Revision 15-4; Effective October 1, 2015

All Programs except TA 31, TP 32, TP 33, TP 34, TP 35, TP 36 and TP 45

The proof required to get an SSN is shown in the table below, except for special situations that are listed in A-431, Special Situations. The proof needed depends on:

• place of birth;
• citizenship status; and
• whether the request is for an original, duplicate, or corrected SSN.

Note: To correct/update SSN information, the applicant must provide proof required for a duplicate SSN as well as proof showing the new information.

Acceptable Proof

The documents must be originals, or copies made by the custodian of the record, such as a county clerk or registrar. SSA will return all documents submitted to SSA.

Proof of Age and Citizenship

A birth certificate is the preferred proof.

If no birth certificate is available, a U.S.-born citizen may furnish:

• a religious record showing age or date of birth (to establish citizenship, it must have been recorded within three months of birth);
• a hospital birth record;
• a notice of birth registration; or
• other documents, at least one year old, that show:
  • name,
  • age or date of birth, and
  • place of birth.

If no birth certificate is available, a foreign-born U.S. citizen may furnish a:

• U.S. Consular Report of Birth,
• U.S. Citizen Identification Card (Form I-197),
• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560),
• U.S. Passport, or
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570).

Proof of lawful alien status:

• I-551, Permanent Resident Card (Resident Alien Card);
• I-151, Alien Registration Receipt Card;
• I-94, Arrival-Departure Record; or
• I-688A, Employment Authorization Card.

Proof of Identity

Proof of identity must contain enough information to identify the applicant, such as name, age or date of birth, address, signature, and physical description. Examples of acceptable documents are:

A-431 Special Situations

Revision 19-4; Effective October 1, 2019

All Programs except TA 31, TP 32, TP 33, TP 34, TP 35, TP 36 and TP 45

The following situations require special handling.

• If the SSN applicant is a non-U.S. citizen who traditionally uses a name order different from the customary U.S. name order (first name, middle name, last or family name), determine name order according to U.S. custom and enter appropriately on Form H1106, Enumeration Referral.

Examples:

A-432 SSN Discrepancy Clearance Procedures

Revision 24-4; Effective Oct.1, 2024

All Programs except TA 31, TP 32, TP 33, TP 34, TP 35, TP 36 and TP 45

The monthly Social Security Administration (SSA) interface tries to verify the SSN after certification when a person’s Social Security Number (SSN) is not verified through the State Online Query (SOLQ) automated system. If the SSN cannot be verified during the interface or a duplicate SSN is found, one of the following alerts is generated:

• Alert 268, Social Security Administration Unable to Verify SSN (RG-83) when the information does not match. This triggers the Task List Manager (TLM) Alert 268, Agency Generated Change - Social Security Administration Unable to Verify SSN (RG-83) for Client (Individual ID) XXXXXXXXX, and routes it to the Customer Care Center (CCC) for case action; or
• Alert 269, Duplicate SSN for Individual Number, when the SSN is a duplicate. This triggers the TLM Alert 269, Agency Generated Change - Social Security Administration Reports a Duplicate SSN XXXXXXXXXX, and routes it to the CCC for case action.

Upon receipt of Alert 268 or Alert 269, research the case and contact the household to clear the discrepant or duplicate SSN. If unable to clear the discrepant or duplicate SSN and the person does not have good cause for not providing a SSN, the following correspondence is generated and the person has a 60-day period to clear the discrepancy:

• Form TF0001, Notice of Case Action, with the following language in the Notes section of the form:
  
  The person is granted extra time to resolve the problem with their Social Security Number.
  
  We need proof that you have gone to the Social Security Administration to resolve the issue with XXXXXXX XXXXX’s Social Security Number by XX/XX/XXXX. If we don’t receive the proof, your XXXXXX benefits will end.
• Form HRG-83, SSN Maintenance Memorandum, instructing the household to go the SSA office to correct or update the person’s Social Security records.

SSA staff will help the person complete an application to correct or update their Social Security records and will provide them with Form SSA-5028, Receipt for Application for a Social Security Number as proof.

If the person’s SSN has not been validated by the 60th day from the date the Form TF0001 and Form HRG-83 are sent, staff are prompted to review the case via Alert #796, Reasonable Opportunity Period has Expired for EDG #.

If the person fails to cooperate in clearing the discrepancy with the SSA or if the SSN has not been validated, refer to related policy to disqualify or deny the person.

Note: This 60-day period is different from the Medicaid reasonable opportunity period for applicants to provide verification of U.S. citizenship or an eligible alien status, when verification is not available when the person applies.

If the system shows an SSN was verified, but the SSN needs to be corrected, send the correct SSN to Data Integrity (DI) to make a change by one of the following methods:

Mail to: DI Section, Data Base Support
4616 W Howard Ln,
Suite 275, MC Y92-2
Austin, TX 78728

Fax to Data Base Support at 512-483-3992.

Email the request to the Data Integrity email box at HHSC CCC Data Integrity Program.

Include in the body of the email:

Case number:

Client name:

Individual number:

Situation:

DI staff send an email to the staff member stating the request was processed or it was unable to process request with substantiation.

Related Policy

Failure to Comply, A-420