How to Get Your Newborn's Social Security Card

If your baby was born in a hospital, think back to the birth certificate paperwork. One of the questions asked whether you wanted to apply for a Social Security number for your child, and asked for both parents' Social Security numbers. If you answered yes, you're done. The program is called Enumeration at Birth: your state's vital records office sends the birth information to the Social Security Administration, and the card arrives in the mail.

How long that takes depends on your state. The SSA says each state takes between one and six weeks to send the record, with about two weeks being average, and then it mails the card, which can take up to another two weeks. The SSA publishes a chart of each state's time.

So before doing anything else, answer one question: did you say yes at the hospital? If you did, there is no form to fill out, no office to visit, and nothing to pay. Watch the mail, and give it your state's usual time plus about two weeks before you start chasing it.

A Social Security number and card for your child are free. The application is free, the card is free, and replacements are free. If anyone asks you to pay for a Social Security number or card, it isn't the SSA and you don't have to pay. You can report it to the SSA's Office of the Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov or 1-800-269-0271.

That includes companies like ours. NameWright doesn't sell a newborn Social Security kit, and if we ever build one it will be for the handful of situations below where real paperwork exists, never for the automatic path, because there's nothing there to prepare. Anyone charging you to "process" the hospital application is charging for the mail.

A few situations genuinely require you to apply yourself:

• You didn't apply at the hospital. Whether you missed the question in the blur of new-parent paperwork or deliberately skipped it, you'll file Form SS-5 for your child.
• The birth wasn't registered through a hospital. Birth centers and licensed midwives can often take the Social Security number request as part of birth registration, the same as a hospital. If yours didn't, you'll register the birth with your state and then file Form SS-5 yourself.
• The card never arrived. If your state's usual time plus about two weeks for mail has passed, call 1-800-772-1213 or contact your local office before filing anything new; the application may just be in the pipeline.
• Adoption. You can usually apply once the adoption is final, though the SSA can sometimes assign a number earlier. If tax season arrives while the adoption is still pending, the IRS offers a temporary Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number so you aren't stuck.
• Your child is a new immigrant. Children who arrive in the US without an SSN apply with immigration documents as evidence.

The application is the same Form SS-5 adults use, free to download from the SSA. Along with the completed form you'll need original documents or certified copies (photocopies and notarized copies are not accepted):

• Proof of your child's citizenship and age: the US birth certificate covers both.
• Proof of your child's identity. Babies don't have ID, so the SSA accepts things like a medical record from the doctor or hospital.
• Proof of who you are and your relationship: your unexpired photo ID, plus the birth certificate naming you as the parent.

Most local offices want to see originals in person, and they hand your documents back before you leave. Once the application is processed, the card arrives by mail, typically in about 5 to 10 business days.

One honest note: NameWright isn't the SSA and this process needs no paid help. We wrote this guide because so many of our customers are new parents mid-way through their own name change.

The deadline that catches people is taxes: the IRS requires your child's SSN to claim them as a dependent and for the child tax credit. A baby born in December still needs an SSN for that year's return, which is why the hospital route (which starts automatically) beats remembering to file later.

You'll also be asked for it when adding your baby to health insurance (most insurers let you enroll first and supply the number when it arrives) and when opening any account in your child's name, like a savings account or a 529 plan.

And if the baby arrived before you finished your own post-wedding paperwork, you're not alone; that's most of our readers. Your free checklist will tell you exactly where you left off, and the marriage name change guide covers the whole sequence.