On December 16, 2003, the Social Security Administration (SSA) released a proposed regulation changing the Social Security Number (SSN) issuance procedures for international students in F-1 immigration status.  The changes are not actually new. Rather, they are the codification of long-standing local SSA practices. 

Under the new proposed regulations, without a valid employment authorization document issued by the USCIS, SSA now requires an F-1 student to prove that he or she has secured a job before the agency will issue a number.  According to the SSA, this increased evidentiary requirement is being proposed to reduce the opportunity for fraud and to prevent the misuse of SSNs. 

In the past, the fact that an F-1 student was eligible for on-campus employment was sufficient for SSN issuance.  Nevertheless, despite the lack of authority in the regulations, many local SSA offices were insisting on evidence of a secured position, or at least a pending job offer, before accepting SSN applications from F-1 students.  The proposed rule codifies this longstanding, but controversial requirement.

According to SSA regulation 20 CFR 422.107, in order to apply for a SSN, a non-citizen must prove that he or she was admitted to the United States by USCIS in a status that is authorized for employment.  Because they are not (and cannot be) authorized to work, SSA consistently denied SSNs to non-immigrants in the B, F-2, H-4, etc. statuses due to this regulation.

Because F-1 students are authorized to work on-campus incident to their status, the SSA in the past required only proof of their valid F-1 status before issuing an SSN.  Nonetheless, some local SSA offices were requiring either an authorization from the designated school official (DSO) of the student, authorizing the student for on-campus employment, or proof of a secured on-campus position or a pending job offer before issuing the number.  This was criticized because under the F-1 on-campus employment regulations (8 CFR 214.2(f)(9)(i)), an authorization from the DSO is not required for on-campus employment.

The new rule proposes to change the language of 20 CFR 422.107(e) and 422.105 to implement additional evidentiary requirements for F-1 students.  According to the new rules, an F-1 student, in addition to proving his or her lawful F status, must also demonstrate either:

1.                  An unexpired USCIS employment authorization document (EAD); or

2.                  Evidence that:

a.     the student has authorization from his/her school to engage in employment, and

b.     the student is engaging in, or has secured, employment

To meet the second requirement, the F-1 student must submit a letter from his/her DSO and employer.  According to the proposed language of 20 CFR 422.107(e)(2), an F-1 student first must offer evidence from his or her DSO that he/she is authorized for employment.  Then the student must offer documentation from the DSO stating:

1.                  The nature of the employment the student is or will be engaged in, and

2.                  The identification of the employer for whom the student is or will be working.

In addition to the letter from the DSO, the student must also offer evidence of employment.  The student must provide documentation proving that he/she is engaging in, or has secured employment (e.g., a statement from the student’s employer).

The SSA states that the increased evidentiary burden is necessary for fraud prevention purposes and to protect the “integrity of the social security number system.”  Also, the SSA stated that they are trying to prevent the misuse of the SSNs by refusing to issue numbers to students without secured employment since “they do not intend to work but need an SSN to obtain goods or services in the community.”  Even though in practice Social Security numbers are an essential requirement and an integral part of our daily lives, SSA has always emphasized that SSNs are for employment purposes only, and all their other uses are incidental to their primary purpose.

Opponents of the new regulations argue that these requirements are contradictory to the F-1 regulations since the on-campus employment rules do not require a separate authorization from the DSO for employment, and the authority to engage in employment is incident to the F-1 status and therefore need not be granted by the schools.  They also argue that refusing SSNs imposes an extreme hardship on students because it is very hard for someone to live in the US without a Social Security number.  Without the SSN it is very difficult (and sometimes impossible) for F-1 students to rent apartments, open bank accounts, apply for credit cards, obtain driver’s licenses, etc.  Because they usually remain in the US for several years, all these are essential needs for F-1 students.

The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register on December 16, 2003 and are at their comment period.  The comment period will end on February 17, 2004.  Comments may be sent to:

Social Security Administration,

Attn: SSA Reports Clearance Officer,

1338 Annex Building,

6401 Security Boulevard,

Baltimore, MD 21235-6401,

Fax Number: 410-965-6400

The proposed regulation may be read at:

http://policy.ssa.gov/erm/rules.nsf/0/1de29b988d3968c585256dfe0051793e/$FILE/rin0960_af87p.htm