Get a U.S. Social Security Number

Five moths after the application, I got my card in the mail! And it says fun things like “legal alien” on the backside of it. Hee.

Now I’ll have to see if I can still get the honorarium for the talk I gave last autumn they couldn’t pay me because I had no SSN. I so know what I’d do with 200 dollars. As for applying for an U.S. credit card or getting a new phone, I don’t need either.

It’s about ten weeks now since the application, and they promised it in ten weeks. My internet bank won’t let me make any transfers to external accounts because I don’t have a soc.sec.number. Also, I’m really looking forward to getting an American credit card which would make my life a lot easier – there are scores and scores of internet stores (like Ticketmaster and Priceline.com) which basically would accept my Bohemian credit cards, but can’t handle the fact that the billing address for those is outside the U.S. and so won’t sell me tickets to anything or anywhere. Plus, with a credit record, I could get a proper phone.

Patience, Wildcranberries, patience. I guess building a new life just doesn’t happen overnight.

The Social Security Office is about five blocks South from the University neighbourhood, and, dang, is it a different neighbourhood. It was pretty shocking, actually, to see in practice the segregated nature of Chicago – if I hadn’t needed to go to the office in person, I’d never seen what it’s truly like on the South Side outside Hyde Park.

At the office, though, everything went very smoothly and the lady behind the desk was friendly in a nicely calm way – though I’ll still have to wait up to four weeks for the Social Security Card. As no-one seems to be able to think of anything I would need it for except the Bananacard, I don’t mind.

the SSAsuggests J-1 people should wait until they’ve been in the country for ten days before applying for the SSN, so that the office can check one’s status from the Department of Homeland Security. Hmm. It looks like Thursday’s Social Security Office Day, then.

bought and set up. Next, filling in the application form and printing it.

Buy a printer so I can fill out and print the form to take to the Social Security Office or whatever it’s called. Luckily, this is the USA: shops are miraculously open on Sundays, too!