PRELIMINARY MINUTES of AILA-SSA-CIS LIAISON MEETING on MARCH 8, 2004 on SOCIAL SECURITY-RELATED

PRELIMINARY MINUTES OF AILA-SSA-CIS LIAISON MEETING on MARCH 8, 2004 ON SOCIAL SECURITY-RELATED ISSUES: Preliminary minutes, not yet approved by the agency, from a meeting between AILA, the SSA, and USCIS representatives discussing, among other things, delays in obtaining social security numbers, verification through the SAVE system, name discrepancies, drivers licenses, no-match letters, and enumeration at entry.
In attendance for SSA were the following Social Insurance Specialists: Jim Anderson, Ann Augustine, Gina Bauer, Darrell Blevins, Kay Bernstein, Terry Fahey, Patti Gavin, Jackie Holman, Helen Huber, James Lewis, Tina O'Neill, Elizabeth Teachey, Sherrye Walker

In attendance for CIS were: Elizabeth Brown, staff at Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE); Sally Goya, staff at Evaluation & Research Division; Phyllis Lancaster, Acting Director Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program (SAVE); Lisa Roney, Director of Evaluation & Research Division

In attendance for AILA were: Joanna Carson (AILA National - advocacy staff), Susan Cohen (committee member), Denise Hammond (committee member), Amy Nice (committee chair), Cora Tekach (AILA National - liaison associate director), Crystal Williams (AILA National - liaison director)

The format of the minutes is TOPIC, followed by questions from AILA and information provided to AILA in response

1. PROBLEM SOLVING IN DELAY OR ERRORS IN SSN CARD ISSUANCE

Q: Will SSA consider taking on a problem-solving role in coordination with AILA liaison so delayed SSN card issuance can be addressed in a timely fashion?

A: Yes. SSA has decided that where an alien applies for SSN and does not receive SSN card within 30 calendar days from date of application that AILA liaison representative can contact SSA regional representatives with case information. SSA regional offices will work with local SSA offices and where the only remaining issue is status verification with DHS, the SSA regional offices will work with DHS status verification offices (which already exist throughout the country). Please see separate InfoNet notice establishing instructions to AILA members for use of the new SSA inquiry system for delayed SSN issuance.

Q: What can AILA do to make the SSA inquiry system work for delayed SSN card issuance?

A: Instruct your clients to not apply for SSN until 10 calendar days after admission to the United States, for the AILA status check be sure to provide accurate information and clear copies concerning your clients' immigration status and their prior interaction with the local SSA office (if possible have names of SSA staff or managers who provided information to/about your client), be sure that your client has indeed filed an application received by SSA (usually filed in person), advise your client to request an acknowledgement letter verifying receipt (this is usually provided automatically by the local SSA office), and, lastly, be sure that alien or his attorney contact local SSA office manager to attempt to resolve delay before making inquiry via AILA SSA Liaison. The AILA SSA Liaison Committee should provide the following to SSA: copy of I 94, copy of passport identity page, copy of CIS last approval notice for current status (if any), copy of last DS2019 or last I 20 (if any), copy of last US visa used to enter the US (if any), copy of SSA acknowledgement letter or denial letter (if any), and a written message which includes the following: (a) Alien's name, (b) Alien's A# or I-94 Admission Number, (c) SSA local office address where alien experienced the problem, (d) date applied for SSN and brief description of the problem including date that alien or representative spoke to or attempted to speak to local SSA manager to resolve problem, (e) contact address or phone number for alien (in case SSA needs to contact alien to resolve problem), (f) if alien has previously been issued SSN and is trying to obtain new card (lost or name change) then also provide SSN. In local SSA offices where DHS has posted a status verifier, please use the on-site status verification process and do not present an AILA inquiry. Presently, there is a status verification specialist at a Brooklyn SSA office and CIS and SSA are considering duplicating this joint effort at an SSA office in Las Vegas and in Houston. Staffing limitations make it impossible to implement this nationwide at each of SSA's 1300 offices.

2. SSA STRUCTURE

Q: Which part of SSA deals with SSNs?

A: Records Maintenance (RM). RM is resposible for Enumeration and Earnings records. Enumeration records means creating (enumerating) a SSN for an individual. Earnings records means record keeping to match earnings with a SSN. In addition to RM, SSA also maintains DI (Disability Insurance), RS (Retirement and Survivors Insurance), SI (Supplemental Security Income), HI (Health Insurance), and VB (Special Veterans Benefits) divisions and operations. For a description of the various offices within SSA that are involved in the enumeration and earnings record keeping for RM (Records Maintenance) processes, go to

Q: Where can AILA find SSA internal guidance and procedures that SSA's 1300 offices use?

A: SSA's Policy Operational Manual System (POMS) and SSA's guidance to the field (EMs or Emergency Messages) can be found at POMS guidance that applies to RM (Records Maintenance) are both RM numbered messages and GN (General) numbered messages that are RM-related. To see how POMS is divided and organized, go to EM guidance is official policy guidance that supplements, explains, or supplants POMS.

Q: Where can AILA find information about office locations, forms, change of address notifications and other information for the public, like our foreign national clients?

A: For public information about online changes of address, SSA forms and the like, go to

3. IMMIGRATION STATUS VERIFICATION PROTOCOLS FOR SSN ISSUANCE

Q: What is the status verification process that SSA completes before it issues SSN to a non-citizen?

A: Under current SSA regulations issued post 9/11, SSA will not issue SSNs to non US citizens without independent verification from DHS of the alien's status. SSA participates in the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program in order to obtain DHS status verification. The SAVE process allows SSA to make the following verification queries:

(1) Electronic query by SSA into ASVI (Alien Status Verification Index)
(2) For refugees or asylees: fax query to RAPS (Refugee, Asylum and Parole System) if not in ASVI
(3) Manual query by SSA to DHS via G-845 if not in ASVI or RAPS - effective 1/5/2004 for F, M, J, SSA faxes G-845 to Los Angeles status verification office (CIS) for status verification via SEVIS, for all others G-845 is mailed to a district status verification office (CIS).
SSA and CIS will discuss expanding access to CLAIMS data through SAVE, including access to CLAIMS data that would verify changes of nonimmigrant status and extensions of nonimmigrant stay.

Q: What is SAVE?

A: SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) was established after IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986). IRCA created a requirement that certain federal agencies must verify alien status before providing benefits (mostly means-tested entitlements). The SAVE system of queries was established by legacy INS for this purpose. SAVE is a statutory process for status verification, it is not a computer program or database. SAVE is now managed by CIS. SSA is not required to use SAVE, and instead is a voluntary user. SSA signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with legacy INS in December 1991 concerning its participation in SAVE and the costs to be charged SSA for SAVE queries, and in January 1992 SSA began using SAVE for a variety of purposes. For more on SAVE and SSA's participation in SAVE go to

Q: What is ASVI?

A: Alien Status Verification Index, maintained by CIS. SSA obtains access to ASVI, on a per electronic inquiry fee basis, through SSA's participation in SAVE. ASVI has data from the following systems uploaded into it on a regular basis: Central Index System and NIIS (Non Immigrant Information System). Both NIIS and the Central Index are also CIS-maintained databases. The Central Index includes data on new immigrants who have consular processed and been admitted through ports of entry as well as those approved through adjustment of status applications. The Central Index also contains data uploaded from CLAIMS (Computer Linked Application Information Management Systems) on individuals with A#s (Alien Registration Numbers). The only data from CLAIMS uploaded into the Central Index is that associated with A#s. CIS District Offices do not have direct access to enter approval data in CLAIMS. For more information about CLAIMS, go to NIIS contains I-94 Card data from nonimmigrant admissions into the United States. NIIS data is not updated when the same I-94 Card is later amended in CLAIMS after a change of status approval or extension of stay approval. For more information about NIIS go to

Q: What is RAPS?

A: Refugee, Asylum and Parole System. For more information about RAPS go to

Q: What is the G-845 process for F, M and J status holders?

A: Effective 1/5/2004, any status verification request to DHS for F, M, and J status holders will be faxed to the CIS status verification unit in Los Angeles which will handle these status verification requests through SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System). No applications for SSNs should be made sooner than 10 calendar days after admission to the United States. If F, M and J program sponsors can pre-complete I-94 Cards at the time of sending the DS2019 or I-20 forms this might avoid some problems with data collection and name discrepancies with SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) and NIIS (Non Immigrant Information System). I-94 Cards can be purchased in bulk from the GPO (Government Printing Office). F, M, and J program sponsors need to activate their students and exchange visitors as soon as possible after entry into the US. "Activation" within SEVIS is a program sponsor responsibility, whereby the F, M, or J status holder's presence and residence in the US is officially confirmed by the sponsor that issued the I-20 or DS-2019. While programs are given up to 30 days after admission to activate participants in SEVIS, the status verification process for SSN issuance requires that the program sponsor activate the F, M, or J participant in SEVIS. The system for status verification for students and exchange visitors is working well. CIS and SSA have teleconference every two weeks to discuss and assess. About 95%-97% of F, M, J status holders are now having status verified within 24 hours of fax request to CIS by SSA. The remaining 3%-5% are taking an additional 1-4 days to resolve. Between 1/5/2004 and 2/27/2004, the CIS status verification office in Los Angeles verified status of 12,353 students and exchange visitors. Other sources for F, M, and J SSA-related procedures include:

(1)For the 1/5/2004 SSA policy instructions on status verification for F, M, and J status holders go to

(2) For the 3/4/2004 SSA instructions for handling backlogged SSNs for F, M, and J status holders go to

Q: What is the G-845 process for all other aliens besides F, M, and J status holders?

A: SSA mails a G-845 manual status verification form request to CIS local status verification office covering the alien's place of residence. Some but not all CIS district offices have status verification staff as part of the local district office CIS operations. Los Angeles, where all F, M, and J status verification requests are going, is one of about 30 CIS status verification offices.

Q: Have SSA and CIS considered using US VISIT data for the G-845 process?

A: US VISIT is "owned" by Bureau of Transportation Security (BTS) at the Bureau level and discussions between CIS, BTS and SSA have not occurred as of yet about the possibility of CIS utilizing US VISIT data to verify immigration status to SSA for the purpose of issuing SSN.

4. NAME DISCREPANCY IN SSN APPLICATION

Q: Several SSA offices have apparently advised foreign nationals that where there is a name change from the official CIS approval notice (I-797) that no SSN can be issued until CIS issues a new approval notice even where the basis for the name change Is marriage. Since CIS has no procedure to issue such notices, and SSA likely is aware of this, please provide a correct statement as to SSA's policy concerning name changes.

A: Where an individual marries and there is a name discrepancy from CIS approval notice based on marriage, this is a minor name difference that is resolved upon presentation of the marriage certificate. For SSA policy on minor name differences go to and for SSA policy on major name differences go to

5. SSN ISSUANCE AND STATE LICENSING

Q: Has SSA considered introducing or supporting legislation to ban the use of the SSN for any purpose other than federal entitlement programs and Social Security Act benefit programs?

A: No

Q: What can be done about states that continue to require SSN for various professional licenses?

A: If states want to set up impediments to licensing, SSA cannot bar states from doing so. It may be that states which still require SSNs initiated such requirements based on federal requirements (implemented in 1997) for states to track SSNs for child support purposes. Section 466 of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), requires each State to record SSNs for any applicant for a professional, driver's, occupational, recreational or marriage license by recording SSNs on the application, in order to track data on possible owed child support. Section 466 also requires states to record SSNs for any individual subject to a divorce decree, support order or paternity determination or acknowledgment, also for the purpose of providing child support tracking. In July 1999, the Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the program to track child support administration, verified that these state requirements only apply where an SSN exists. Specifically, HHS stated in its 7/14/1999 guidance that "We interpret the statutory language in section 466(a)(13) of the Act to require that States have procedures which require an individual to furnish any social security number that he or she may have. Section 466(a)(13) of the Act does not require that an individual have a social security number as a condition of receiving a license, etc. We would advise States to require persons who wish to apply for a license who do not have social security numbers to submit a sworn affidavit, under penalty of perjury, along with their application stating that they do not have a social security number. Such an affidavit should also be required for divorce, support or paternity matters where an individual indicates that he or she does not have a social security number or in death cases where a family member, next of kin indicates that the deceased did not have a social security number." For a copy of the July 1999 HHS guidance go to

Q: Why won't SSA take ownership of the driver's license problem and work with states to ensure that no state restricts driving license privileges based on whether an applicant possesses SSN?

A: SSA made clear in its 9/25/2003 final rule that SSA will no longer issue SSNs for driver's licenses or other non-working purposes. It is up to a state if it wants to add impediments to its licensing procedures. Presently, it is SSA's understanding that only a few states continue to attempt to tie the SSN to driver's licensing: Illinois still requires a SSN, Utah and West Virginia require SSN or ITIN, and Pennsylvania requires an affidavit attesting to the fact that the driver's license applicant is not eligible for a SSN. For the final September 2003 rule that establishes that SSA will not issue SSNs for this purpose, go to

6. GUIDANCE TO EMPLOYERS WHEN SSN ISSUANCE DELAYED

Q: Please provide official guidance to employers as to how employers are to proceed with payroll and withholding when SSN issuance is delayed.

A: SSA advises that as long as the employer has confirmation that the employee has applied for an SSN in compliance with IRS rules (SSA offices are supposed to issue an acknowledgement letter verifying SSN application) then the employer should show 000 00 0000 (all zeroes) for the SSN until the SSN is obtained. 26 CFR 31.6011(b)-2 establishes that the IRS requires that an employee file for an SSN within 7 days of starting employment. SSA policy statement to employers: "What if the worker doesn't have a Social Security number when wage reports (Forms W-2) are due to Social Security? Paper Filers: If the worker applied for a card but didn't receive the number in time for filing, enter "Applied For" in Box d. (Reference: IRS Instructions for Forms W-2/W-3) Magnetic Tape/Diskette or Electronic Filers: If the worker applied for a card but didn't receive the number in time for filing, enter all zeros in the field for the Social Security number. (Reference: SSA's Magnetic Media Reporting and Electronic Filing Format) Remember to ask the worker to tell you the number and the exact name printed on the card, when he or she receives it." SSA cites to 26 CFR 31.6011 for its authority for this advice.