Bethany Discussion Forums

Can anyone tell me how long it takes to get a SSN. Noah was never given one when he was born because he was never named. We are still waiting on his birth certificate from St. of GA Vital Records. They said it will take 12 weeks. Why? you may ask......because they do all bc's by hand, NOW. Yes, that NOW means it used to be done electronically.

When I get the BC, can I take to the SS office, apply and they will give me one that day? I haven't a clue.

We had to wait for Luke's official birth certificate (with Chris and I listed as his parents). After we got that I took it to the SS office to apply for the SS#. I never mentioned that he was adopted... it can cause MANY problems from what I hear about other's experience. I just too his new birth certificate and his baptismal record. After I applied it took about 2-3 weeks to get the number and card in the mail.

Good Luck!! It can take some patience!!

Thanks for the reply Rhonda. My Chris is starting to panic, but I'm sure it will be taken care by tax time.

Hey Zoe:

That's weird that you haven't received his BC yet. I received Gabrielle's about two weeks ago and the lawyer said that I could just go to the SS office and apply for a SS #. Of course, I can't get the SS office to answer their phone. Many people told me to make an appointment instead of going down there and waiting hours. But...when you can't get them to answer??? Well...I'm off on Friday and thought I would go down there with her BC and see how it goes. I'll let you know.

Kimberly

I am in the process of getting Clayton's SSN. You will need the ACTUAL birth certificate, and the ACTUAL adoption papers with the court seal on them. You will also need a copy of immunization records. Once you take all of that in and fill out a 1 page application, you should receive a SSN in 10-14 days. You can also go to www.socialsecurity.gov then you can go to forms and download form SS-5 and that will give you the application for adopted children and all information that you will need.

The only thing I needed was the birth certificate (I brought baptismal records to be on the safe side, but didn't need those either). I guess it really depends on the office... I never even mentioned that Lukas was adopted! It shouldn't even matter because, if you're finalized, then your adopted child is no different than a bio child.

Kimberly,

Spoke with *** in the Atlanta Bethany office and she said you got yours so quickly because of where you live. Because we are in Metro Atlanta we have to deal with the big city crawl of getting things done. She said it will be at least 12 weeks before we get Noah's. Five more to go. Maybe.

Zoe,

I would make sure of what you need to take to the SS office when you go. We even had to have Olivia's hospital discharge papers and a copy of our SS card. It must be like everything else. It depends on where you live. It took us longer to get the birth certificate than it did the SS number. It was about three months total for everything we needed.

Zoe,

If you're worried about getting the BC in time to get the SSN # in time to file your taxes, don't. If things aren't moving along fast enough, just file for a tax id #. You could have that as a safety measure for tax time if you wanted.

Our dd was born in Dec. last year, so we quickly filed for the tax id # and had no problems filing our taxes once we received it. The letter that comes with the number just asks you to notify them of your child's SSN so they can update their records ( we forgot to do this with our oldest dd - oh well! ).

We'll also be getting a SSN for our youngest dd soon. I don't remember it being a big deal with our first, so hopefully it will be the same way this time around.

Good Luck,
C

Zoe:

Yeah I guess where I live is just a little slower than Atlanta. haha I imagined that the red *** were for LW??? She's so wonderful! She just called me on Sat. because she was in the area and we were trying the last several weekends to get together. I couldn't do it though. Maybe another time. I'm going this Friday to the SS office because I'm off. I'll let you know how my experience is.

Kimberly

Kimberly,

Yes, the red asteriks were placed by the admin. I wrote her first name and I should know better. I usually use initials.

Let me know how the SS office is. It might be worth the drive to where you are to do it.

Yeah right but I doubt it. I heard that you really need to call and make an appointment. Yeah....I get through but never to a real person to make an appointment, so how do you do that???? I was told not to go there without an appointment because you'll be waiting all day. Well...I guess I'll be waiting or acting crazy. One or the other.

Kimberly

When I was trying to find out the status of the birth certificate, I was extremely frustrated and was venting to my boss and another guy, Rick, here in my office. Rick told me one time he had to do something with one of the government offices and it may have been vital records, they told him it would take 48 hours to process his request (he went in person). He told them he would wait. They didn't know what to do. He had what he came for in 45 minutes.

I thought that was great.

Thanks for all this information! I am on my way to get Emily's tomorrow! I just printed out the SS5 form to complete before I go go go! There is always so much great information shared on these posts! Melissa

Zoe:

I still don't have Gabrielle's SS card. They said it would only take two weeks. Well...its been way, way more than that. I just haven't gotten a chance to call about it.

Talk with you soon.
Kimberly