All righty, welcome everyone to today's webinar. We are going to be talking about the process and documents to prepare for applying for a social security number and a driver's license. So in this webinar, as well as our previous webinars, if you have any questions you would like to ask at the end of today's presentation, please type them into the Q&A box. You can find them towards the bottom of your Zoom menu. the right. And as we go along, if there are any links that are presented on the slides, we will be putting them in the chat box. And after the presentation, we will answer your questions. So my name is Vina Tataale. I am associate director for student engagement and success. And I'm joined here today by my colleague Lisa Kelly, who is our front desk admin at CGPS and also our in-house expert on all things related to social security number. So she has a lot of knowledge, you all. So today's topic, topics, we are going to be talking about the Social Security number, what are the eligibility criteria for getting a Social Security number? We're going to go in depth about the process for applying for a Social Security as well as the letter of eligibility. And then later towards the second half of the presentation, we'll be talking about documents you need to prepare for if you are applying for a driver's license or a state ID. And as I mentioned before, at the end of the presentation, we'll be answering your questions. So do type in your questions in the Q&A box, not the chat box, but the Q&A, and we will answer them as they come in. So the first part of this presentation is going to be about applying for a social security number. And so before we go into the process, I just want to talk a little bit about what is a social security number. So a social security number is a type of identification number. number that we use here in the United States for social security. When you receive your social security number, it is a nine-digit number. That's one, two -three digits, two digits, followed by four digits. This number is used to accurately record the earnings that anybody received when they are employed or when they get income. And it also functions as a general identification number in a lot of situations. So if you have a social security number, it is yours and it's going to be attached to you and your credit history. This is a very important number that you want to keep safe because it can be used for identity theft and it could cause a lot of havoc in your life if somebody else is using this for bad purposes. bad purposes. So you do want to keep this safe. Your social security number will be issued on a card and I'll show you what that looks like in the next slide. And this number is issued only once to an individual. So this is what a social security card looks like. It will have your number, obviously. It'll have your name and then you're going to be expected to sign this card. Towards the end of this presentation, we'll give you some tips and guidance on how to keep this number secure and safe so it does not fall into the wrong hands. So, some folks also ask, do I need a social security number? For most instances, you are not required to have one, but there are some moments where you will be required to have a social security number. For example, if you're planning to take up a loan at a bank for purchasing a car or a house or other big ticket items, you will have to have a social security number in order to take out that loan. More importantly, if you are employed, you will have to have a social security number so that one, you can get paid, but also when it's time for you to file your tax returns, you will need to have one. So you may have gone an email yesterday from CGPS about taxes. So tax day for 2025 is April 15th. Please do read the emails that we sent out to you about how to file your taxes. We work with a company called Sprint Tax to help international students with their tax returns. And there's also a number of tax webinars that are offered this semester. We highly encourage that you attend at least one of them so that you can ask your questions about taxes and get them answered before you file your tax return. There are other instances where you might be expected to have a Social Security number, for instance, getting a driver's license, although there are ways that you can get a driver's license without one, and we'll discuss that in today's webinar. Sometimes if you're signing a lease for an apartment, they might ask for a social security number. However, there are places that don't require a social security number to sign a lease. There are credit card companies that will require you to have a social security number. Most of the major credit card companies will ask one, ask for a social security number. Although if you do some research on the internet, there might also be some options where you can apply for a credit card without a social security number. And finally, there are some cell phone providers or cell phone employees. plans that ask for a social security number. This is usually if you're going to be signing on for like a long -term contract. But again, there are also other options like the ones that we give out at TGPS campus, they do not require a social security number. And of course, there are other places or offices that might ask for a social security number. But you can also ask them if they absolutely need one because they might ask for it, but maybe it's not required. So, well, again, we'll go into a little bit more in depth in that later on. So the requirement, the eligibility requirement for applying for a social security number that applies to most international students is that, first of all, you must have employment. And so if you are applying or have received a job offer for an on-campus job, then you will be required to apply for a social security number. you'll have to get work authorization from CGPS. The next one is that we encourage you to not apply for your Social Security more than 30 days prior to the start date of your employment. So, for example, if you have a job offer for the summer that starts in June 1, if you try to apply for a Social Security number right now, you will probably be denied at the office because it is more than 30 days from the summer. start of your employment. So do look out for that. You're going to have to gather your required documents. You have to submit an online application. There's a paper application and then schedule an appointment. We're going to go through this in the next few slides. The other thing to remember is that F1 and J1 students, especially those who are new for this semester, you must have your CVS records registered. That usually happens within the first three or four weeks of the semester. So before you go to the Social Security Office, just check in with us and as an email or stop by the office to make sure that your CVS record is in active status and has been registered before you make the trip all the way out to the Social Security Administration Office. And again, if you have any questions throughout the presentation, feel free to type in your questions in the Q&A box. So this is a general timeline and steps of how to apply for the social security number, we're going to go into each of these boxes in the next few slides. But generally, what you want to do is you want to have receive a job offer. You're going to complete the on-campus employment form, and then the online social security number application. Within that application, you'll be able to schedule an appointment, which is a required step. You're going to prepare the document. You're going to prepare the document. that you need before you go, and then you go to your appointment within a few weeks or so, you will receive your social security number in the mail. And then after you have received your number, you're going to upload that into a couple of UD systems. So I'm going to turn this now to my colleague Lisa Kelly, who will go into detail of each of these steps. Good afternoon. And thank you for joining us. So what is? important as Vina, we can't stress it enough, is that in order to be eligible for a social security number is you must be offered a job. And once you are offered a job, there's two steps that are needed by our department before you can even consider applying for your social security number. The first step is to complete the online employment application, and that application is used through Teradata, which is the storing house that you uploaded your government check-in documents. Once you complete that, and it's a brief application where you're going to read about your responsibilities as an F-1 or J-1 students about the number of hours that you can work during the semester or during winter and summer sessions. So that's step one. Step two is we have the on-campus employment eligibility letter. Now, you can print that from the application. You may also pick up a copy from the front desk, or if you email us, we'll also scan a copy of that letter. to you. When you receive that letter, you're going to complete Section 1, and that's information about your CVS record, your name, your nationality. Section 2 is going to be completed by your employer. They're going to write your work description, where you'll be working on campus, the number of hours you'll be working. Something that we often see that I want to address with this letter. It does have an employment start and end date. The Social Security Administration requires that this form have a start and end date. But many departments will put the end of the semester as the end date of your employment. We need an end date for the Social Security Administration. You can continue working, though, beyond that end date. So if you know you're going to, you your employment is going to continue through the summer, but your department put at the end of the semester, don't panic, we'll accept that form. Once we receive the form back with Sections 1 and Sections 2 completed, the Immigration Advisor will review your record and sign off on this letter. We will then send you an email after your CVS record has been activated for new students. And I know we do have a lot of applicants that have completed both step one and step two. And we're just waiting for your CVIS registration to take place. The immigration advisors will begin that rollout next week. So you should be receiving an email. My guess is mid to late week to pick up this letter from our department. And you do need an original list. letter with the immigration advisor signed in blue ink to take to the social security office. They will not accept a scanned copy of the immigration advisor signature. Once you receive the letter and we will send you an email to pick up the on-campus employment eligibility letter from our office, when you pick it up, we will. have attached, or there will be attached to your letter, detailed instructions on how to apply for your Social Security number. Now, the attachment applies to new first -time Social Security applicants. If you need to request a replacement card, that is a separate process. Please reach out to us individually and we'll give you the steps for that. So the first step, you're going to pick up your on-campus letter from our department and then you're going to complete an online social security application. At the end of that application, you're going to be given an online control number. Write that number down because when you go to the social security office, they're going to be able to access your record by you. using that online control number. At the beginning of January 25, the Social Security Office now requires an appointment to apply in person to finalize the Social Security process. But you must go in person. You want to go, when you're in that application on the bottom, left-hand side, after you put in all your information, you're going to see a prompt schedule an appointment. you want to use that prompt to schedule your appointment. And what's important about that is the Social Security Administration is a very, very busy government office. If you try to call them and we're going to provide you their telephone number to schedule your appointment, it may take several attempts to get through to their office. wait times to schedule the appointment can be anywhere from 15 minutes on hold to maybe 45 minutes on hold. So I really recommend that you schedule the appointment from your application. The only thing is when you click on that schedule the appointment, you're then going to be directed to create a login idea with the government. It's a very brief, quick process. You're use your username, create a username, create your password. Then you'll go back to schedule the appointment. You're going to write that appointment time. We worked with a student in the office on Friday. What we saw last week is that the appointments were available within the next two weeks. So that's a pretty quick service for the Social Security office. Keep in mind, though, this is something. that you should do at your earliest convenience. Not only does the online application expire after 45 days. UD payroll is going to, and Aramark. I know many of our new students have been hired by Aramark. They're going to want you to apply for the Social Security number. I would say as soon as possible, after you receive the email from our department to pick up the on -campus. employment eligibility letter. And Lisa, just a point of clarification, would you recommend students to wait until they receive their on-campus employment eligibility letter and then apply for the Social Security online? Well, it's not necessary, but it is a good idea to have that on-campus employment eligibility letter signed off by our department. That way, you can be confident that when you do apply for an online Social Security application, that you are good to go. Your employment has been approved by our department. In the cases, also, in the rare case, and it really, really has to be a valid reason, and we may be able to get you seen for an emergency appointment, but that is the exception to the role. If you can schedule, and we work hand in hand, our department with UD payroll, they are aware of the schedule that we're going to put forth next week about the on -campus letter. So we work hand in hand. We can say, oh, yes, this student we know has completed the information. they picked up their letter and they should have applied for that SSN. Okay. Thank you. And this is something new to. I know it seems redundant, but in addition to that online application, the Social Security Office requires that you also complete a paper application. This application is going to be a tap. the paper application is going to be attached to your on-campus employment eligibility letter. So you don't have to print it out. You're going to complete that application. It's just going to mirror the same information that you put online. Or if you want, you can complete the paper application and then take all that information and transfer it to your online application. In addition to the paper application, the on-campus employment eligibility letter with a live, wet, blue ink signature from our department, no scan copies. You can take a copy of your DS 2019 or I-20, your passport, your visa is in your passport. They also require your most recent I-94. Now, everyone should have that because, because that was one of the documents that we needed to complete your government check-in. And then attached, you'll see on our attachment to the on -campus employment letter, we do have a spot where you can put your online control number, write it down, as well as your employment date, and you can basically hand those documents to the representative at the Social Security office at your appointment. and you should be good to go. It should be a very quick process if you followed our guidance. The next step is to go to your appointment. If for some reason you're not able, you know, emergencies happen, if you're not able to go to your appointment, if you would please call the Social Security office and let them know that you're not. able to go to that appointment. You're not going to be able to go back into that application and make any changes. So just let them know that you're not going to be able to make that particular appointment and you'd like to schedule another one. Again, we will begin registering on new students next week. It'll be a rollout next week. We have to wait until after drop out on Friday before we can begin registering our new students. And if you're uncertain, please call us. We're all of us at the front desk. We're happy to either, you know, respond via telephone, email, a in-person visit. We can tell you whether your record is active. The Social Security Administration requires, that applicants apply at the nearest Social Security office where they're residing. This year, this spring, most of our applicants, if not 100%, are residing in Newcastle County. The Social Security Office is located in Newcastle, Delaware. It's about a half hour from campus. You can take a dark bus. You can share the ride with an Uber if you can coordinate your appointment schedules. So you will have to go there. If you are residing in another state, Pennsylvania, occasionally we have students that live in Elkden. Once you get into that online application, they're going to ask, what is your zip code? and you're going to enter your local zip code and they'll direct you to your local social security office. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday 9 to 4. When you're at your appointment, they're going to give you a letter that confirms that, yes, I have applied for a social security number. You want to look at that letter. What we find a lot of times students will say, they'll email us, call us. I haven't received my social security card. The number one reason is that the address is incorrect. The card is mailed to your home, particularly if you live in an apartment complex, you want to make sure that your address is written correctly, building name, apartment number. And I would caution you, encourage you, if you know you've applied for your social security card on a Monday. By the following Friday, I would begin checking my mail and check every day to make sure that your card was delivered. So keep your eye out for that card. If after three weeks you haven't received your card in the mail, email us. So we have a great relationship with the representative at the Social Security office, she'll be able to check to the status of your card. And when you do call us, if you haven't received your card, we do ask that you provide us a copy of that letter that you received, that said you applied. and this vina has a sample of the letter you'll see your your name and address will be at that left hand corner once you receive that card payroll and the registrar's office does require a copy of your social security card the card comes it's a paper card i know vina showed you the example it's a paper card. Do not laminate that card. What you'll do is you're going to upload a copy of the card to the I-9 secure submission form, and that's specifically for UD payroll. Aramark will give you separate instructions. Typically, employees of Aramark just need to show their supervisor a copy of the card. And then also for both UD employees, Aramark employees, we do recommend that you go to the registrar's website, click on the Social Security number update, and enter that information there. I just had a student that was here in 1982 who needed his Social Security number. And he was living in another country. not living in the United States. So he's certainly not able to go get a copy of his card. We did have his number because he did update it on the registrar's website. They did have access to his number. And if they're able to, they would be able to provide that number to that student. So it does happen. So I would encourage you to both to be sure to complete the information for the registrar's office. And what's very important is do not, do not keep your Social Security card in your, in your wallet. Like your passport, like your other immigration by documents, you want to keep them in a secure, location, your social security for international, for all people. The social security number can be used and often fraudulently. So you want to protect your number, protect your card. If you at home, you want to keep it in a safe place. Don't, you know, don't keep it on the counter where roommates or any visitors can see your card. You really want to protect your social security number. Many of us, like your UD-ID number, we memorize, that's one of the first numbers that we memorize is our social security number. The Social Security office will not call you asking for your number. You do not want to give your number to end. anyone who calls you on the phone. We did have, at the beginning of spring semester, several students reached out to us. Highmark, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the health insurance carrier for one of the health insurance carriers for our students, was reaching out to students via a mail document requesting the Social Security number. And students were, they said, hey, is that, is that legit? And we confirm that with our partners over at Highmark. We were happy to confirm that. So when in doubt, check it out or check with us. Tax returns, I don't really see too many documents coming today to my home with my Social Security number because it is such a protected number, even in our system, we may see only the last four digits of a social security number. We don't see the entire number. But if you do receive anything with your social security number on it, go ahead and shred that immediately. Again, I can't urge you enough, stress enough to keep your social security number secure and your card. And don't use that as an ID number. It's just, yes. So we did have it. I think Vina recently or one of my other colleagues, someone did send us, here's my social security card via the email. And we're, we're secure but please don't send a copy of it at all if we you don't want that your card your number unnecessarily out on the web if you have you know if you just want to say i received my card let us know payroll is going to ask for a copy of your card but that is a secure document a secure location that they do require. And again, can't stress enough. Be mindful with whom you share your number. Always ask if it's absolutely necessary. I know many doctor's offices will ask for your Social Security number, but that's one instance where you don't have to give it to them. You can leave that blank. They really don't need that. number. They need your health insurance ID number, but not your social security number to process your payment. But please, when in doubt, contact us on campus. The U.D. Police also, we get calls. We'll refer them to the non -emergency line. They're always happy to help you and say, nope, don't respond. Don't pick up that call. And then the next step, I think, Beena, that's for you. Yes. All right. Thank you, Lisa. That was a lot of information. So, and again, I just wanted to remind you, if you have any questions, please do type them in the Q&A box so that the presenters can see all of the questions. If you've typed them in the chat, please just, just try to copy and paste them into the Q&A box. So in the second half of this presentation, I will talk about applying for a driver's license or a state ID. So just to give you kind of an overview, there's a slight difference between the state ID and driver's license, which you can probably guess with a state ID. You can apply for a state ID in case you don't want to carry your passport all over the place. For example, if you want to show your age or where you live, you can use a state ID in place of a passport. And we do recommend that you keep your passport in a safe place because losing it or misplacing it, it can be very hard to replace a new passport. With a state ID, however, you cannot use that as a license for driving. Therefore, the driver's license. Drivers license can also act as a form of ID. So if you don't want to carry around your passport, you can use a driver's license. It is required for driving. So if you are planning to drive in the United States, you will need to apply for a state-level driver's license. And for that, you will need to apply for it and also potentially take a written and a road test. So the documents that you will need to bring for a driver's license or a state ID application, is your original I-20 or DS-219 with a wet signature, which means that if you received an electronic version of your I-20 or DS-20-19, you will need to request for an updated I-20 or DS-219 that we advisors or DSOs at CGPS can sign with a wet signature. You'll obviously need to bring your passport and your visa that's in your passport. Again, you'll need to bring a copy of your I-94. So you're going to, if you have that before from your government check-in, just print that out. You will need to bring either a letter of an eligibility for a social security number, for those who can't get a social security number, and we'll talk about that in the next slide. Or if you have a social security number card, you will bring that. So one of the two, either a social security number card or the letter of ineligibility. And then the next thing is that you will need to bring two forms of proof of address or mail, including the envelope that it came in. So for example, you can take a copy of your lease, maybe a utility bill that has your name and address on it, a bank statement from your bank, for example, or if you need like an additional one, you can request for an address verification form from our office. So send us an email to OISS at UDEL.edu to request this letter, and we will send you a letter to your U.S. mailing address, and so you can bring that as one proof, and then something else as the second proof. If you're applying for a driver's license, you will need to prepare to take the written and driving test. We do encourage you to download and study the driver's manual on the DMV website. that will be very helpful as you're prepared to take the written and the road test. I'm going to hand this back to Lisa Kay. She's going to talk about the process and the documents to apply for a letter of an eligibility for a social security number for those who do not have a job and are not eligible to get a social security number. Lisa, take it away. Okay, thanks, Fina. So for the letter of ineligibility, the process is a little. it's a little different and it's important that you follow this correctly because we've had students that went to the social security office recently within the last week and a half only to be turned away because they weren't prepared so if you have any questions reach out to us and we will get that accurate information to you you cannot apply for the letter of ineligibility online. You must complete a paper social security application. It's available at the front desk. We can scan it to you, whatever's convenient for you. The DMV requires an original I-20 or DS-2019. The Social Security Office will accept an electronic scan of either of those documents. So that's different than the DMV. They'll also, you want to take your passport, your visa, and again, that most recent I-9-4. So, Social Security paper application, I-20, passport, and I-9-4 to request the letter. You can go to the Social Security only for the letter of ineligibility without an appointment. You'll need to go in person and same location as before. If you're living in Newcastle County, you want to go to the Social Security office in Newcastle. No appointment is necessary, but go prepared. At your appointment, unlike the card is mailed to your home, you're going to receive that letter at your appointment. and that's one of the documents that you're going to need for the DMV. This is a sample of what the letter looks like. They have several different versions, but this is the most popular version that's given to students. That letter is valid for 60 days only. So if you're planning to apply for your driver's license, you might want to look at the DMV website, schedule your appointment to take the driver's license test and then go within 60 days if you've already gotten a letter from the Social Security office. You do want to make sure that the letter, your address and name are correct on this letter because the DBMB, the representative at the DMV is going to scrutinize your documents. They're going to make sure that the name on your I-20 passport, this letter, that everything matches. We have had students be turned away. So just be very careful. And once you get to the DMV, we're really at the discretion of the representatives at the DMV. Okay. So just to recap, again, these are the documents that you want to prepare. and bring for a driver's license or state ID application, your original I-20 or DS -19 with a wet signature, your passport and your visa, your most recent I-94, either a letter of ineligibility or your social security card, and two forms of proof of address or mail. And again, if you're applying for a driver's license, we really can't stress enough how important it is for you to study the driver's manual. A lot of the traffic laws in the United States can be different from what you are used to in your country. So it will also help ensure your success in passing all the tests that you may have to take in your driver's license application. So we do encourage you to check out if you are living in Delaware, there are several DMVs in this state. So you can go to the website of the DMV to check which one is closest to you. We're providing you the numbers of the Wilmington and the Delaware City DMVs here. If you need to call them for any reason, if you're living in Maryland or Pennsylvania, you will have to apply at the DMV in that state. Again, there are several options for you to go to the DMV. DMV, you can take the bus, take an Uber, a lift, or have a friend or colleague drive you over there. It really depends on what you're comfortable with using. And so that concludes our presentation on applying for a social security number and a driver's license. We do have this information on our web pages about social security number and driver's license. So I'll So if you have any questions, if you want to visit us, this is the information of our office. We are open from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We're located at 26 East Main Street. Note that we are closed for lunch between 12 and 1 p.m. So if you try to visit us at 1230, our office will not be open. And as usual, if you have any questions, you can always email us at OIS at Udell.edu. Thank you. Okay.
Social Security Number & Driver's License Webinar
From Moraa Andima February 13, 2025
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