how long to get the social security number?!?

[brendang]

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filed for it on june 8th in niagara falls, ny... was told it should be processed by today... anyone know how long one should expect to wait to get it done?!? obviously, i can't start residency or set the lease payment on my new car, set up television, internet, and god knows what else without it... i can't believe after spending 3 months getting the j1 visa from canada to get into the us, that this SSN is what's holding me up... man, this is frustrating...

brendan.

 

[f_w]

You can start working without the SSN if you kept the receipt they gave you at the SSA office.

Doesn't solve the problem with cable and cellphone.

 

[Winged Scapula]

it took about 2 weeks for me to receive card in hand; hopefully you'll have it soon.

 

[Retinamark]

Cingular won't give you a cellphone contract, but MidWest Wireless and Sprint will give you a contract if you pay a deposit. I bought an expensive phone, so had to pay a $500 deposit, which I will get back in 6 months if I am a good boy & pay my bills on time.

I didn't have any trouble getting a rental lease, but again, had to pay the first month in advance

 

[jarrah]

when I applied for mine, I was told that I should get it in about 2 wks, I waited 2 months and nothing hapened, when I called the ss office, I was told that they made a mistake and I need to reapply (they blamed it on the computer), so I did. I got the SSN card about 10 days later. So, don't be shy to call them.

 

[Santiago]

What about Verizon?
Do they give contracts without SSN?

 

[Retinamark]

I went into the hospital & asked if there was anything I could do to hurry up the SSN. They said there is nothing & that if I apply too early, it can paradoxically slow things down. Apparently it's best to wait up to 2 weeks before the info from Homeland Security and the forms from your hospital are all processed. If all that info is there when they process the SSN application, it gets approved quickly.
If you apply early & they don't have all the info in their computers, they can't process it & it ends up taking longer.
All very frustrating, but I'm just going to do what they tell me.
There is no problem starting work though without it.

 

[spherical]

it took about 2 weeks for me to receive card in hand; hopefully you'll have it soon.

Just reading through some of the posts, I got the impression you were American. Did you manage to go through life without a social security number? I have heard of people doing that but it seems like such a hassle just for the sake of being defiant.

If you are an American citizen with a social security number but have lost/mangled/machine washed your card, don't you think that is a little different than what these posters are referring to?

Just sounds very snooty.