Social Security Number Application Procedures - F-1 Graduate Students with Assistantships

What you should know before you apply for a Social Security Number (SSN):

• You should bring enough funds to cover your expenses for at least one month since payments for assistantships are issued only after a period of work, usually a month. You may not receive payment until you have a SSN, which will take at least two weeks to obtain. No federal or state financial aid or scholarships are available to international students. You are expected to have available the funds you showed on your Declaration and Certification of Finances during your period of studies at the University of Miami.

• You must be enrolled for the current academic term at the University of Miami to apply for a SSN.

• You may not begin on-campus employment more than 30 days prior to the actual start of classes upon initial entry to begin a new course of study.

• You may not take your application (see below) to the Social Security Administration (SSA) office until you have been in the US for a minimum of 10 days.  This is how long it will take US Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) to review your records in CIS’s pre-processing immigration document/status verification check called “SAVE” (Systematic Alert Verification for Entitlements).

How to apply for a SSN:

Step 1 - Obtain a letter from your on-campus employer providing verification of the offer of employment. Per SSA requirements, the letter from your on-campus employer must conform to the attached sample letter.

Handout:
Sample Job Offer Letter

Step 2 - Bring all of the following documents to International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) in order for ISSS to prepare a letter affirming that you are attending the University of Miami and have been offered an on-campus job:

1. On-campus employer letter
2. Form I-94 (small white card given to you on the plane and stamped by Immigration when you enter the US.)
3. Form I-20   
4. Passport

While at ISSS, complete the ISSS Student Letter of Certification Application for Social Security Number and/or On-campus Employment Letter.

Step 3 - Pick up the above documents from ISSS three business days after submitting to ISSS and take all documents to SSA along with a foreign or US driver’s license or your birth certificate. (Visit www.ssa.gov for information and directions to the Social Security office nearest you.)

Step 4 - At SSA, complete Form SS-5, Application for SSN.  You must include your legal name as the name to be printed on your Social Security Card.  Your legal name is the name in your passport.  The name you enter on Form SS-5 must EXACTLY match the name reflected in your passport.  You should request a receipt at the time that you apply for the SSN for verification that you have applied for a SSN. 
 
Your Social Security Card will be mailed to your home in approximately two weeks.  The process may take up to one month if your records do not immediately appear in SAVE. 

After you receive your SSN:

Once you obtain a Social Security Card, please see the Office of Student Employment (OSE) brochure titled HOW WORK WORKS at UM, which outlines procedures and forms required for all student employees, including a specific section for graduate students and graduate assistantships.  There is also a link that will take you to a brochure for specific instructions for international students.  

International student direct link from the OSE website:
http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,13439-1;44397-2;44687-3,00.html

Graduate Assistantship instructions direct link from the OSE website:
http://www6.miami.edu/UMH/CDA/UMH_Main/0,1770,13439-1;44397-2;44498-2;1196-3,00.html 

Report your SSN to the Office of the Registrar, 121 University Center, in order to avoid problems with your records and payments.

The SSN is an important document and should be safeguarded.

Social Security Number and Taxes:

Although your employer should withhold any U.S. income tax related to your employment, Social Security Withholding/Medicare (F.I.C.A.) should not be deducted from the salary of F-1 students, unless you are considered a “resident for tax purposes,” a situation which normally occurs after a student has been here at least five years.