Social Security

International students at Pitzer can apply for a social security number if they have received an offer of employment.  Please remember that unless you have been approved for OPT or CPT, or have employment authorization for Severe Economic Hardship, your employment must be on-campus.

Once you have a job offer, in order to apply for a social security number, you will need:

  • a letter of hire from your employer
  • a letter from the International Student Advisor at Pitzer for the Social Security Administration
  • an updated I-20 (ideally, one printed in the current semester)
  • a printout of your latest I-94 (you can look it up at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/)
  • your passport and visa
  • Social Security Number application (Form SS 5 – https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf)

Students will need to apply for a Social Security Number at the Social Security Administration (SSA) Building in downtown Pomona.

Please note that you won’t get your number immediately at your appointment, but will get a receipt showing you applied for the SSN.  The actual card with the number will come in about two weeks (although it could be longer) through the mail to you, so make sure you know the mailing address here AND your box #.

Although you won’t get your social security number right away, you should take the receipt you receive to Human Resources to use as a placeholder until the actual number comes in.

The address for the SSA building in Pomona is 960 W. Mission Blvd., Pomona, CA  91766.  These are the days and times they are typically open:

Monday            9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Tuesday           9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Wednesday     9 a.m. – 12 noon
Thursday         9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Friday              9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Closed on Saturday and Sunday.