USCIS Green Card Approval

I should point out at the start of this post that, as usual, this is an account of my own personal experience, it is not an official guide.  Your experience of getting USCIS green card approval may well be different to mine.  My account does, however, give you a general idea of the sort of things that can happen and where possible, I mention other possibilities that I have read about in my research, which didn’t happen to me personally.

As I mentioned in my post on the biometrics appointment, I didn’t received temporary work and travel permits, despite applying for them – instead I was “fast-tracked” straight to getting my USCIS green card.  “Fast-tracked” is a relative concept in this case, however, as it still took months before my green card was processed.

(Getting the temporary work and travel permits normally isn’t much of an advantage, anyway, as they usually take almost as long to process as the green card for most people in my situation, according to the research that I had done.  So I didn’t feel that I had missed out on anything by not getting them.)

One good thing, however, was that I went straight to the approval letter stage and I didn’t have to attend a USCIS green card interview.  From what I know, the green card interview is no more difficult than the K1 visa interview, but I would still have had the hassle of having to ask my wife to take time off work and drive us up to the USCIS office in a neighbouring city, as we had to do with the biometrics appointment.

Anyway, as I said, I got my green card approval letter, which welcomed me to the USA and explained that I would be receiving my USCIS green card within three weeks (as it happened, the card actually arrived just three days later).  My green card is only valid for two years, however, and I will need to apply for a permanent replacement before it runs out.  (Obtaining the replacement is a relatively cheap and easy process, I believe).

Once I had my green card, I went to my local social security office and applied for a replacement social security card.  This was because my original card was stamped: “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION”.  Now that I had a green card, I was able to swap it for a regular social security card without the stamp on it, free of charge.

Getting a Social Security Card as a US immigrant and non US citizen

In this post I thought I would talk about my experience of getting a social security card as a US immigrant and non US citizen, once I had arrived in the USA on my K1 Fiance Visa.  After all my troubles with trying to open a non US citizen bank account, I will not pretend that I was not a little nervous about trying to jump another bureaucratic hurdle.  But a US Social Security Card is essential in America for many things: the social security card itself can be used as proof of ID, plus you need the Social Security Number (SSN) that comes with it too.

The closest thing to a US Social Security Number in the UK, where I am from, is the National Insurance number.  However, we only generally use that for work, tax, and claiming benefits in Britain.  As I mentioned, you need a US Social Security Card and Social Security Number (SSN) for all sorts of things in America.  In the UK, you often have to use your passport as I.D. and occasionally your driving license as I.D.  In the USA, your Social Security Card and Driving License are requested constantly for I.D. purposes and there is no assumption that you have a passport (many Americans don’t have passports).

How do I get a social security card?

You need to find out where your local social security office is.  If you are unsure, look it up on the internet.  I went down to my local social security office with my wife shortly after getting married in Florida.  There was no appointment system, we were told just to turn up and join the queue.  I took along some I.D.: my passport with the I-94 in it and my marriage license.  I also took along a social security form applying for a US social security card and SSN that I had filled out in advance.  The Social Security Office had a lot of similarities with its British equivalent - if you have ever had to make a claim for unemployment or another welfare benefit, you probably won’t be phased by the experience, a waiting room full of bored and demoralized people kept waiting for a long period of time.  The only major difference from Britain was that we were checked over for guns by the security guard on the way in.

Eventually we were seen by one of the ladies at a hatch.  She dealt with my case efficiently and I was told that I would receive my card in about 2 weeks, which turned out to be an accurate.  My social security card was a standard one, apart from it stating on the front that it was "Valid for Work with DHS Authorization Only".  This was because I didn’t have a US green card or EAD.  Once you get your work authorization documents, you can go back to the social security office and they will swap your social security card for one without the legend on it (you need a US green card or EAD).  The SSN stays the same.  Unlike most of the K1 Fiance visa stuff, the social security process was completely free at every stage.