SSN, short for Social Security Number; that’s the magic number in the US. You get your SSN printed on a Social Security Card. This card is not an ID card though, because Americans are independent and the government is not supposed to clearly identify its citizens. So instead you get a card that just happens to have a unique number on it to clearly identify the person it belongs to, without being an ID card. Do you see the difference between the two? No? Me neither. Either way you need one in order to be able to work. This post describes how to get one.
If you are a US citizen and feel I am making fun of you or your country, please forgive me. Some things here are just very different than what I am used to. I am sure you will find similar things that appear very illogical to you when you would come to Germany. Also I am not the first one that came up with this idea.
For everyone that does not know what a SSN is, I can highly recommend the funny yet very informative explanation from CGP Grey on YouTube. The short story is: if you want to work in the US you need a SSN. There are a couple of other reasons why you might need one even if you don’t work, but this one is the relevant one here. The IRS (the tax authority in the US) uses this number to identify you for tax purposes. It is a unique number that you will keep for the rest of your life.
Furthermore it is used by a lot of other companies. For example my electricity provider, my bank as well as the credit union I got my car loan from use my SSN to identify me for the purpose of checking and supplying to my credit record. It is used everywhere your credit history is important.
Applying for a SSN
As far as I know there are two ways to apply for a SSN. You can either do that right when you apply for your visa at the embassy or at a social security office in the US. Sadly, the first option, to my knowledge, is only possible if you are applying for an immigration visa (i.e. a green card). If you are applying for a work visa, called a non-immigration visa, such as an H-1B or an L-1 you can not apply for your social security card during that process.
For most people that read this, this means you have to go to a social security office in the US, as early as possible, ideally on the same day you arrive. Why? Because you won’t get any money before you applied for your SSN. Your employer will not able to complete the paperwork required to pay you if you do not provide at least a document proofing that you applied for one.
You can go to any social office you like. It doesn’t have to be the one closest to you. So if you have one on your route to work, that’s a great stop to make on your first day. Be there early as there can be huge lines and the wait times get very bad.
I went to the social office on my first work day and arrived there 30 minutes before they opened. There were already four people in front of me and by the time they opened, there were about 20 people in line. If I’d come then, I would probably have waited well over an hour. You can also make an appointment if you plan ahead although I never figured out how. Make sure to bring your passport with your visa in it as well as your work contract.
You need to fill out form SS-5 “Application for a Social Security Card”. You can do so either when you are at the office or you can find the form online and print it. You have to bring it in paper form though, there is no way to submit the initial application online.
There is not much else you need to do. They will ask you for your visa and verify your identify and then you need to sign some documents. You will get a print out from them to proof that you signed up for a social security number which you can show your employer so that they can complete their paperwork and start paying you. The document does not contain your actual SSN yet. Your actual SSN will only be printed on the social security card that is mailed to you within two weeks.
Keep it Safe
It is very essential to keep your Social Security Card safe. If someone knows your SSN they can pretend they are you. They can open bank accounts in your name, get loans or create depth on your credit history. When your card arrives, sign it and store it somewhere safe.
In a lot of cases the last for numbers of your SSN are also used as a password or to verify your identity when you have forgotten a password to something. Instead of asking you about where you first met your wife, what your mother’s maiden name is or the street you grew up in, they will ask you for the last four digits of you SSN. So: KEEP. IT. SAFE.
SSN vs. National-ID
Do not make the same mistake I did. When I was looking for an apartment I needed proof of my employment so I printed out the very same from my employers intranet. It had an entry “SSN / National-ID” on it.
When I saw this, I thought that this is my SSN and that my employer had pulled that from some government system with all the other information they had from me. I wrote that number down as my SSN and later gave that to the dealer where I bought my car to get my loan approved.
A day later my actual SSN arrived and it was different. This created a huge mess and it took the car dealer several hours to change this because, as you can guess, telling a bank that the SSN they have from you is incorrect raises all sorts of suspicion. It is the same as if you would tell a bank in Europe that the ID card you showed them is fake. They were able to figure it out eventually but it took multiple phone calls to clean that up.
Wait for your SSN
In general, one tip that I would give everyone is to wait for the SSN to arrive before you do anything else. It takes about two weeks to arrive and it is just not worth it to get an apartment or a car in the meantime because you need to talk to everyone again when your SSN arrives to update it. I rented my apartment before I got my SSN and was already in the process of buying a car when my SSN arrived, and I wouldn’t recommend doing that.
You probably have to get a bank account before your SSN arrives, so you need to update your records with your bank, but other than that, my suggestion is that you wait with everything else that involves money. Changing or adding your SSN is particularly annoying because in a lot of cases you can’t do that online or on the phone as it essentially means that you change who you are with the company in question. Most companies need you to show up in person in order to do that.
A lot of stuff is also more complicated without a SSN. For example when I signed up with Santa Clara Power, the electricity provider for my apartment, I couldn’t do that online without a SSN. I needed to call them and then deposit about 100$ because they have no way to pull your credit records without a SSN. For all they know you have huge dept and are trying to hide that from them.
Happy Shopping
Once your SSN arrives, have fun shopping. Go start building your credit history — but please make sure you can afford what you buy.