dorment social security number?

May 28, 2018 10:36 AM

My near-future US employer is asking for my social security number for background check. Totally fair. Problem: I left the US six years ago, and the SSN I had was tied to a student visa.

In other words: 1) there shouldn't have been any activities on that SSN for the past six years, which I can't confirm because 2) there wasn't a permanent address attached to it, and so I can't even get the credit report with it now.

I won't be able to get a different SSN until I get the visa for the job. I am certain that I'm all clean-but I feel a bit iffy with my old SSN when I haven't been using it and have no way of verifying that it hasn't been stolen.

What should I do? Tell employer I don't have one? Give the old one and explain its circumstances? Is there somewhere I can check?

posted by atetrachordofthree to Law & Government (6 answers total)

You can check your records at My SSA (an official site).
posted by praemunire at 10:39 AM on May 28, 2018

Give the old number and be sure to tell them it was for a student visa -- specify the visa type, which I'm guessing was F1. The Social Security card you'll have gotten with your student visa would have been stamped either NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT or VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORISATION -- again, depending on your student situation -- so mention that, and provide a scan of the card if you still have a copy. No worries if you don't, but it might make things easier.

If your new employer is sponsoring you for work, they'll either re-activate your old number (because, if you worked on it, benefits would have accrued) or issue you a new one. This isn't a particularly unusual circumstance, and you shouldn't worry too much about it.
posted by halation at 10:46 AM on May 28, 2018

Just to follow up on that, since it doesn't address your concern about theft -- SSNs issued with student visas require extra supporting documents to be authorised and used for employment, like a valid OPT visa, I-485 card, or some other form of work visa separately issued for the same person, so it would be difficult for someone to steal your number and work on it with many employers. And you wouldn't have had a useful credit record to speak of, making your number an unattractive target for other forms of SSN fraud, like fraudulent loans or credit cards. So if someone did steal your number somehow -- unlikely in and of itself, unless your academic institution had a data breach, because you were only using it at said academic institution -- it's unlikely they used it for anything nefarious. Risk is very low.

But saying you've never had a SSN issued when you *have* had one before is a very good way to get yourself into trouble with immigration authorities, so please don't do that.
posted by halation at 11:00 AM on May 28, 2018

This is not legal advice but I got my US SSN while I was on a J1 visa (and like you with a temporary address) and when I returned to the US like 20 years later on a TN I used the same SSN and didn't have any issues. I've used it for the last decade on a TN, H1-B and a green card and have not had any issues.
posted by GuyZero at 11:01 AM on May 28, 2018

My SO had a SSN issued nearly 20 years ago with a student visa and just used the same one 15 years after. There were no problems.
posted by k8t at 11:01 PM on May 28, 2018

IANAL but I work in this area. Use the SSN from your F-1/M-1 student days -definitely do not say you don't have one. When you start work you will have to present your work authorization documents and verify your information with the company's HR in the first three days of your employment to fill out Form I-9. At this stage they take care of all payroll, work authorization, and SSN items. If you have the original SSN card you should bring that, if not, bring a copy and they can advise you whether you need to get a replacement card issued. Congrats on the new job!
posted by perrouno at 1:13 AM on May 29, 2018