Overstay Visa and Work

evilhoney

New Member
I came to the U.S. as F-1 student. Something has happened to my family and we lost everything. I couldn't afford my tuition and lost my F-1 status. I'm still in the U.S. and I want to have a job so I can at least have some money to live either in the U.S. or back in my home country. I still have my student ssn, which is for work only under DHS authorization. Can I apply for jobs in the U.S. with my ssn? Since the consequence is to lose my legal status and I have already lost it. And can I file taxes like other people do? Thank you.
 
Well, before you lost your F-1 status, you could have applied for EAD (work authorization) due to hardship reasons, which will allow you to work outside campus. Now, I am not sure what you can do. An SSN is not enough to work legally, you need an EAD. If you do get income somehow, yes under tax law you must file taxes.
 
The I-9 that you're going to fill when you get a job specifically says that a social security card with "valid for work only with DHS authorization" is not acceptable unless you also present, well, employment authorization. This means EAD or green card. Your prospective employer might ask for EAD/GC when he sees that sentence on your SS card. Worse, he could use E-Verify and get you flagged as ineligible to work right away.

There are about 12 million undocumented immigrants in USA, and I suspect they skirt the system by getting paid with cash, or by working for sympathetic employers willing to overlook that sentence on the SS card. If the employer conveniently ignores the sentence, he simply asks for SS card and driver's license.
 
Thank you for helping! If I get lucky and get a job with only ssn, will I get in trouble filing taxes with this types of ssn?
 
The IRS doesn't care about your immigration status as long as you pay your taxes. The CIS obviously does, but in this country the IRS doesn't talk to the CIS. Your income tax is private information that the IRS can't share without court order, at least that's my understanding of it.
 
Not only will you not get in trouble by filing taxes, you are required by law to file taxes if you have income in the U.S. -- i.e. you would be breaking the law if you didn't file taxes. Proving that you filed taxes whenever required is important if you one day get the chance to immigrate legally.
 
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