[kila33]

I just spent 4 hours at the SS office and got turned away. What do I need to bring? Do they have to be originals? I brought in her COC , her passport and a copy of her birth certificate. She said this was not good enough.
Help me please!!!

[Guatemomtobe]

I took in my whole packet of original documents with the translation and didn't have any problems. I have read that some offices are definitely more difficult to deal with than others.

Susan

[DPline]

Yes, they need to see origionals. (They only need to see them and not keep them.)

Did they give you any indication of what they wanted? I would say that they also need to see the Protocolo and/or PGN decree showing the completion of the adoption. It seems to vary by office which they accept as the adoption decree. Unless you understand the Guatemalan adoption process it is confusing as to how these two documents both finalize the adoption, so it is easier just to take all the paperwork (with translations) and then you have whatever they want.

[kila33]

How did you get your originals? Did you file your 884 or did your lawyer give you originals?
I don't have any.

[DPline]

Our attorney gave them to us. Understanding though that no one has the 'origional origionals.' They are filed in Guatemala. What I have are copies that were signed and stamped by the attorney.

What exactly did they say to you? As I said above, my guess is that they need an adoption decree. The PGN decree or the Protocolo, depending on how you want to look at it. I would take both for them.

[BarbnJeff]

Oh Kila - I'm sorry getting the SS card is such a pain for you. I went to get Jackson's last week. I took his Guat passport, permanant resident card (we didn't visit) and the packet of papers our attorney gave us. I printed the form from the web and had that filled out. I just handed her everything and was in and out of the office in about 15 minutes.

They should be able to tell you why it wasn't good enough and what they want to see.

Good Luck.

[JustBarbara]

I agree with the other posters - bring your entire package the atty gave you - you should have sufficient paperwork in there to get the SS#. And remember - they just need to see them - they do not keep them.

[jerryscuba]

I would suggest to go to a different SS-Office if possible. We had a similar problem with our daughters SS-card. Even though we had all original documents, even the ones returned from Immigration that were in the sealed envelope. The first officer would not accept them as original. She also refused to get her supervisor to discuss this topic one level higher, claiming she is the only one in tis office who knows what the papers have to look like.
The second officer in a different office didn't even want to see the adoption papers. CoC and BC were enough. That is also what the law states if I understand it correct. They have no right to ask for adoption papers. But fighting with the government is usually useless, just try elsewhere.

Good luck!
Ralf

[Evan's Folks]

I went to the SS office in Cobb County, GA, on Dec 26th, filled out the application form and showed the following documents:

(1) Certificate of Citizenship (birth first name of Carlos, our last name)
(2) Guatemalan Passport (has birth first name of Carlos, our last name)
(3) Adoption Decree from the State of Georgia (our son can home on an IR-3, but we did a readoption in order to get a name change to Evan).
(4) State Birth Certificate

SS Card will be issued under the changed name contained in the readoption decree. They didn't make copies of anything and I didn't have to show any PGN documents or other Guatemalan documents except for the passport. Piece of cake.

[DPline]

Originally Posted by Evan's Folks

I went to the SS office in Cobb County, GA, on Dec 26th, filled out the application form and showed the following documents:

(1) Certificate of Citizenship (birth first name of Carlos, our last name)
(2) Guatemalan Passport (has birth first name of Carlos, our last name)
(3) Adoption Decree from the State of Georgia (our son can home on an IR-3, but we did a readoption in order to get a name change to Evan).
(4) State Birth Certificate

SS Card will be issued under the changed name contained in the readoption decree. They didn't make copies of anything and I didn't have to show any PGN documents or other Guatemalan documents except for the passport. Piece of cake.

You did have the adoption decree from the State of Georgia though. So that is probably why you didn't need the PGN decree.

[sseymou1]

As someone who has survived the ridiculousness of our local ss office - my first advice would be RUN to another office where they can know something. Find someone who has done one easily and successfully and use that office - my mistake was once they were "verifying the translations" I couldn't go to another office.

I took in everything that our attorneys gave us - as the pp said - you should have some documents with stamps on them from pgn and such. I took all of those, coc, birth certificate, and visa. I know it isn't all technically needed but I didn't want to do it over.

Good luck and if all else fails - call your congressman - it actually worked! We got our card last week!

[DPline]

Maybe I am just being way optimistic, but my impression from the origional post is not that the office didn't know what they are doing or were being difficult, but that the OP just didn't have the correct paperwork. (Though it does sound as if they could have been more helpful in informing her of what they did want/need!)

I believe that most of us have had to show some kind of adoption decree - PGN decree, protocolo, or state issued decree - to get a social security number, and that is one thing she did not mention that she took.

I do agree that your situation with the whole 'verifying translations' is hooey!

[whereintheworld]

I second the advice to go to a different office! I did this very recently. You need to show citizenship, age and identity of the child, and your identity and proof of relationship.

This is ALL that I needed:

1. SS-5 application
2. Certificate of Citizenship --shows citizenship and identity (there is a picture)
3. Guatemalan birth certificate--proof of her age/date of birth and my relationship to her
4. My drivers license--proves my identity

I had taken all of my documents with me, including english translations and only needed the ones above. Interestingly, the gentleman that helped me is a native spanish speaker, and never even looked at the translations.

Good luck. This should NOT be as difficult as some offices make it!