Barbitana

Hi everybody,

I just read something and wanted to double check with you guys. Is that true to say once you're in the US on E3 or H1B you have to wait 3 months to get your SS number and in that period of time you won't (precisely can't) get paid?!


Any recent experience?


Cheers,

neil

Not very recent (2003) but it took about that long to get mine (doesn't seem to take that long now though from what others have said), but there was no problem getting paid while waiting. If I remember correctly they put all 2's in and were able to change it when I got the number.

Rete

Absolutely not true. You should have your social security number within ten days of application if all is in place, i.e. your name and status is current on the USCIS database when accessed by the SSA.

You can be paid. The company will withhold the monies for taxes and social security in a separate account and will then sent it on to the proper authorities once you have given them your social security number.

Ray

Nonsence ...

TheCynick

I did this just over a year ago, so hopefully my experience is still indicative of what happens today:

* Wait 2 weeks (14 calendar days) from the day you arrive in the USA and then present yourself at your local SSA office. By then your details should be in the system. If they aren't - then you are a bit stuffed, but let's not go there

* Fill in the forms at the SSA and talk nicely to the person who assists you. Tell them that you'll need confirmation of the SSN that you get assigned in order to get paid.

* Return to the SSA office 3 days later *with a letter from your employer stating that you need the SSN in order to get paid*. Show this to the CSR who did your initial application, and they should be able to give you an official print-out with the number that you have been assigned. Give the number to your HR so they can put you on payroll.

* Wait 10 days for your card to arrive in the post.

jamestravis

He is a Non-Resident Alien on an F-1 visa so the procedure might be different. Caused him a whole lot of trouble at tax time because they put it on his W-2...

Ray

still nonsence

jamestravis

Maybe but thats what happened

Retseh

This was my single biggest problem when moving here as I started work about a month after arriving in 2001. I'll tell you my story, take from it what you will.

Came over with full residency privileges (American wife) and immediately visited my local SS office (in Pennsylvania) to register for a SSN. I was given some song and dance about how they had to wait for my immigration details to be entered in to some mystical computer system by the immigration authorities - they told me it typically took several months (in the end it actually took 6 months).

Meanwhile I got a job and moved to Maryland to start work, and here's where I got lucky. A friendly payroll administrator entered my SSN into their system with a fake number so I could get paid - back then the SS only matched names to numbers at year end, that's when companies would find all the illegals with fake SSN cards, so I was good for 3 months (this was September).

I was told at the time that by law I was not allowed to work in the US without a valid SSN, but quite honestly, screw that - we had exactly the same problem in the UK with my wife's employment, and I beat that rule too. For anyone who has read some of my other posts on the immigration process, you'll know that I don't let the system stop me - in this dodge, the friendly payroll admin. was step #1, but I still needed step #2 to beat the SS.

Knowing that government departments rarely know their own rules, what I did was to troll around all the local (Maryland) SS offices until I found one who didn't know they had to verify identity through the immigration system - they just validated my eligibility off the immigration paperwork I had - and lo and behold I walked out of that office with my new SSN. Of course the Pennsylvania office contacted me and warned that this was very much against the rules (switch offices), and that I must not do it - so of course I ignored them, with zero consequences.

On my very next day back in work I had an e-mail from the Legal department telling me that unless I provided a valid SSN I was out of work - phew !!

As with my other posts of a similar "beat the system" nature, some well-meaning jobsworth will jump in here and give you chapter and verse on how what I did was highly illegal and liable to get you sent to Guantanamo, but the only part that was potentially illegal was the fake SSN dodge, and my payroll department did that completely unprompted by me.

The system may well have changed now, but there is always a way around it. Good luck !!

Ray

Nothing mystical its called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program....

Still used today ..usually takes about 10 days after arriving

Watch the video ...

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...004718190aRCRD

Retseh

Back then it was months, it seems that 9/11 did result in some positive changes.

meauxna

There are two distinct processes being discussed here; non-immigrant visa holders seem to be different from immigrant, so all IV experiences should not apply.

An E-3 or H-1B can go and immediately apply for the SSN and the card should arrive inside of 2 weeks.
The person can be paid immediately, but may have to 'educate' their employer.

SOME organizations use a 'dummy' number (it should not actually BE a SSN) to pay people before receipt of their SSN; perhaps that is what the F-1 example here is talking about.

meauxna

That was just wrong. I think you confused your employer's lack of knowledge with "the law". ooh, rebel.


IMO, it's a matter of informing yourself and not just following orders. Like this OP is doing, hopefully. It's not 'beating the system' it's understanding it.

Barbitana

Thanks everybody - very clear

Retseh

Following orders and understanding the system sound like the same thing to me

Beating bureaucracy is much more rewarding, but then that's us rebels for ya