SSN and Green card - URGENT!!

[spartakus]

Hi all,

I went today to the Social Security Office to change my card to left the condition and I was told that I am still as F1 visa in the system, this is after 4 months of the interview and the approval. I was told that they need to verify with local immigration office and it would take 4 - 6 weeks. Anybody was in this situation before? Is it normal that after 4 months I am still not in the system as permanent resident. My GC was approved after interview in the local office.

what about when I travel, would I be able to travel? I thought that once they assign an immigrant visa for your A#, it is already in the system.

Thanks,
Spartakus

[TheRealCanadian]

Originally Posted by spartakus

Anybody was in this situation before? Is it normal that after 4 months I am still not in the system as permanent resident. My GC was approved after interview in the local office.

I had a similar issue when I went for my SS card update a month after my interview. So what? I got a new SS card in the mail after a month instead of a week or two. Big deal.

what about when I travel, would I be able to travel? I thought that once they assign an immigrant visa for your A#, it is already in the system.

What bearing does SSA's database have on your ability to travel? None.

[spartakus]

The lady said she checked with INS for status. is that SSA Database or immigration database? that is why I was asking about the any bearings for this on travel.

regards,
Spartakus

[adibazz]

Yes, SSA office do have access to USCIS (INS) database. They do verify your immigration status directly connecting to this USCIS database.

From you experience it looks to me that USCIS database is not correctly updated with your immigration status after your approval & PP stamping. I would suggest you visit your nearest local service center, talk to them and get it corrected ASAP before you get any more surprises like this. Good Luck..

Originally Posted by spartakus

The lady said she checked with INS for status. is that SSA Database or immigration database? that is why I was asking about the any bearings for this on travel.

regards,
Spartakus

[TheRealCanadian]

Originally Posted by adibazz

From you experience it looks to me that USCIS database is not correctly updated with your immigration status after your approval & PP stamping. I would suggest you visit your nearest local service center, talk to them and get it corrected ASAP before you get any more surprises like this.

I'd just let SSA verify things using the old-fashioned route and all will be well. Trust me, USCIS knows his status.

[adibazz]

I'll trust you but not USCIS.
Most of us here know how efficient USCIS works. You can NOT rely on them to get it work. sometime you have to act. He is talking here 4 months period after an approval.

I think Spartacus knows how good USCIS works when he found that they send his records to silo before creating his plastic card.

Originally Posted by TheRealCanadian

I'd just let SSA verify things using the old-fashioned route and all will be well. Trust me, USCIS knows his status.

[spartakus]

Hi Adibazz,

I am planning to get an appointment to ask about my plastic card anyway but I also agree with TheRealCanadian that SSA should be able to verify with INS local office. I asked the lady at SSA and she said this is normal and they get this all the time. Most of us here are programmers and know how this works (How datawarehouses work and who knows if databases in local offices get loaded into the master datawarehouse or not) and most of us know how efficient USCIS is !! so I am not surprised that the system is still not updated. My online status has not been updated since it was transferred to local office, also status for all of us still shows F1 in SSA although I switched to H1B some time back (6 years back) and my daughter entred last on H4B so nothing was updated even before I got my passport stamped. By the time I get an appointment with the local office I would get something from SSA.


RealCanadian, how long did it take to get your updated SS card?

Thanks,

Spartakus

[TheRealCanadian]

Originally Posted by spartakus

RealCanadian, how long did it take to get your updated SS card?

It took around 4 or 5 weeks from when I went to the SSA office. They took a photocopy of the passport stamp and the SS-5 form.

[adibazz]

Once SSA office is able verify your immigration status through their USCIS database connectivity then they will accept your SS-5 application and you'll get your corrected SS card within couple of weeks. I applied for the same at SSA office on 08/03 and got my card on 08/12. good luck with you USCIS visit.

[spartakus]

Hi all,

I called in the 800 #. a very nice guy was on the other line and he said that is normal and they get this all time but I asked him to transfer me to an immigration officer and after 20 mins wait I talked to an officer who was very nice but I do not think he knows what he was talking about. He told me it is normal that SSN is not updated and when I asked him if SSA are going to check with Charlotte, he said no, they are going to check with TSC but the lady att SSA told me specifcally that they are going to check with Charlotte and I coild see a big folder with immigration address in Charoltte there.

Then he told me that Charlotte use the same database that TSC uses but again when I went sometimeback they were able to pull up data which was not avaialble to officers in TSC plus people who interview, thier online status never get updated so I doubt that it is the same database. He also said that it is possible that they did not update the records.

I asked him about travel, if I am not in the system as permanent resident how in the world am I asupposed to travel and then he said the stamp is enough.

One mor ething he said we may all want to wait till we get the plastic to correct the SSNs which did not make any sense.

Spartakus

[TheRealCanadian]

Originally Posted by spartakus

Then he told me that Charlotte use the same database that TSC uses but again when I went sometimeback they were able to pull up data which was not avaialble to officers in TSC plus people who interview, thier online status never get updated so I doubt that it is the same database.

Keep in mind that there are lots of different databases. The two big ones when my I-485 was pending were CLAIMS and RAFICS. RAFICS is the internal filing system that tracks physical file locations, and CLAIMS tracks master petition status.

Service Center employees can access both, and CLAIMS is available at the Ports of Entry and local offices. There are other databases, such as the State Department's visa number database (which the local offices and Service Centers can hit, I saw them) and then there's the online status databases, which is an imperfect copy of some CLAIMS data. The 1-800 folks probably use the online app, with the IIOs maybe getting CLAIMS access.

SSA is probably using a subset of USCIS data, which is copied periodically by some sort of batch process, I'm willing to wager. They are not hitting "live" USCIS records in real time, but something that's copied periodically. It takes a few days or weeks to get the latest data, and even then I wouldn't be surprised if some records get dropped.

So the folks that "matter", USCIS and CBP employees, hit live CLAIMS data which is pretty darn accurate. SSA, the 1-800 folks and everyone else gets data that may be accurate, but your SSN situation doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

I asked him about travel, if I am not in the system as permanent resident how in the world am I asupposed to travel and then he said the stamp is enough.

Of course. Just because you're not in some subset of CLAIMS data that gets copied periodically doesn't mean that your A-file doesn't exist.

One mor ething he said we may all want to wait till we get the plastic to correct the SSNs which did not make any sense.

Well, it makes sense if you want your entire SSN experience to be completely uncomplicated. I wouldn't advise waiting, since you can go to SSA with the stamp, and so what if you want 4-6 weeks for the new card?

[spartakus]

The database that SSA accesses is called SAVE, I am note sure how it gets refreshed but the lady did not seem surprised it does not have the latest data there. I am planning to go to the local office in two weeks so hopefully I will get an answer. I do not think my status as permanent resident is only on my passport, I think it has to be in the database at the local office and teh State department database since this is where they assign us the immigrant visa.

Spartakus