Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel
I know SS cards are available to those who don't have residence here. If you're going to be doing financial transactions (ie, open a bank account etc) you need the number anyway. I have seen a SS card that says "not valid for employment" that was issued to a person in such a situation.
iirc, if you can't show proof of us citizenship or other documentation allowing legal work in us, you get issued an ITIN (I can't remember what that stands for). I also don't know how one would tell the difference between an ITIN and a SSN if you were a bank/employer/dmv etc.