Getting a Social Security Card | Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
TTUHSC students walking through Lubbock campus courtyard.

Getting a Social Security Card

F-1 students

Students are only eligible to apply for a Social Security card/number if they have been offered a job (see steps below). This card is issued by a government agency in the US, the Social Security Administration, only to those students who will be working. For this reason, when applying at the Social Security Office in Lubbock, students need to have proof that they have been offered employment by a TTUHSC department. In addition to this letter, students must have a letter from the international student counselor at TTUHSC confirming that they are maintaining their status as non-immigrant students.

NOTE: You can only apply for a Social Security card/number at the Social Security office ten days after you enter the US.  Going to the Social Security office before then will likely delay the application process. Your international student counselor will issue you a social security letter 7 days after you do your online immigration check in (see instructions below and the list of documentation you will need to apply at the Social Security office.

Applying for a Social Security card:

STEP 1

TTUHSC entities that would like to employ F-1 must provide a letter of employment for you. The SSA office in Lubbock requires specific language to be included in this letter. In order to aid the TTUHSC departments and the student, International Student Services has put together a template for the employer to follow.

Please see additional employer information below regarding TTUHSC processes and the social security number

STEP 2

After you get the letter from the employer (based on the ISS Template for Departments) you will need to provide this letter to your International Student Counselor and request a status confirmation letter. You can request this letter from your counselor by sending them a copy of the letter from your employer as an email attachment. This request does not require an appointment. After receiving your request and a copy of the letter from your employer, your F-1 counselor will produce the status confirmation letter and place it at the front desk for you to pick up at your convenience.

STEP 3

Ten days after your entry into the US, take the following documents to the Social Security Office in Lubbock to apply for your Social Security card:

  • Original letter from employing TTUHSC department
  • Original status confirmation letter from your International Student Counselor 
  • Passport
  • Copy of your I-94 card (print out a copy of your record from the Department of Homeland Security Website
  • DS2019 (J-1) or I-20 (F-1 Students)
  • The Social Security Application

The application page for is the Social Security Office where you can create and account and apply is 

STEP 4

The card will be mailed to the student and the student will show the new card to the employer and the registrar to update the employment record and your tax information.  You will need to work with your department and Human Resources Office to work while you are waiting for your new card.