SSN

[Phil & Ningning]

This morning I took my wife to the Social Security Office to apply for a number. Everything was going fine (I thought) but then the woman got up to talk to someone else. She came back and told us that because we have married, that we must first file AOS before they will issue a number, because Jiening is "no longer K1" and that she is now a K3. I asked if she would have issued the number before the wedding and she said yes, no problem. She claimed that if she tried to put the application through this way, it "would not verify" and would be rejected.

I was waiting for the marriage cert which we recieved on Friday.

I think I waited too long.

What can we do? Simply wait until she gets her green card, or should we try another office?

[Trigg]

She is wrong. married or not youa re eligib;e fro an SSN as long as the I-94 isn't over 76 days old-(76 days from the time she entered the country). go to a differnt SSA office and you will get a different tune.

 

She is still a k1-married or not!!!

[Dan R]

Once you are married she is entitled to an SS# though it can be marked "not for work" whether she lives here or in Timbuktu. This is because as your spouse an SS# is needed as your beneficiary. That is the established need per the SSA's regulations.

[Mufasa]

This is where it gets confusing! Gene, and I are both K-3. We had to file a I-765 (EAD) along with our I-485 (AOS). I was told that until we received our EAD approval that my wife could not get a Social Security number!

I know that on one of the forms you fill out before the Guangzhou interview it asked then if you wanted a Social Security number. If you did not check it then, you have hell to pay later!

[tonado]

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index....bd50e0a8158396c

[bubbafred10]

There are many of those super hardheaded dingdongs in the government. They don't even know when they are clueless. It's a good thing you did not know either, or there could have been a hot confrontation. Those dimwit bureaucrats are always so self righteous and self serving. Plenty of them at the US Consulate in Guangzhou.

[Phil & Ningning]

We're right at 74 days now, and when I asked the legal secretary for my attorney this morning, he said the same thing SSA told me. At this point the time is best spent preparing the AOS package with I-765 and moving forward instead of dwelling on it. I wish the instructions were more clear. To save trouble, maybe the K1s should apply for it as soon as arriving in USA.

[Trigg]

We're right at 74 days now, and when I asked the legal secretary for my attorney this morning, he said the same thing SSA told me. At this point the time is best spent preparing the AOS package with I-765 and moving forward instead of dwelling on it. I wish the instructions were more clear. To save trouble, maybe the K1s should apply for it as soon as arriving in USA.

Yea phil, 74 days is pushing it, I think the limit is 76 days or close to that.. You can send in the EAD with your I-485 application. The EAD usually only takes a few months.

[Jim - Portland, USA]

That lady is 100% full of crap. She has no idea what she is talking about. This confusiuon happens A LOT. Oddly enough, the SSA folks know very little about immigration matters. And that's fine if they don't, but they should at least admit that they know nothing, rather than spit out mis-information.

 

We got married first, then applied for the SSN. IMHO, it's the besy way to do it (for K-1 applicants).

 

Go to a different SSA office, and/or speak to a different SSA person until you get the answer you like. That's what we had to do when a brain-dead SSA lady told us that we had to apply for EAD before getting SSN. Wrong! So we went to a different SSA office and got the answers we liked.

[warpedbored]

About time you got back! You have a party to plan. See culture and language section. BTW, welcome home.

[Jim - Portland, USA]

About time you got back!  You have a party to plan.  See culture and language section.  BTW, welcome home.

Thanks Carl, it's nice to be back in familiar surroundings (kind of). Just checked out the post and see that I've been relieved of my duties. Yippee!!!!!!