F-1 students are not immediately eligible for a Social Security Number (SSN). You will only become eligible for an SSN when you have a job offer to work on campus, have received Curricular Practical Training (CPT), or have applied for Optional Practical Training (OPT). Once you get an SSN, it stays with you for life.
If you are in F-1 status and become eligible for an SSN (through on-campus job, CPT, or OPT), you will need to apply online first and then visit the Social Security Administration (SSA) office in person to complete the application. The earliest you can apply is 30 days before your job starts.
1) Get the supporting item(s) listed below, depending on which of the following jobs you have:
On-Campus employment:
Obtain the SSN letter on your hiring department letterhead, signed with original wet-ink signatures from your hiring supervisor and OIA. Make sure your name matches your passport name. Incoming students have to complete OIA Arrival Check-in and be registered in SEVIS first before OIA can sign the SSN letter.
Curricular Practical Training (CPT):
You need your updated CPT I-20 and your internship offer letter with an original wet-ink signature.
Optional Practical Training (OPT):
You should request the SSN in your I-765 application to USCIS, and you will also need to go to the SSA office in person after you receive the EAD.
2) Apply for the SSN with the SSA application form online.
Answer all questions. You are a “Legal Alien Allowed to Work.” Follow the prompts to the end and make an appointment at the SSA at the end of the application. Print the last page of the application, which will provide a reference number for your in-person visit.
3) Bring the following documents to your nearest SSA office at your appointment time. OIA suggests visiting the SSA Card Center at 154 Pierrepont Street, 6th Floor, in Brooklyn.
- passport valid 6 months into the future
- most recent I-94 record
- your most recent I-20 printed out with digital DSO signature*
- your SSN letter (for on-campus job), job offer letter (for CPT), or EAD card (for OPT)
* If the SSA officer does not accept a print-out of your digitally signed I-20, ask
to speak with an SSA supervisor
At the SSA, they will give you a receipt notice for your SSN application, which for on-campus jobs, you must provide to Pratt Human Resources. You will receive your SSN card in the mail within a couple weeks.
You should be able to begin working prior to getting the SSN, as long as you have filed the proper forms with the Human Resources department. Then you will report your SSN to the employer when you receive it.
For on-campus jobs, when you receive your receive your SSN card you should bring it to the Registrar’s Office (Myrtle Hall, 6th Floor). Your SSN should be kept confidential due to identity theft possibilities, so be careful with it. Do not send it via unsecured email.
Make sure to keep your SSN card in a safe place as it stays with you for life. If you lose it, you have to apply to SSA for a replacement card and you have to have a valid job offer to be eligible. Your SSN will stay the same your entire life if you already had one.
Hiring an international student generally requires the same hiring paperwork as a domestic student. If the international student does not have a Social Security Number (SSN), the SSN Letter is one extra document needed.
If your international student new hire needs an SSN, you should complete the SSN letter template, using the student’s legal passport name, and print the letter on letterhead. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will not accept copies, digital signatures, or letters not on official letterhead. The SSA requires a handwritten ink signature from the Hiring Supervisor on the letter. After you sign, an OIA Designated School Official (DSO) must also sign with a handwritten signature. Please deliver the original letter to OIA (Myrtle Hall 2E-5). We have a drop-off envelope on our door, so the letter can be left outside of our office hours.
After our DSO signs the SSN letter, we will contact the student to pick it up and continue their SSN application.