Permanent resident status granted, but have not received card

[mgrt67]

My 9 year old step daughter was granted permanent resident status on March 5th of this year. We received the approval letter after the interview. The letter states she will receive her card within the next 18 months. I'm wondering why my wife’s card only took a few weeks, but they are saying up to 1.5 years for my daughters? Will it really take this long?

One more question... I need to get her a social security card, so I can claim her on my taxes. Social security says the approval letter isn’t enough and we need to wait until she gets her card. Is this true?

 

[TheRealCanadian]

I'm wondering why my wife’s card only took a few weeks, but they are saying up to 1.5 years for my daughters? Will it really take this long?

Probably not.

One more question... I need to get her a social security card, so I can claim her on my taxes. Social security says the approval letter isn’t enough and we need to wait until she gets her card. Is this true?

SSA is right. Why haven't you applied for an ITIN for your daughter? How long have you been here?

 

[Neil B.]

ITIN is " Individual Taxpayer Identification Number " for IRS

This is available at your nearest IRS office, the documents you currently have are probably adequate to get one. Then you can claim her on your taxes.

 

[mgrt67]

Thanks for the advice. I have never heard of an ITIN before. After reading about it on the IRS website it does seem like this is all I will need to claim her on my taxes. I don’t mind if the permanent resident card takes 1.5 years for her to get, but I don’t want to miss out on the $1,500 child tax credit, because of the resident card taking so long.

To answer to your question about how long I have been here... I was born in the US and have been here 40 years. My wife and daughter are the ones emigrating here.

Thanks again...