Possibly SPAM: Going to SSA

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becky

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

Might be spam since it's not INS related, but I wanted to share my experience of going to the Social Security Administration yesterday to get my SSN card changed so that it doesn't have "NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT" stamped on it (I got it when I was an F1 student).

Anyway, it reminded me of my visit to the San Francisco INS office. I went to the SSA on Valencia St. in the Mission District of San Francisco. The hardest part of the entire visit was getting into the building. The security guard doubles as the person who issues tickets -- yeah, it's like the experience of queuing for the stamping -- and you need a ticket.

In my case the guard was not sure that I'd get the new card. He kindly explained to me that even though I had the stamp (7/19) that the INS usually takes a "few weeks" to process things. (ha ha ha... it's hard to listen to that after it's taken erm... 128 weeks to get my I485 approved). He wanted me to come back when I had my card. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the lady at the INS had said it would take 10 months to process my card... So, eventually I convinced him to let me in, take a chance, and we'd see.

Fifteen minutes later I was processed by a lovely person who was not phased by the stamp rather than card. On the way out, I let him know that they were ok with the passport stamp, so hopefully it'll be better. Convincing him took 5 minutes or so, waiting was another 15 minutes (room with chairs like the SF INS, a couple of different ticket counting machines, watch for your number and then go when you're called).

becky
 
Value in getting an updated card?

Just curious... is there any value - apart from the 'neatness' of having an unmarked SSN card - of getting a new one? In the eleven years we've lived in the USA, I can't recall ever having had to show my SSN card to anyone, including employers. I've just shown relevant INS/BCIS/USCIS documents, which currently would be my passport stamp, and hopefully soon my plastic card. Any comments?
 
No one asks for your SS card, which is true, for record sake it would be better to have it clean. You never know what these various federal branches of govt. would be upto if ever for whatever reason they end up checking you for anything.

You would better be safe than sorry. Again it is your choice to do or not to do.

Good Luck
 
SS card

You could change your SS card as soon as you got your first EAD. I did it to get rid of 'Not valid for employment' stamp. Usually it is not important, but some human resources people may be confused seeing EAD and 'Not valid for employment' at the same time.
 
wik

Hi Wik,

I was wondering the same thing. I've never had enough trouble with it to get it changed. So, in part it was that I was waiting to go to the dentist and I thought well I might as well do that and tidy up my old non-resident life!

That said, I have been asked to show it to people in HR before. It has surprised them, and made them a little nervous even in the presence of my immigration paperwork.

Another reason I thought it might be good is to get this change of status marked with the social security administration. I'm not sure who qualifies for retirement benefits (and more importantly, who will qualify when I retire and there's more pressure on the system and they might want to prune the number of people currently eligible to collect).

So, basically, I decided that it was an insurance policy of sorts. When I naturalise, I would probably go back and apply again to have my record changed. I would like them to know these types of things.

becky
 
well if social security is still alive and has tons of cash we might expect retirement benefits.

At the rate things seems right now, nothing can be said for sure.

Yet let all due paper work from our side better be clear and clean. So my view is when it is in your control to keep it all in sync, why not do it and keep you records in order rather than have one hick up here one there just because no one bothers about it.

Your comments are welcome.
 
I had to provide copy of SS card to my employes a couple of times. It's better to remove this wording instead of explaining, and you never know if it can be explained to every one --- some people might not understand. I read here, that some people even had hard time explaining their Advance Parole.
 
My SS card says "Valid for work only with INS authorization". My GC has been approved. If I go now would the SSA change my card to "Valid for work" or something like that?
 
whatDidIDo? said:
My SS card says "Valid for work only with INS authorization". My GC has been approved. If I go now would the SSA change my card to "Valid for work" or something like that?
Click to expand...

Go ahead and change your SS card. The "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION" thing will be removed since you are a permanent resident, so that you are no longer shackled by INS for working purposes.
 
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