Use of existing SSN

[goldstone]

Further to my last post asking about ITINs....

In 1995 I was working for a couple of years in the USA. My daughter was aged about 10 at the time. We were all given SSNs , including her. I have the card still ....it says ' Not valid for employment ' but otherwise is a regular SSN card.

She has just moved to the US. Her husband has an H1b visa and she is H4. When they visited the SSA office she was told that she was not entitled to a SSN and would have to apply for an ITIN. She explained that she already had a SSN from 1995 and was told that if and when she qualified for a SSN then her existing one could be ' activated '.

Does anyone know if what she was told is correct ? We can't find anything on the internet which would say anything but that her SSN is still valid. This would be very helpful of course for things like driving licences and credit card applications. But she is understandably nervous about using it, given what the SSA office said to her.

[nelsona]

One is issued a single SSN and it lasts her lifetime. it never changes, unless there has been fraud associated with it. She is free to use it, for credit an tax purposes. Since she is not a US citizen however, she must still get authorization (ie. her own H1b or TN) to work.

There is no need to do anything at the SSA.

Be aware though that her SSN still has no credit history, so it will take time to build it up. But at least she has it. All states now require a status check to get a driver's license, so she will use her H4 status documents to get her DL.

[goldstone]

Thanks again, Nelsona.