Originally Posted by akkiano

Went to the SSA today to apply for my SSN. Received my employment authorization card Oct. 3rd but decided to wait out the 10 days and I can report that it payed off. The attendant was able to verify my employment authorization card on the spot and told me I could return for a printout of my new SSN tomorrow. He told me the SSN card would arrive in about 7-10 days and gave me the receipt letter that states the 2 week mailing time.

Definitely recommend waiting the 10 days after the EAD approval to apply for a SSN. Of course you can go sooner but it seems there's a high probability of being stuck in limbo, something I wanted to avoid.

Another thing for those of us who worked with a fake social: the attendant told me I could go back with my tax returns and ITIN and that they would transfer the social security benefits accumulated on the false SSN I was using to my new number. When he sensed my hesitation at the idea he informed me that SSA would not penalize me, or anyone for that matter, and straight out said, "We are not immigration, if you worked for those benefits you deserve credit for them and we can grant them to you." Awesome guy, and awesome experience overall.