Once you receive your Employment Authorization Card (I-766), you should also receive your Social Security Number (SSN) in a few weeks if you indicated on the application that you wanted to receive it automatically. If you failed to do so, here is what you need to do.

NOTE: You need to obtain a SSN before you can obtain a REAL ID State ID Card or a Driver’s License.

Gather the necessary documents to bring to the Social Security Office. This includes:

  • Your USCIS-issued Employment Authorization Card (I-766) or Original I-94 if no EAD;
  • At least one of the following documents proving your age and identity:
    • Birth Certificate;
    • Unexpired Passport;
    • U.S. military record;
    • Religious record showing age or date of birth;
    • School record showing age or date of birth;
    • School identification card; or
    • Copy of a medical record.
  • NOTE: Bring an original birth certificate and unexpired passport if at all possible, and bring any additional documents from the above list if you have them.
  • Print out and complete an Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5).
  • Take the application and the required documents to a Social Security office where you will sign the application. You can find your local office at www.socialsecurity.gov/locator, or by checking the list below.

You should receive a Social Security Card in the mail within 2-4 weeks.

Individuals cannot have both an ITIN and SSN at the same time, thus upon getting your social security number, you should contact the IRS and ask it to rescind your existing ITIN. You need to send a letter to the IRS’s ITIN operation with a request to rescind your ITIN number. Be sure to include copies of your ITIN and SSN.

The address for the IRS’s ITIN Operation is:

Internal Revenue Service

ITIN Operation P.O. Box 149342

Austin, TX 78714-9342

Your SSN is assigned to you for life, and you can continue to use the number for purposes other than work authorization.