How soon after getting citizenship should someone notify SSA?

D

dhlunar

Registered Users (C)
My wife became a citizen on May 17. In the packet she was handed at the ceremony it recommended waiting at least 10 days and then going to a Social Security Office with the certificate or US Passport to have the social security record updated to show that she is a citizen.

Well, my wife has been a citizen now for almost 3 months and has not gone to the SS office to have her record updated. Granted for six weeks of the last three months her certificate was at the Passport Agency while her passport application was pending. However, since she has gotten her passport, going to the social security office has not been on the top of her list of things to do, and also complains that the office that is "near" were she works is not really near that she can walk to.

I explained to my wife that she needs to go get this done soon since not having the record updated might cause problems when we file taxes, when she gets another job (especially if they use e-verify), or wants to open a bank account or bank loan. Am I correct that this something that she should as soon as possible or is this something she can do when she gets around to it?
 
dhlunar said:
since not having the record updated might cause problems when we file taxes
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Nope.

when she gets another job (especially if they use e-verify)
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Maybe, and only if they use e-Verify. I should probably use the self-check to test.

or wants to open a bank account or bank loan.
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No problem.

She probably should get around to doing it, but it's not a huge deal until she gets to retirement.
 
Nope, it's open to everyone now.

Interesting - I selected noncitizen alien and it said I was eligible to work. I'm not sure what e-Verify returns to employers.
 
dhlunar said:
I explained to my wife that she needs to go get this done soon since not having the record updated might cause problems when we file taxes, when she gets another job (especially if they use e-verify), or wants to open a bank account or bank loan. Am I correct that this something that she should as soon as possible or is this something she can do when she gets around to it?
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It's not urgent. She can wait until it's convenient for her, assuming that she's not going to be claiming Social Security benefits anytime in the near future. But it's still advisable to get it done before she changes jobs, in case the next employer uses e-Verify. And if her SS card has the employment restriction, the SSA will send a new card without the restriction.
 
Not a big deal my brother did not do it for 7 yrs after he got his citizenship. He did have a SSC that had no restrictions on it.
 
Jackolantern said:
It's not urgent. She can wait until it's convenient for her, assuming that she's not going to be claiming Social Security benefits anytime in the near future. But it's still advisable to get it done before she changes jobs, in case the next employer uses e-Verify. And if her SS card has the employment restriction, the SSA will send a new card without the restriction.
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No employment restrictions on her current card. She had an restricted card when she was on non-immigrant status, but notified SSA when she got her GC and they sent her a unrestricted card at that time.

Don't know why DHS just doesn't forward the information to SSA. Would make life a lot easier.
 
dhlunar said:
Don't know why DHS just doesn't forward the information to SSA. Would make life a lot easier.
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They do forward it to SSA. But due to the possibility of system glitches with the data transfer and clerical errors on either end which may result in some noncitizens being wrongly identified as citizens and some citizens not being flagged as citizens, they wait for the individual to show up with physical proof of citizenship before officially updating the citizenship status.
 
I dont think its urgent at all. I have done all the things you describe while being all kinds of statuses in the US. I will update mine once I have my cert back from the passport office, and only because my wife's card has a restriction on it and it would be nice to get that off.
 
I lot of people who naturalized, including me and my parents, didn't know that you should (or that there was even a point in) update your status with Social Security. I already had a Social Security card with no restrictions from when I was a permanent resident, so I didn't need a new card. I have studied and worked in many places in the U.S., including in the government, without any issues or noticing anything at all.

I eventually updated my status with SSA 7 years after I naturalized.
 
newacct said:
I lot of people who naturalized, including me and my parents, didn't know that you should (or that there was even a point in) update your status with Social Security. I already had a Social Security card with no restrictions from when I was a permanent resident, so I didn't need a new card. I have studied and worked in many places in the U.S., including in the government, without any issues or noticing anything at all.

I eventually updated my status with SSA 7 years after I naturalized.
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my brother did same thing.
 
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