Can illegal alien get social security card

Audits by the Social Security Inspector General have found these numbers are widely misused by illegal workers. A: There are several ways it happens. One has to do with the type of SSN that was used for employment. The law requires work authorization in order to claim Social Security. But the law pertains only to individuals who received their SSN after January 1, If the individual was issued an SSN prior to January 1, , like the 7 million non-work SSNs issued prior to , the law prohibiting payment of Social Security does not apply.

According to the Congressional Research Service and the Government Accountability Office, that group does not need to have ever received legal work authorization in order to claim benefits — they may have worked illegally their entire careers.

In such cases, a noncitizen may receive benefits while residing outside the United States including benefits based on work performed in the United States without authorization if he or she meets one of the exceptions to the alien nonpayment provision under Section t of the Social Security Act.

Under the alien nonpayment provision, a noncitizen's benefits are suspended if he or she remains outside the United States 19 for more than six consecutive months, 20 unless one of several broad exceptions is met. For example, an alien may receive benefits outside the United States if he or she is a citizen of a country that has a social insurance or pension system that pays benefits to eligible U. If an alien does not meet one of the exceptions to the alien nonpayment provision, his or her benefits are suspended beginning with the seventh month of absence and are not resumed until he or she returns to the United States lawfully for a full calendar month.

In addition, to receive payments outside the United States, alien dependents and survivors must have lived in the United States for at least five years previously lawfully or unlawfully , and the family relationship to the worker must have existed during that time see Table 2. The law provides several broad exceptions to the five-year U. For example, an alien is exempt from the five-year U. Table 1. An alien's benefits are suspended if he or she is outside the United States for more than six consecutive months, unless one of the following exceptions is met:.

Under the agreement with Australia, the United States pays Social Security benefits to an Australian citizen who resides in the United States, Australia, or a third country with which the United States has a totalization agreement.

If an Australian citizen resides elsewhere, he or she is subject to the alien nonpayment provision. The agreement with Denmark contains a similar provision. Table 2. A spouse, divorced spouse, widow er , surviving divorced spouse, or surviving divorced mother or father.

Table 3. Under the agreement with Australia, Australian dependents and survivors who do not reside in the United States, Australia, or a third country with which the United States has a totalization agreement must meet the five-year U.

When the Social Security program began paying benefits in , there were no restrictions on benefit payments to noncitizens. In , amid concerns that noncitizens were working in the United States for relatively short periods and returning to their native countries where they and their family members would collect benefits for many years, Congress approved restrictions on benefits for alien workers living abroad restrictions did not apply to alien dependents and survivors.

The Social Security Amendments of P. In , Congress placed restrictions on benefit payments to alien dependents and survivors living abroad. Several factors led to the enactment of tighter restrictions on benefit payments to alien dependents and survivors living abroad in , including the large number of dependents who were being added to the benefit rolls in some cases under fraudulent circumstances after workers had returned to their native countries and become entitled to benefits, and difficulties associated with monitoring the continued eligibility of beneficiaries living abroad.

At the time, the U. Government Accountability Office estimated that 56, of the , dependents living abroad in were added to the benefit rolls after the worker became entitled to benefits.

He stated further that, in some countries, "there is a kind of industry built up of so-called claims-fixers who, for a percentage of the benefit, will work to ensure that somebody gets the maximum benefit they can possibly get out of the system. In , Congress approved tighter restrictions on the payment of Social Security benefits to aliens residing in the United States.

Section y of the act, which became effective for applications filed on or after December 1, , states, "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no monthly benefit under [Title II of the Social Security Act] shall be pay able to any alien in the United States for any month during which such alien is not lawfully present in the United States as determined by the Attorney General. All U. Noncitizens eligible to work in the United States include those who are admitted to the United States permanently and are often referred to as immigrants e.

Social Security cards issued to noncitizens who are residing permanently in the United States are identical to those issued to U. Importantly, the SSN issued to a noncitizen does not change if the noncitizen adjusts status e.

Although the noncitizen is supposed to report any change of status to SSA, this does not always occur. As a result, it is possible that some U. In addition, there are statutory evidentiary requirements to receive an SSN.

SSA requires applicants to present for identification a document that shows name, identifying information, and preferably a recent photograph. SSA also requires that all documents be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency. In , the Department of Homeland Security DHS issued a memorandum announcing that certain unauthorized individuals who were brought to the United States as children and meet other criteria would be considered on a case-by-case basis for protection from removal for two years, subject to renewal, under an initiative known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

On November 20, , DHS announced an expansion of the criteria to qualify for the original DACA initiative and the establishment of another DACA-like process to exercise prosecutorial discretion through the granting of deferred action for the unauthorized alien parents of U. This initiative is known as DAPA. Those granted DACA often receive work authorization.

As such, they are eligible for Social Security numbers, and, if issued a Social Security number, would be able to count all credits earned both those earned after they received work authorization and those earned if they worked without authorization toward a Social Security benefit.

In addition, under regulation, those with deferred action are considered lawfully present for the purpose of receiving Social Security benefits in the United States. They may however, be able to qualify for a disability benefit if they meet the requirements.

Noncitizens who reside outside the United States are subject to different rules regarding federal income tax treatment of Social Security benefits. These thresholds do not apply to married couples who live together and file separate returns.

Noncitizens who live outside the United States pay federal income tax on their benefits without regard to these thresholds. With one exception, totalization agreements allow workers and their employers to contribute only to the foreign system if the worker is employed in that country for five or more years, or only to the U. Totalization agreements also allow workers who divide their careers between the two countries to combine earnings credits under both systems to qualify for benefits if they lack sufficient coverage under either system.

The same treatment applies to foreign workers in the United States. Totalization agreements are subject to congressional review. Section e of the Social Security Act requires the President to submit to Congress the text of the agreement and a report on 1 the estimated number of individuals who would be affected by the agreement and 2 the estimated financial impact of the agreement on programs established by the Social Security Act.

Section e 2 of the Social Security Act specifies that a totalization agreement automatically goes into effect unless the House of Representatives or the Senate adopts a resolution of disapproval within 60 session days of the agreement's transmittal to Congress. Section e 2 , which allows for the rejection of a totalization agreement upon adoption of a resolution of disapproval by either house of Congress, is functionally identical to the legislative veto provision that was held unconstitutional in INS v.

Congressional use of the mechanism in Section e 2 to reject a Social Security agreement could give rise to a judicial challenge. Since , the United States has entered into totalization agreements with 26 countries. In addition to these 26 totalization agreements, the United States has pending totalization agreements with Mexico signed June 29, 39 and Brazil signed June 30, After an agreement is signed, officials from SSA and the foreign Social Security agency address implementation issues, formulating operations procedures to be used in administering the agreement.

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Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. Now Reading:. Membership My Account. Rewards for Good. Share with facebook. Foreign students will instead receive their own internal number from the institution. Please note, however, that students must apply for a Social Security Card in order to work on campus.

Social security regulations do not apply to the employment of nonimmigrants who are only staying in the US for a limited period of time. Therefore, the tax law does not apply to visa holders who are working in the USA while receiving training or an education, like:. That means no taxes for Social Security or Medicare will be taken out of your salary.

Employment options are very limited for these visa categories anyway and usually only include work on campus, internships and in some exception cases a work permit based on economic necessity. The social security card with the corresponding SSN is an extremely important document and should not fall into the wrong hands. It is a good idea to keep it in a safe place. You should also avoid giving away the number by telephone or email.

If at all, only authorities, banks and insurance companies should know the complete number. However, it can happen that someone asks for the last four digits of the card, which is harmless. If the card is lost, you have to apply for a new one at the Social Security Office. They can use it to take money from your bank account or get a credit card in your name. Identity theft is a serious crime. Protect yourself by:. Search Login Menu.