Effective Dates: 06/14/2024 - Present Previous | Next

TN 21 (06-24)

GN 00410.005 SSNs for Individuals Affected by Disaster

A. Introduction

This section covers SSN card replacements, pending SSN applications, and non-receipt of SSN cards for individuals affected by disaster. SSA’s priority is to provide the best possible service to the victims of disaster. However, it may not always be feasible to issue an SSN card. There are barriers that may prevent that process from working smoothly; for example, the NH may not have an appropriate mailing address, the post office may not be able to deliver the mail, or the NH may not remain at the address long enough to receive the card in the mail. Because of these factors, for every replacement card request, consider use of the SSN Printout.

B. SSN card replacements

1. NH requests an SSN card (original or replacement)

There is no change in policy for the evidence required by SSA to issue either an original or replacement SSN card. With the widespread usage of the SSN as the basis for establishing other identity documents and the increasing incidences of identity theft, you must follow proper evidentiary and documentary procedures when processing SSN applications.

It is your responsibility to review carefully all documents submitted to support an SSN application, such as evidence of identity, citizenship, or lawful alien status, and to obtain verification from the issuing authority as appropriate. Whenever an SSN application cannot be processed, provide the applicant with Form SSA-L676 (Refusal to Process SSN Application).

See Details:

•

RM 10210.010, Evidence Required for an SSN Card.
•

RM 10210.205, Reviewing SSN Evidence.
•

RM 10210.210, Verifying Immigration Documents.
•

RM 10215.120, Providing Written Notice and Second Review When SSN or Card Cannot Be Issued.

Beginning August 31, 2009, the Social Security Number Application Process (SSNAP) replaced the Modernized Enumeration System (MES) and NY SS-5 Assistant. Offices that have converted to SSNAP should follow procedures in RM 10200.000.

2. SSN printouts – NH cannot provide evidence

The SSN card is the only official verification of an SSN. However, the SSN Printout can be used to verify an SSN. The SSN Printout, also called a “Numi-lite,” was developed to guard against unnecessary disclosures of the personal information contained on the Numident. The Printout displays the name of the individual and the SSN assigned to that individual. The issuing FO stamps and signs the Printout before giving it to the requester. If the NH cannot provide sufficient evidence to obtain an SSN card because the evidence was lost or destroyed in a disaster, offer the SSN Printout as an alternative. When it may be appropriate to provide the SSN Printout and the NH cannot provide sufficient identifying evidence, see the processing instructions in GN 03340.015, which provides policy on alternative identity verification criteria by a NH for access purposes.

Third-party requests for SSN verifications require the consent of the subject individual. For consent criteria, see GN 03305.001B.2. If the third-party requester, however, is a social agency that provides disaster relief, such as FEMA or the Red Cross, consent is not required.

3. Requests to verify SSN via telephone

All telephone disclosure issues are subject to the provisions in, Releasing Information by Telephone GN 03360.005. Here are a few of the more common requests for information.

a. NH does not know SSN

DO NOT release the SSN or any other personal information over the telephone, by FAX, or by mail because of a telephone request when the caller cannot provide the SSN of record.

b. Requests by employers

Telephone agents, National 800 Number, Office of Central Operations (OCO), and Field Office staff, no longer verify SSNs for employers over the telephone. Employers must use our online Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) to verify employee SSNs.

Employer representatives authorized to verify SSNs must register to receive a valid Business Services Online (BSO) User ID and Password to use SSNVS. To register, refer employer representatives to our website at www.socialsecurity.gov/employer.

•

Field office procedures for advising employers

Field Office staff should advise employers to use SSNVS for SSN verifications. Policy for disclosure without consent to employers has not changed. Follow, Disclosure Without Consent to Employers, GN 03316.080.

IMPORTANT: Field Office staff provides SSN verifications to walk-in authorized employer representatives. Continue to follow policy and procedure.
•

National 800 Number Procedures and Employer 800 Number Procedures

National 800 Number agents follow instructions in Operations Bulletin OB 09-026 and Request to Verify SSN or Work Authorization, TC 31003.010 . Employer 800 Number agents follow instructions on the OCO Operations Bulletin and Telephone Calls, ER 00301.010.

DO NOT provide any personal information to the employer based on a telephone request.

C. Pending SSN applications

Reassure the applicants that SSA will help them complete the process they started in one of the now-closed SSA offices. For disaster survivors, who lost all their personal effects, stress that we will work with them to establish identity using the documentation they have with them at the FO interview. This includes an alternative process to establish identity if no evidence is available.

This is a three-step process:

Step 1. Redevelop proof of identity.

Step 2. Access and examine the pending SSN application.

Step 3. Update the pending SSNAP application.

1. Redevelop proof of identity

To complete processing of a pending SSN application taken in an FO closed due to the disaster, take the following actions to establish identity for the applicant:

a.

Request acceptable proof of identity including any documents listed that conform to the guidelines in, Evidence of Identity for an SSN Card, RM 10210.405. If a parent or legal guardian is the requestor, also verify the requestors’ identity and relationship to the SSN applicant/NH using the procedures in, Proper Applicant for a Social Security Card, RM 10205.025.
b.
If the acceptable proof of identity requested is not available, ask for secondary proof, including documents that SSA would not normally consider to be of adequate probative value such as:
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  A credit card or any other identification a person might normally carry;
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  FEMA application and associated proofs submitted to FEMA as part of the application process;
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  Red Cross application and associated proofs or receipts for assistance; and
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  State or local documentation indicating the individual’s status.
NOTE: These documents must contain the applicant’s name and some other type of information you can compare with the pending SSNAP application (e.g., date of birth, or parents' names, physical description, or photograph). For example, compare the applicant’s former address to the address shown in the pending SSNAP record.

If the applicant has no proof of identity, attempt to locate the pending SSN application in SSNAP and establish identity using the special questions in, Application and Evidence Procedures in Disasters, GN 00410.010.

2. Access and examine the pending SSN application

a. Take the following actions to access and examine the pending application:

•

Locate the pending record in the SSNAP system. Transfer jurisdiction of the application if necessary.
•

For applications originally submitted with acceptable proof of identity (e.g., a document listed in, Evidence of Identity for an SSN Card, RM 10210.420), determine if the identifying data on the currently submitted identity document matches the identifying data on the pending record.

If the newly submitted identifying data matches the record, follow SSNs for Individuals in Disasters, GN 00410.005C.3. Update the pending application.

If there are any mismatches in the identifying data, advise the applicant that we cannot process the SSN request. Provide the applicant with Form SSA-L676 per, Providing Written Notice and Second Review When SSN or Card Cannot Be Issued, RM 10215.115.

b. If the applicant has no proof of identity

The applicant MUST answer the following questions. Compare the answers to the information on the pending SSNAP record:

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Approximately, when did you file your application?
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Have you ever used any other names on SSN cards?
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What is your place of birth?
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What is your father’s name?
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What is your mother’s maiden name?
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What address did you provide on your SSN application that is now pending?

If the person’s answers agree with the pending record, proceed with updating the person’s application.

If the answers do not agree with the pending record, advise the applicant that we cannot process the SSN request. Provide the applicant with Form SSA-L676 per, Providing Written Notice and Second Review When SSN or Card Cannot Be Issued, RM 10215.115.

3. Update the pending SSNAP application

Take the following actions to update the application:

a.

Update the address and telephone fields on the address screen, if needed.
b.

Review the evidence screens, answers to the evidence evaluation, and verification questions. If any evidence category is in suspect status, determine if the evidence can be verified now.
c.

Follow SAVE verification procedures for determining additional verification requests through SSNAP. However, the applicant must resubmit the required evidence if verification of age for a U.S. born applicant has not been received.
d.
Follow normal collateral verification procedures to verify the evidence with the proper agency.

See Details:
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  RM 10210.250, Evidence of Age for an SSN Card
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  RM 10214.170, Requesting Verification of Immigration Documents Using Form G-845
e.
If the applicant is U.S. born and evidence of age is coded as suspect pending verification with the custodian of the birth record, collateral verification must be obtained per, Evidence of Age for an SSN Card, RM 10210.250.

IMPORTANT: There is no policy change for evidence of age for enumeration purposes.
1. 1.
  
  Record any additional evidence in the Remarks field on the Summary screen as follows:
  
  •
  
  Enter “CODE” for this disaster followed by the new evidence submitted. You must record the proof of identity used to verify the identity of the applicant.
  
  •
  
  If only secondary evidence of identity was submitted or if no identifying information was submitted, but the applicant verified all the application information as required in these situations, annotate as follows: “CODE ver sec ID (or no ID).”
  
  •
  
  If secondary evidence of ID was submitted, describe it; e.g., “Red Cross/FEMA apps.”
  
  •
  
  Add any other evidence submitted with the current inquiry, even if that evidence duplicates that already submitted and annotated on the Proof of Identity screen.
  
  •
  
  Include the ASVI verification # if SAVE now verifies, or “G-845 verified,” if additional verification is needed and has been received.
2. 2.
  
  If all required documentation has been received and status has been verified (if required), print the SSNAP printout for applicant review, and record the applicant’s electronic signature on the application.
3. 3.
  
  Provide the applicant with the acknowledgment letter as outlined in, Acknowledgement for Form SS-5, RM 10205.215.
f.
Record any additional evidence in the Remarks field on the Summary screen as follows:
- •
  
  Enter “CODE” for this disaster followed by the new evidence submitted. You must record the proof of identity used to verify the identity of the applicant.
- •
  
  If only secondary evidence of identity was submitted or if no identifying information was submitted, but the applicant verified all the application information as required in these situations, annotate as follows: “CODE ver sec ID (or no ID).”
- •
  
  If secondary evidence of ID was submitted, describe it; e.g., “Red Cross/FEMA apps.”
- •
  
  Add any other evidence submitted with the current inquiry, even if that evidence duplicates that already submitted and annotated on the Proof of Identity screen.
- •
  
  Include the ASVI verification # if SAVE now verifies, or “G-845 verified” if additional verification is needed and has been received.
g.

If all required documentation has been received and status has been verified (if required), print the SSNAP printout for applicant review, and record the applicant’s electronic signature on the application.
h.

Provide the applicant with the acknowledgment letter as outlined in, Acknowledgement for Form SS-5, RM 10205.215.

D. Non-receipt of SSN card processed by FO affected by disaster

IMPORTANT: Do not use procedure in Non-Receipt of an SSN Card, RM 10215.060, as the original application cannot be accessed since the FO is closed and the applicant’s mailing address different. Instead, take the following actions:

1.

Locate the SSN by ALPHA and/or Numident.
2.

Examine the District Office Code (DOC) and CYD fields of the Numident. If the DOC is one of the closed offices in the disaster area, and the CYD date is in the 2 weeks before, assume the card was not delivered and it was lost, or damaged by the disaster.
3.
Obtain a new, signed SS-5 and the required evidence for a replacement card per:
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  RM 10210.010, Evidence Required for an SSN Card, and
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  RM 10210.420, Evidence of Identity for an SSN Card.
If the applicant is a disaster survivor who has little or no identity documentation in the FO, ask the applicant their full name and SSN and carefully verify their personal identifying information on the NUMIDENT. If all the information matches:
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  Process the SS-5.
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  Annotate the ”Remarks” field on the Summary screen with “CODE ver NUMI/sec ID (or no ID).”
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  Describe the secondary ID, if submitted; e.g., “Red Cross/FEMA apps.”
4.

If an applicant does not have proof of identity because of disaster-related loss of documents, an SSN printout may be an acceptable alternative to a replacement SSN card.