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Need advice regarding SSn/GC delivery situation

s.brody

s.brody

Registered Users (C)
So I entered the U.S. on November the 7th, and left the country after a few days. I intend to get back in a few months.
Without having any relative/friends to rely on, I requested help over the Internet for someone to provide me with an address for GC/SSN delivery. A fellow compatriot lady was kind enough to give me the address that I presented at my visa interview.
I'm not sure if I should trust this person 100%,though she hasn't given me any reason not to.
I've read that someone in possesion of your SSN can do a lot of harm, identity theft and such.

The 2 documents I'm worried about are the GreenCard and the SS card/number. I have yet to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, so my GC will definitely NOT be delivered to that address, right? Can I change the GC delivery address, when I pay the fee using the ELIS system?
As for the SS card, that's my biggest worry. How can I know for sure that SSA have my case in their system?. On DS-230, I've expressed my desire to be issued a SSN, but as many have experienced, you have to apply in person.
Can I change/stall my SSN delivery so that it goes to another address.?

Any advice is welcomed, as I'm kinda freaked out right now.
 
s.brody said:
So I entered the U.S. on November the 7th, and left the country after a few days. I intend to get back in a few months.
Without having any relative/friends to rely on, I requested help over the Internet for someone to provide me with an address for GC/SSN delivery. A fellow compatriot lady was kind enough to give me the address that I presented at my visa interview.
I'm not sure if I should trust this person 100%,though she hasn't given me any reason not to.
I've read that someone in possesion of your SSN can do a lot of harm, identity theft and such.

The 2 documents I'm worried about are the GreenCard and the SS card/number. I have yet to pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee, so my GC will definitely NOT be delivered to that address, right? Can I change the GC delivery address, when I pay the fee using the ELIS system?
As for the SS card, that's my biggest worry. How can I know for sure that SSA have my case in their system?. On DS-230, I've expressed my desire to be issued a SSN, but as many have experienced, you have to apply in person.
Can I change/stall my SSN delivery so that it goes to another address.?

Any advice is welcomed, as I'm kinda freaked out right now.
Click to expand...

Relax about the SSN. It is much more important to have it than it is to keep it secret. You'll find yourself being asked for your SSN in all sorts of inappropriate situations. It will be stored in an utterly ridiculous number of databases. So, the idea that you should worry about it being compromised is a little silly. I don't like that at all, but it is a realty. The only solution is monitoring after the fact.

It seems like checking the box on the DS230 works half the time. Unfortunately the only way to be sure you get it is to go to the SSA. You can try calling, but good luck with that.
 
Britsimon said:
Relax about the SSN. It is much more important to have it than it is to keep it secret. You'll find yourself being asked for your SSN in all sorts of inappropriate situations. It will be stored in an utterly ridiculous number of databases. So, the idea that you should worry about it being compromised is a little silly. I don't like that at all, but it is a realty. The only solution is monitoring after the fact.
Click to expand...
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10064.pdf This is a document published by SSA regarding Identity Theft. Looks like all I can do right now is hope none of that kind will happen to me. But realistically, how can a new immigrant's SSN be used unlawfully? With no credit history or medical benefits.
It is unbelievable to me how the USA, considered a first-world country, can allow someone to open bank accounts in your name, with such easy and lack of security measures.
 
s.brody said:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10064.pdf This is a document published by SSA regarding Identity Theft. Looks like all I can do right now is hope none of that kind will happen to me. But realistically, how can a new immigrant's SSN be used unlawfully? With no credit history or medical benefits.
It is unbelievable to me how the USA, considered a first-world country, can allow someone to open bank accounts in your name, with such easy and lack of security measures.
Click to expand...

Don't blame "the USA" for that - do you know of a country where there is no chance of identity theft?

The financial industry want to give credit and financial accounts. In the USA they use the SSN as a unique identifier - hence handing it out all over the place - mostly inappropriately. That is wrong in my opinion, but there is no point fighting that system - the ship has sailed. What you do is monitor your credit - either do that yourself or pay a company to do it for you (such as http://www.lifelock.com/). One of the few advantages to the SSN based system is that it is very easy to spot when something is going wrong - but you have to pay attention. If you adopt that approach then you can relax about people knowing your SSN - because frankly it is the worst kept secret. The Lifelock CEO stood in the middle of Times Square with a massive banner with his SSN (457 55 5462 - yes really) printed on it - basically "daring" anyone to try and steal his identity. Now many people did steal his identity from that and he has to fix that - i.e. monitor his credit and close any accounts opened in his name. Funny stuff.

You can refuse to hand out your SSN to people - but it is a pain. Read this if you want to try that approach - I guarantee you'll slip back to my approach which is leaving the front door open and installing security cameras to see who walks in. http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1690827,00.html
 
The SSN may well be just about to hit your mailbox already anyway. 10 days after entry is about average.
 
s.brody said:
Don't the SSA and USCIS send the envelopes via USPS? If so, can't I change the address at which to receive correspondence? Will this work?
https://moversguide.usps.com/icoa/h...ion=e5s1&_flowId=icoa-main-flow&referral=MG80
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Even if the SSN hasn't gone out yet, USPS cannot and will not deliver neither the GC nor the SSN to any other address outside of what's originally indicated by the sender even if you have a change of address in place with USPS. The law forbids forwarding of US government documents such as this. Change of address has to be done directly at the source.
 
Sm1smom said:
Even if the SSN hasn't gone out yet, USPS cannot and will not deliver neither the GC nor the SSN to any other address outside of what's originally indicated by the sender even if you have a change of address in place with USPS. The law forbids forwarding of US government documents such as this. Change of address has to be done directly at the source.
Click to expand...

I thought that was the case but wasn't sure, thanks. And I guess part of the reason for this is to prevent identity theft :D
 
s.brody said:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10064.pdf This is a document published by SSA regarding Identity Theft. Looks like all I can do right now is hope none of that kind will happen to me. But realistically, how can a new immigrant's SSN be used unlawfully? With no credit history or medical benefits.
It is unbelievable to me how the USA, considered a first-world country, can allow someone to open bank accounts in your name, with such easy and lack of security measures.
Click to expand...
There is not much that can be done with your ssn until you have established some credit. As others pointed out, there is a better chance for the number to be stolen from one of multitude of databases it gets stored on as you start using it. Nowadays however, it is much easier to tack your credit profile and immediately dispute online if something happens. You can sing-up for 18-30 dollars a month to track all the three reporting agencies (about $13 for one), however sometimes when you call to cancel they would offer you half price indefinitely. They will even throw in an insurance coverage (up to $ 1 mil) for identity theft in the package.

And of course, you are entitled to one free copy of your report with each of the three agencies once every 12 months.
 
Sensei-san said:
There is not much that can be done with your ssn until you have established some credit. As others pointed out, there is a better chance for the number to be stolen from one of multitude of databases it gets stored on as you start using it. Nowadays however, it is much easier to tack your credit profile and immediately dispute online if something happens. You can sing-up for 18-30 dollars a month to track all the three reporting agencies (about $13 for one), however sometimes when you call to cancel they would offer you half price indefinitely. They will even throw in an insurance coverage (up to $ 1 mil) for identity theft in the package.

And of course, you are entitled to one free copy of your report with each of the three agencies once every 12 months.
Click to expand...

Don't pay to monitor you credit - www.creditkarma.com for free....
 
Britsimon said:
Don't pay to monitor you credit - www.creditkarma.com for free....
Click to expand...
I will definitely check it out when I have a minute. Sounds perfect to be true though. I am not sure what their motivation is to provide the stuff for free. Do they make money on the credit card offers they make based on your profile? Are you using it, do you get free scores and reports every month?

I am not sure if you can dispute through them. If they provide "report numbers" with each of the agency than disputing is free through the agencies' websites. If they don't, one would need to get the numbers with the free copies requested directly from the agencies.
 
Sensei-san said:
I will definitely check it out when I have a minute. Sounds perfect to be true though. I am not sure what their motivation is to provide the stuff for free. Do they make money on the credit card offers they make based on your profile? Are you using it, do you get free scores and reports every month?

I am not sure if you can dispute through them. If they provide "report numbers" with each of the agency than disputing is free through the agencies' websites. If they don't, one would need to get the numbers with the free copies requested directly from the agencies.
Click to expand...

Yup I think they get money through targetting CC offers that fit your credit profile. The website is accessible anytime and the credit scores are updating weekly - but more importantly you can see all your accounts and credit enquiries - so it would be very easy to spot something new - and you can configure your profile to get alerts, like large purchases or a credit report change (like someone pulling your credit). So - I use CK for regular monitoring and if I had a problem I could investigate through the big agencies. No need to pay to monitor though....
 
Britsimon said:
Yup I think they get money through targetting CC offers that fit your credit profile. The website is accessible anytime and the credit scores are updating weekly - but more importantly you can see all your accounts and credit enquiries - so it would be very easy to spot something new - and you can configure your profile to get alerts, like large purchases or a credit report change (like someone pulling your credit). So - I use CK for regular monitoring and if I had a problem I could investigate through the big agencies. No need to pay to monitor though....
Click to expand...
My free way has been to use free 7-day trials from time to time with the agencies. However, it has been time consuming to call to cancel. Looks like CK is my type of the deal. I am excited to check it out!
 
Sm1smom said:
Absolutely right on that. Waste of money paying to monitor your credit. CK does a great job providing ones credit scores for free.
Click to expand...
It probably does a great job. However, it is only TransUnion report that they provide (no Experian or Equifax). When I was cleaning up my wife's credit, there were massive differences among the three reports. Also, as I request a credit line increase once a year, each creditor has its preference for one of the three. I am not sure if CK provides the "report number" for disputing though. Anyways, since it's free it is a good deal.

I tried to register, they could not verify my information, which is weird cause I know perfectly my identifying information with TransUnion (there are no variations). They ask to fax 2 forms of unexpired ID now..
I actually have a TransUnion report and scores once a month as a benefit from one of my credit cards.
 
Sensei-san said:
It probably does a great job. However, it is only TransUnion report that they provide (no Experian or Equifax). When I was cleaning up my wife's credit, there were massive differences among the three reports. Also, as I request a credit line increase once a year, each creditor has its preference for one of the three. I am not sure if CK provides the "report number" for disputing though. Anyways, since it's free it is a good deal.

I tried to register, they could not verify my information, which is weird cause I know perfectly my identifying information with TransUnion (there are no variations). They ask to fax 2 forms of unexpired ID now..
I actually have a TransUnion report and scores once a month as a benefit from one of my credit cards.
Click to expand...

Again, the main advantage is monitoring accounts and credit inquiries. By knowing that info you can pretty quickly spot ID theft issues. So - although the Transunion score is useful info - I personally rely on the Fico score more than the TU score (and I too get Fico as a freebie through Discover).
 
Britsimon said:
Again, the main advantage is monitoring accounts and credit inquiries. By knowing that info you can pretty quickly spot ID theft issues. So - although the Transunion score is useful info - I personally rely on the Fico score more than the TU score (and I too get Fico as a freebie through Discover).
Click to expand...
Yes Sir.
I personally do not even care about the scores, the report is what I care about. We do not know the formulas they use to calculate the scores (or weights they put on various factors). All we can do is to use basic knowledge on what is good, what is bad for the credit profile and keep it straight. I know that some actions that I do will depress my score temporarily, but I do them to have a thicker credit and better score in the future. And the score is just a quick summary for a quick reference. For major purchases (house, car), I suspect, the score is not that important. One can have a nice credit score with just one small credit card, but creditors would look at payment history, types of accounts, credit limits. Even if the lenders have some score rules, like your score is 800 - you qualify for 3% mortgage, they do not disclose them to us. Better yet there are so many different scores (formulas) in the market right now. My point is knowing the score is just for our own entertainment, the important thing is make those obvious variables on the report as good as we can to get the best deal from creditors.
I apologize it has been off topic..
Anyway, working on one's credit is a lot of guess work similar to what we do here on this forum with DV-KCC-Cutoffs.
By trial and error I change one variable at a time and to get any indication on how the formula works. But then again, there are a lot of unknown variables, and adding more factors, using complex formulas do not necessarily improve predictive accuracy, the actual set up remains mysterious.
 
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