Proof of SSN for Real ID
 

New Yorker here. Apparently for Real ID I need proof of SSN either via Social Security Card or W-2 with SSN on it. I can't find my card and am told that my payroll processor, ADP, can't produce a W-2 with SSN on it. Anyone run into this and any ways around this? TIA

If I can't get a Real ID I would need to travel with a passport or Green Card

Why not just request a replacement Social Security card?

https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/

Still kind of difficult to get post-COVID - you have to apply online and then bring your "documents" (DL or passport in most cases) to a local SS office (at least at some locations), and wait who knows how long in line.

Definitely easier to procure a W-2 with your SSN on it. What did you provide the IRS for your 2021 taxes? And your company should easily be able to provide you with another copy - PDF, usually.

In some cases, one can apply online for a replacement card.
And aren't in-person visits at local Social Security offices now by appointment?

https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/ss5doc.htm

You can apply online, but they you then have to go to an office for verification. According to the SS website, most offices are now back open for walk-ins, but I'm guessing the lines are probably still long.

It appears that one can still get an appointment at offices that are open for walk-ins:

"Local Social Security offices are offering more in-person appointments and have resumed in-person service for people without an appointment. As we expand in-person service, we strongly encourage you to continue to go online, call us for help, and schedule appointments in advance."

Source: https://www.ssa.gov/agency/emergency/

I suggest that the OP set up a My Social Security account now (if he does not already have one), and see how far he can get requesting a replacement card online. If he has to make an in-person visit, request an appointment time to minimize the wait.

not offered by every office. Tacoma, for one.

I wonder how DMV would react if you took in proof that you are over-65 and collecting social security.

The physical card isn't required to file for and collect social security, so it's pretty ridiculous that it would be considered proof of identity for DMV. It's also kind of stupid because an alternate acceptable form of identity is a passport and a passport doesn't contain your SSN.

well, we are talking about DMV, right? ;)

More attempts to turn an SS card into a de facto national ID.

Eons ago, your driver's license number in Hawaii was your SSN. That practice was supposedly ended because 1) it was supposedly illegal to use a SSN for ID purposes and 2) using an SSN as a DL number made identity theft sooooo much simpler.

This is all so hard , I’ll just travel with my passport.

Same here. I'm not going to go to the hassle of getting a replacement SS card (lost the original one decades ago and never saw the need to replace it - it was useless as ID and I knew my number by heart) so I can pay more money to spend time at DMV getting a more 'secure' (ie, 'expensive') driver's license before the current one expires. I've got better things to do with my time.

same here.

OP mentioned being a New Yorker, so assuming NYC, so should be ok.

[emp added]

Well that's not true. If anything, they'd have trouble producing a W2 *without* the number printed on it. Ask your employer for a W2 with YTD figures on it. IIRC, they have to provide one by law. If you really want to, just download the W2 from the IRS website, fill it in, print it off, and use that - or use last years W2 that your employer gave you.

Hmm.

I just logged into ADP to check my W-2 from last year - PDF doc - and it actually DOESN'T display my full SS number. Has X's other than the last 4 digits.

(ADP Workforce Now)

It's a new thing. I think this year will only be the second year the regulations have allowed it. They are allowed to only display a partial SSN on all copies except for the one that goes to the IRS. Well, for anyone that doesn't file their company W-2s electronically which I'm sure ADP does.

I would just apply for a replacement social security card.

ah, in that case ignore what I said :)

I guess it's to decrease identities theft in some way, but I do think you should be able to request a copy with your SSN on it if you need it. As demonstrated here, plenty of people use that document for other reasons than filing taxes. I think so few people actually mail in a copy of their W-2 with their tax returns anymore that it made sense but I think there should be a way around it if you need one. And it is optional, ADP went right in though.

For my real id, I needed to correct the name on my social security account to match my birth certificate. I did go to an office with my birth certificate, but they mailed the new card. This was maybe 3 to 4 years ago.

I almost screwed this up when I went in to replace my DL with a RealID compliant one. I had grabbed my W2 as proof of SSN, then in doing a last-minute review of docs, noticed both the mailed and the downloadable copies from my employer masked most of the SSN. (Which is a good thing; I can recall in college that profs posted grades outside their offices, with the students listed by SSN... no chance of ID theft there, eh?)

Fortunately, I had to get a replacement Social Security card several years ago for work and still have it in the safe. It's a shame they won't just accept at least 2 other RealID-compliant IDs, like my passport and HSPD-12 PIV card and instead require SSN; that would have made it far easier since I have those handy already.

I'll make sure to bring my GE card for domestic travel, although a FL DL is real ID compliant.

I received a new SS card in the mail within the last year-ish. I also did not have to go to the office, all identity verification was done online.

I applied for a replacement SSN card online, the card was mailed without an in office visit.

My wife needed a new one and it was a non issue as well.

Curiously, Arizona doesn't require physical documentation of the SSN; you simply need to know the number.

The thing that hangs me up is the requirement for two "documents or mail issued from a business, organization, tribal or government agency that contain both Applicant name and Current residential address". My residential address is not deliverable by the Postal Service. All mail from a "business, organization, tribal or government agency" is sent to our PO Box. Even the utility bills don't have the physical address (although the utility company obviously knows where we are).

Using my passport or GE card at the airport is far simpler than jumping through the 'Real ID' hoops.

And the DMV folks are just so into "Real ID" that they automatically go into the spiel of "you don't have the right documentation." Drove me freakin' nuts. I responded that "I don't want Real ID. A drivers license has no purpose other than to drive; I have GE to travel... that is it's purpose."

Interesting. Looks like some cases but not others.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a122e55afa.png

How can we be sure that you are the real exerda and not an imposter? ;)

That's about how I memorized my SSN, it was my student ID number in high school. It's literally printed on my high school ID 😳

your tax dollars at work :rolleyes: IRS wants to purportedly curtail identity fraud by mandating employers not print full SSN on W2 while DMV/TSA/whoever else require it for identify verification and SSA cannot timely produce a replacement ID card as an alternate SSN source.

The difference depends on your state. Hawaii wasn’t one of them when I needed to get mine a couple of years ago so I had to go in. All in all it was very easy and yes they mail it to you.

I recently got a Real ID card and I just had to show a few tax documents for SSN. I lost my card decades ago. But even those documents I showed redact most of the number. Nobody cared and I got my Real ID. I discovered I was really a poor green child born in 17th century Finland. I was so mad at my mom for lying to me all these centuries. But now I’m fully legal and can enter US Government buildings so there is that!

I had to help an older friend with this prior to COVID. At our local SS office, it is not possible to make advance appointments except in person during an appointment, so you are warned that you will probably wait 2-3 hours for the first appointment. Yes, our office has people lining up outside in the cold early in the morning and throughout the day, because there's no room in the waiting room. The waiting room is guarded by two security guards and you are required to show ID to enter. Kind of left me wondering what kind of ID they'd settle for if you have nothing because you've had all your IDs stolen and you are trying to start over.

I have that problem, too, because 40 years ago when I applied for my SSN nobody cared.

But I have enough TSA acceptable ID that doesn't depend on showing anybody a social security card (which doesn't actually have any characteristics of a useful identity card) that I don't intend to bother with RealID.

there was a law that went into affect that limits the ability to put SS number on most documents sent via mail.

don’t you have online access to some work documents likr pay stubs or W2?

As I said, I had no problem using a redacted tax form that had only 4 digits of my SSN, to get my RealID in Florida. That was just a few months ago.

Be careful. Florida just arrested a bunch of people for voting who's voter registration they approved. Your license might be considered invalid due to insufficient documentation even if they let you have it.
:D:eek::D

Until I just read this thread, I didn’t even know it was a thing to have to show proof of SSN for a RealID.

About 4 1/2 years ago, I applied online for a change of address, and they just automatically sent me a RealID license. Maybe I slipped through the cracks? Dunno, but last month I went to the DMV for my renewal, (Texas lets you renew online every other time) and they sent me a new Real with no proof of SSN, I guess because I already had one. All I brought was my passport.

yeah, that isn't going to happen, thank you!