United States: USCIS Ends the Option to Request a Social Security Number When Applying for an EAD

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has stopped allowing applicants for an employment authorization document (EAD) to request a Social Security Number (SSN) on their Form I-765 EAD application, ending a processing efficiency that had been in place for a number of years.

In 2017, USCIS began allowing EAD applicants to request an SSN or a replacement Social Security card on Form I-765, pursuant to a Social Security Administration (SSA) program known as Enumeration Beyond Entry. This saved EAD applicants an in-person appointment at a local SSA office. If an EAD applicant used this option and their Form I-765 was approved, USCIS would send the foreign national’s data to SSA for processing. The foreign national would receive two documents – their USCIS EAD and, in a separate mailing, an SSN card, which was typically issued a few weeks after the EAD.

SSA reportedly suspended automatically producing SSNs based on Form I-765 requests in Spring 2025. Though there appears to have been no agency announcement of the suspension at that time, the new edition of Form I-765 marks an official end to the option for EAD applicants. Foreign nationals seeking a Social Security Number are required to submit an application with the SSA and typically appear in person at a local SSA office.