Applying for an SSN (Social Security Number), August-October 2025

There is a lot of information online saying that people walked into an SSA office and applied for an SSN without an appointment, but that seems to be outdated. By the time I moved to the U.S. in August 2025, the system had become fully appointment-based, and I was simply turned away when I visited an SSA office without one.

Appointment

Appointments can be made by phone or online. To find an SSA office, use the SSA Office Locator. If you enter your ZIP code, nearby offices will appear, but that does not necessarily mean the nearest office has available appointments, so it is worth trying several ZIP codes. I also recall there being an unofficial site that listed nearby offices in bulk.

If there are no available slots, the site simply says there are no appointments and stops there. My impression was that slots for around two months later were released every day, or perhaps every Monday, so it is worth checking regularly. You can also make an appointment online. If you call, you will first get an automated system, so saying things like “Appointment” or “Call human” may help you reach an operator. Once connected, tell them you want to make an SSN appointment. If slots are available, they will offer you candidates. In my case, none of the offered dates worked, so I eventually booked online at an office a bit farther away.

Since I only got an appointment for two months later, people who want to open credit cards and similar accounts may want to start the process before arriving in the U.S. Not having an SSN is quite inconvenient because services like Venmo may not work, though fortunately you can still open a bank account.

Once the appointment is complete, a confirmation number appears on the website. You also receive the date and time by SMS and email. Unhelpfully, the location is not included, so you need to remember which office you booked.

If you need to cancel or reschedule, use the link in the confirmation email.

Required Documents

If you are an F-1 student and are receiving pay, the following documents are required.

Passport and visa
I-20
I-94
Employment Letter
I received one because I was working as an RA. I think an offer letter would probably also work.

At the Office

There were no reminders or anything of that sort, and I arrived 30 minutes before the appointment time. At the entrance kiosk, I got a queue ticket and waited to be called. Since the office was fully appointment-based, there were not many people there.

When my number was called, I submitted the documents and was asked questions such as whether I had ever had an SSN before. If you applied online, it seems they can retrieve your information if you provide the reference number, but I had forgotten mine, so the staff member entered everything manually instead. That turned out to matter later. I was told that they could not coordinate with the immigration service immediately, and that verification of my immigration status could take up to four weeks, followed by another two weeks for mailing.

I received a paper proving that I had applied, and that was it. The whole process ended almost exactly at my scheduled time. There was also some trouble involving my passport at that point, but I was able to recover it later.

Trouble

I thought the application had gone through smoothly, but when the SSN card arrived, my name was misspelled. Apparently there had been a typo at the counter, which was likely why they could not verify my immigration status.
What impressed me, in the worst possible way, was that they still issued the SSN even though they could not confirm my immigration status and the name did not match my identification documents. In the end, I had to make another appointment two months later and go back to the SSA office. American quality.