How to get SSN (social security number) for K-1 visa holders

[johnny206]

Here's my wife's experience:

 

Go to your local Social Security Administration office. Bring the following with you:

 

1) Passport

2) K-1 visa (attached inside the passport)

3) Print out a copy of I-94 form from here https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/.

 

She simply handed the above to the clerk (made copies and looked up info from a computer) and was handed back a sheet saying all info are being reviewed and the new SSN card should arrive in the mail in 2 weeks. The clerk did not ask any question. It was an easy 10 minute process.

 

I believe the rule of thumb is to apply minimum of 2 weeks after entering the country so all info can be synced up across different government agencies. Also, make sure you let your postal carrier know the name of K-1 holder (I taped both my and my wife's name inside our apartment mail box) so he or she knows there's a new person living in that address or you may risk of mails being returned to sender.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited December 3, 2014 by johnny206 (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Looks like you encountered a clerk at the SSA that understands that the K-1 is allowed to get an SSN within the 90 days after arrival.

 

The primary reason the K-1 is allowed SSN and the other K-Visas (K-2, K-3, and K-4) are not is not for work reasons, the K-1 is allowed the SSN for marriage license, some states are strict about requiring both persons applying for a marriage license to have SSN.

[Randy W]

Looks like you encountered a clerk at the SSA that understands that the K-1 is allowed to get an SSN within the 90 days after arrival.

 

The primary reason the K-1 is allowed SSN and the other K-Visas (K-2, K-3, and K-4) are not is not for work reasons, the K-1 is allowed the SSN for marriage license, some states are strict about requiring both persons applying for a marriage license to have SSN.

 

 

That is not correct - there are plenty of memos within the SSA about K-1's and "work authorization". The SSA is not concerned in any way with marriage licensing. Not that it matters - what DOES matter is that you CAN and SHOULD apply for an SSN within the window of availability. That window extends from the first day that an immigrant shows up on the SSA computers (this can be less than the two weeks in many cases) to 10 days before the I-94 expires.

 

ASSIGNMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS TO NONCITIZENS WITH FIANCÉ VISAS

 

Under §205©(2)(B)(i)(I) of the Social Security Act, SSA is required to assign SSNs "to aliens at the time of their lawful admission to the United States either for permanent residence or under other authority of law permitting them to engage in employment in the United States. . . ." Because Federal law authorizes K 1 visa holders to work incident to their visa status, K 1 visa holders are eligible for SSNs.

 

. . .

 

SSA policy states that an unexpired I 94 (Arrival/Departure Record) with a "K 1" admission code confirms work authorization for a foreign fiancé, and therefore SSA does not require that K 1 visa holders present an EAD when applying for an SSN. The Agency established its policy based on the Immigration and Naturalization Service's, now DHS, guidance in 1998. At that time, DHS could not always process and issue an EAD to K 1 visa holders before their 90 day stay in the United States expired. DHS sent a memorandum to SSA clarifying which evidentiary documents established K 1 visa holders' work authorization. DHS' memorandum advised SSA that "Evidence of K-1 status includes an unexpired Form I-94 showing admission as a K-1 nonimmigrant with an admission period of 90 days or an EAD referring to INS regulations at 8 CFR 274a.12(a)(6)."

 

. . .

 

SSA policy states field office personnel should not process an SSN application when an individual's DHS document or immigration status has expired or will expire within 14 calendar days.

 

 

The "two weeks after arrival" guideline is simply a rule of thumb if you want to avoid multiple trips to the SSA office in the event that she hasn't shown up yet.

 

If you miss the 76 day window, then you must wait for the EAD Employment Authorization to become eligible again for an SSN. By the way, there are some fairly hard-core individuals who object to getting an SSN. It is NOT required that you do so - however, you may find life in the U.S. to be fairly difficult without one.

[dnoblett]

This is my interpretation of why DHS instructs SSA to treat K-1 as "Work Authorized" for the initial 90 days after arrival.

 

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/666

 

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 42 U.S.C. 666(a)(13)

(13) Recording of social security numbers in certain family matters.— Procedures requiring that the social security number of—

(A) any applicant for a professional license, driver’s license, occupational license, recreational license, or marriage license be recorded on the application;

 

Most states don't comply with this requirement in federal law, however in order for a K-1 to marry technically they need an SSN per the above law.

 

This is why in a few instances undocumented aliens have problems getting a marriage license and married in some jurisdictions, undocumented aliens are unable to get an SSN.

 

Some immigrants denied marriage licenses

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal law that requires people to supply their Social Security number when applying for a marriage license has forced thousands of couples around the country, particularly illegal immigrants, to put their wedding plans on hold.

 

The law has been on the books for about a decade and was intended to make it easier to collect child support payments. But in some places it has prevented even legal immigrants and some American citizens from getting married.

 

Some couples are traveling to other states or other counties willing to issue them marriage licenses.

 

Jonadad Luque, a Honduran immigrant legally in the U.S., wants to marry his girlfriend, with whom he has two children, ages 1 and 5. But the county clerk in Nashville would not issue them a license because his girlfriend is in the country illegally and does not have a Social Security number.

MORE...

[Randy W]

The K-1 Work Authorization pre-dates both of those issues and I believe it is actually written into the INA.

 

The SS number is NOT required to get married - foreigners can and do marry legally in the U.S. all the time. Individual states, county clerks, and even ministers can set their own requirements.

 

IF AVAILABLE, the law says that Social Security numbers must be recorded. Foreigners show passports.

 

Again, the SSA is not concerned at all with marriage requirements, simply whether an individual is "work authorized" or not. K-1's are ELIGIBLE for an SSN - they CAN and SHOULD get one during their window of eligibility.

 

To me, THAT is the bottom line, not a chicken-or-the-egg discussion of whether the recording of SS numbers, or the K-1 work authorization came first.

[johnny206]

Every state may be different but in the State of Washington, where I live, SSN is not required to obtain a marriage certificate. My wife and I got married before she got her SSN. From http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/marriage/ApplyingForAMarriageLicense.aspx:

 

 

 

• Applicants are not required to have a U.S. Social Security number in order to obtain a marriage license. However, one of the marriage license forms requires the inclusion of one's Social Security number OR the applicant's signature on a declaration that they do not have a U.S. Social Security number. This will not impair the couple's ability to receive their marriage license.

[Randy W]

Yes - the Federal law reads NOT that an SSN is required, but that it must be recorded IF the applicant has one.

 

The problem with the employment laws as executed in the INA and CFR is that it leaves gaps in the employment authorization, especially for the K-1'a after their I-94 stay expires. This leaves them all but un-employable until they can get an actual EAD card when applying for AOS. This seems to be more of a fact of life for K-1 visa holders, rather than something that might be actually addressed, as called for in this memo from the CIS Ombudsman.

 

RECOMMENDATION FROM THE CIS OMBUDSMAN TO THE DIRECTOR, USCIS

 

the current K-1 EAD policies needlessly leave this class of foreign nationals without evidence of employment authorization prior to issuance of the K-1 EAD and while the adjustment EAD application is adjudicated. Existing EAD issuance policies also create, as discussed in the July 2004 interim rule, an additional workload for USCIS.