Los social security card?!?

Okay, I lost my ss card and I went to my local ssa office today and it was packed full of waiting impatient people who all had numbers. No freakin' way!

I have the application (SS-5) already filled out, but it says I need certified copies by the custodian of the record. huh? Where is this custodian, and how long does it take? Do I just take with me my US birth certificate and my driver's license?

Most of the people who were waiting there were probably waiting for other things...the social security office does things other than issue replacement cards, and those things take a long time.

I had to get another one after mine was stolen. When I went to the office here, it was totally packed with people, and I started worrying, because there was no way that my kids could be good long enough to wait that long...but it turned out that they were all waiting for something else, and my wait time was only about ten minutes.

You need a CERTIFIED copy of your birth certificate. If you don;t have one, you can get one (for a fee) through the vital statistics office in the state & county were you were born. A valid driver's license or state issued ID is an acceptable form of photo identification. Once you have these items, take them, with the completed SS-5 to your local SS office and take a number.

Yes a license and a birth certificate is all that is needed.

The custodian thing means that it has to be certified by the original issuer....... like the original copy. Usually it means that it has a raised seal but not always. If you don't have that there are online companies that can take care of that. Or if you live where you are born you can go to the courthouse. If you have the original you are fine.

Once you have your stuff you just go and wait. When you go can help. If you go early on say a Tuesday morning things can go much faster.

I mailed mine in once and it took 2 weeks.