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My POE experience at JFK.

D

darkhorse

New Member
Just got here a few hours ago.

My first question that I have is what/where is my Alien Number/ A Number? My host is asking me about it and says that I can't get a SSN without it.

Any ideas on this one?

And things exactly didn't go right at Immigration. The DHS officer opened up my yellow envelope and told me that one piece of paper was missing (he commented that many DV cases miss this sheet and murmured that it was something about where I am going to stay.) He told me not to worry, said that the embassy had messed up.

I was sent to a 2nd room (larger with many DHS officers) where another officer took my right index on a paper with actual ink and said "You are on your way and stamped my Passport page with the Visa)

Any ideas on what was that?
 
darkhorse said:
My first question that I have is what/where is my Alien Number/ A Number? My host is asking me about it and says that I can't get a SSN without it.
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You don't need an A-Number to get an SSN. The I-551 stamp should be sufficient. I got my SSN years before my A-number.
 
TheRealCanadian said:
You don't need an A-Number to get an SSN. The I-551 stamp should be sufficient. I got my SSN years before my A-number.
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These are two different things. Yes, you can get a SSN without being a permanent resident - all you need is an employment authorization, but your SSN card will have it stated. Once you become an LPR, you can get a clean card, and this is when they will need your A#. And BTW, this number is also written below the I-551 stamp.
 
Which one/where is the A# in the I-551? Is the 8 digit red number at the bottom of the visa?
 
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darkhorse said:
Which one/where is the A# in the I-551? Is the 8 digit red number at the bottom of the visa?
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In my passport it is hand written right below the stamp: DV6 AXXXXXXXX. The same thing about some of my friends with this stamp. But it can be just something common for my field office, I have no information about the whole country.
 
masematn said:
In my passport it is hand written right below the stamp: DV6 AXXXXXXXX. The same thing about some of my friends with this stamp. But it can be just something common for my field office, I have no information about the whole country.
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My A# was written on my I-551 stamp, but again that was given years after the A# was assigned. I'm not sure if an A# is assigned at the POE with an immigrant visa holder.
 
I haven't entered the US yet but to the outside of my mysterious brown envelope the consulate has stapled a sheet of paper called "Immigrant Data Summary" which lists a whole lot of my details and a photo of me. Maybe this is the piece of paper that was missing from your envelope. The first item on the sheet of paper is my "A-Number", which is the same number as the "Registration Number" on my visa (but with an A at the start, e.g. AXXXXXXXX). It's not the same as the red number at the bottom of my visa.
 
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