naturalized for two years already.

So no paperwork, just take my certificate? Really?

As a good new citizen I filled out the form, then realized I needed to take the kids and not just their forms, and before working out when they could come with me the office closed due to COVID. I have not checked if it has re-opened or can be done online. Doesn't seem important for now.

I did this after citizenship and pre passport application. 2013 .It only took a few mins at ssa office. I had heard about it on be. Another case which caused issues was a member got dinged when applying for student loan or sponsorship for their kid years after citizenship.

I mentioned on another thread that I had to mail in - SSA offices were closed - my naturalization certificate when applying for Medicare. I don't understand it either. The only thing I can think of is that they want to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining SS, Medicare or an ACA policy.

I don’t understand why a US passport is not proof enough of citizenship or why it even matters that I am a USC at this moment since plenty of non US citizens get SS and are on Medicare. It is their own department, SSA, that should have the historical records that show I was a legal immigrant for the first 11 years of making contributions through my payroll taxes.

It is what it is, and it wasn’t obvious to some of us, which is why it is worth publicizing the necessity here to get your Naturalization registered with SSA asap because notification doesn’t ever pass between the INS and SSA.

I was able to update the SSA with just my shiny new US passport (in person), so I don't know how much local variation you might see in this rule.

Just quickly: for anyone needing to do this, SSA considers this to be a "request for a new card". Don't ask me why -- maybe that's the only way to trigger an update to the record. They did send me a new card and it is identical to the one I had as an LPR. Some people on BE have reported being given a choice about getting a physical new card or not (I wasn't).

Also, some locations do not process card requests at all SSA offices (e.g., NYC), so be sure to check using the location checker on the website before you show up.