Your Social Security card is a very important document even if you might not think that it is. While it is often not asked for, just the number is usually enough to take care of any transaction you might need to do, plenty of institutions and processes might ask for the actual and you better have it available to present.
The fact that it is so important means that you should have your Social Security card located at all times, but since it is made of stiff paper and you cannot do anything to change it or make it less vulnerable to wear and tear like laminate it, leaving it behind unless absolutely necessary is understandable. However, keeping it always in the same, obvious place is what can make it disappear most frequently, as we are humans and we tend to misplace important paperwork that we could have sworn we had kept safe.
Luckily, you can obtain a new Social Security card in case you misplace it during a move or just because it tears.
How to obtain a new Social Security card
Well, there are two possible routes that you can take in order to obtain a new Social Security card. The first one is to go to a Social Security office and ask for Form SS-5, which you will need to complete while presenting the documents necessary to prove your identity and legal status in the US.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship: This can be a birth certificate or a U.S. passport.
- Proof of identity: A valid proof of identity must be current and show your name, date of birth or age, and a recent photograph. It can be a US driver’s license, a state-issued non-driver ID card, or a US passport. If you do not have one of these three documents and cannot obtain a replacement within 10 days, Social Security will ask you for other documents as secondary identification. These include employee identification cards, school identification cards, health insurance cards (not a Medicare card) or U.S. military identification cards.
- Proof of immigration status if you are not a U.S. citizen: If you are not a U.S. citizen, you must prove your immigration status in the United States with one of the following documents:
- Form I-551 (Permanent Resident Card), also known as a Green Card.
- Form I-766 (Employment Authorization Document) or work permit.
- Form I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record).
- Admission stamp in a valid foreign passport.
This is the most general way to get a replacement card, but if you have a mySocialSecurity account you might not need to go through all this hassle. Go into your account and click “Replace your Social Security card”, which will take you to an online questionnaire that will tell you if you can complete the application online or if you will need to go in person. If the questionnaire comes up with a positive result, it will redirect you to the correct online form where you will need to follow the instructions given and present the copies of the necessary documentation at a later date in person should you need to. The documents necessary will be the same in either case, so start gathering them if you intend to replace your Social Security card.
The process once you have applied should not take long, once the application has been submitted, it should arrive within 14 working days to the address on file or the one indicated in your application if they differ. In some cases it could be delayed, especially if you are an immigrant, which will take a bit more time to verify some of the data with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.