International Students
F-1 and M-1 Students: Social Security and Tax Issues
This FAQ contains information for designated
school officials (DSOs) to use when counseling F and M students concerning
Social Security and tax issues. If you are unfamiliar with any of the terms or
acronyms used, consult the glossary.
1. Social Security Issues for Students
2. Security Issues for F-2 and M-2 Dependents
3. Problems
with Social Security Accounts
4. Tax
Issues for Nonimmigrant Students
1. Social Security Issues for Students
1.1. Are nonimmigrant students allowed to work?
Nonimmigrant students may
work in certain circumstances and with your approval or recommendation. Working
without permission violates student status. For more information, see the
sections on employment in the
FAQ section of the SEVP Web site.
1.2. Do all nonimmigrant students need Social Security numbers?
No, F–1 or M–1 students
do not need a Social Security number, unless they are employed.
1.3. Employed students
1.3.1. How do nonimmigrant students get
Social Security cards?
1.3.2. Do nonimmigrant students who are
authorized employment need to have their Social Security cards prior to
starting work or receiving a paycheck?
No. SSA will not process
the request for a Social Security number until the beginning day of the
student’s authorized period of employment. However, the employer may allow the
student to start working and to receive pay while the application is pending.
See the SSA online guide,
Employer Responsibilities When Hiring Foreign Workers, at
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/hiring.htm.
Advise applicants to get letters verifying their
pending SSN application from the SSA official. Presenting these letters to
employers enables the applicant to begin employment immediately and get paid
without delay. You can let students know to refer employers to the
FAQ for employers of
nonimmigrant students.
1.3.3. How does SSA verify that a nonimmigrant legally entered the United States?
SSA uses the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program’s Verification
Information System (VIS) as its primary data source to verify legal entry into the United States and,
in conjunction with travel documentation, to verify the immigration status of non-citizen SSN applicants.
It may take several days after arrival of a nonimmigrant for data about the arrival to be uploaded to
VIS. To provide a secondary data source, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), along with
the SAVE Program, developed a method for SSA officials to indirectly access SEVIS data for comparison.
SEVIS offers alternate data verification for F/M/J nonimmigrants and more rapid updates. Since this
alternate approach was introduced in early 2004, the immigration status of nearly 125,000 F/M/J SSN
applicants has been verified using SEVIS.
1.3.4. What can DSOs and students do to
improve the students' chances of being issued Social Security numbers?
Step 1: If SSN applicants need to begin employment immediately, tell them to report to
you as soon as possible after admission at the port-of-entry. Delays in
reporting to you cause delays in updating SEVIS. If SEVIS is not updated, it
cannot be used as a secondary method to verify immigration status for SSN
purposes.
Step 2: When your prospective Social Security number applicants report to you for the
term or program, you need to activate their SEVIS records as soon as possible.
This ensures that SEVIS can be used, if needed, to verify the applicant's
current immigration status. Applicants should
wait 48 hours after you've
activated their records before submitting Social Security number applications.
Ensure the data in SEVIS is accurate and matches that on other documents. See
the
FAQ on Eliminating Data Discrepancies.
Step 3: Make sure applicants
wait at least
10 days from arrival into the United States before applying for their
Social Security number to allow time for necessary arrival data to be uploaded
in VIS.
Step 4: Make sure students have all the required documentation when they go to the SSA
office. See
International Students And Social Security Numbers, SSA Publication No. 05-10181, December 2005
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10181.html for details. This includes recent changes
pertaining to on-campus employment for F-1 students.
Step 5: Advise applicants to ask for letters from the SSA official acknowledging that
they filed an SSN application. Presenting these letters to employers may better
enable applicants to begin employment immediately and get paid without delay.
Step 6: Discourage applications for invalid reasons. Authorized employment is almost always the basis
for assignment of a Social Security number. See the section below on
students without employment for
suggestions on how to handle Social Security number related issues for these students.
1.3.5. Do nonimmigrant students have to
pay Social Security taxes on their wages?
Nonimmigrant students are exempt on wages paid for services
performed within the United States as long as such services:
- Are allowed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) for F and M nonimmigrants
- Are performed to carry out the purposes for which the
visas were issued
Exempt employment for students includes:
- On-campus student employment up to 20 hours a week (40
hours during summer vacations)
- Off-campus student employment allowed by USCIS
- Practical training, on or off campus
- Employment as a professor, teacher or researcher
- Employment as a physician, au pair, or summer camp
worker
This exemption does not apply to:
- Unauthorized employment
- Employment not closely connected to the student's
academic program
- Students that change to an immigration status which is
not exempt or to a special protected status
- Nonimmigrant students who become resident aliens
This information comes from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website
on
Alien Liability for Social Security and
Medicare Taxes.
1.3.6. Does the Social Security card for a
nonimmigrant student look different than that for a U.S. citizen?
Yes. Nonimmigrant students with work authorization get a card
that shows the person’s SSN and the notation,
Valid For Work Only With DHS
Authorization.
For more information, see:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10002.html.
1.3.7. Can nonimmigrant students get
supplemental security income?
1.4. Students without employment
1.4.1. Can nonimmigrant students get a
Social Security number for reasons other than employment?
Discourage
students from applying for Social Security numbers for reasons other than work.
Authorized employment is almost always the basis for assignment of an SSN.
Other circumstances where an SSN might be requested (e.g., driver licenses,
loans, bank accounts, rental agreements) reflect business practices established
prior to identity theft emerging as a public threat. To counter the threat, SSA
no longer assigns Social Security numbers for non-work reasons.
For
suggestions on how to handle requests for Social Security numbers for
nonimmigrant-work reasons see,
What do students do if a business or
organization requires a Social Security number in order to provide services?
For more
information see:
1.4.2. What if a federal or state agency
requires a Social Security number?
The following comes from the SSA publication,
Social Security
Numbers for Noncitizens, at
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10096.pdf.
If you do not have permission to work, you may apply for a
Social Security number only if:
- A federal law requires you to provide your
Social Security number to get a particular benefit or service; or
- A state or
local law requires you to provide your Social Security number to get general
assistance benefits that you already have qualified for.
If you need a number to meet state or local requirements, you
must bring us a letter from the government agency. It must be on letterhead
stationery (no form letters or photocopies) and:
- Specifically identify you as
the applicant;
- Cite the law requiring you to have a Social Security number;
- Indicate that you meet all the agency’s requirements, except having the number;
and
- Contain an agency contact name and telephone number. If you are assigned
a number for non-work purposes, you cannot use it to work. If you use it to
work, we will inform DHS.
1.4.3. What do students do if a business
or organization requires a Social Security number in order to provide services?
If the organization asking for the Social Security number is a
government agency, see the question
above.
See Question 83 from Social Security Online,
How do non-working legal aliens get a Social Security number?
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=83.
This makes it clear that,
"You do not
need a Social Security number to conduct business with a bank, register for
school, apply for educational tests, obtain private health insurance, apply for
school lunch programs or apply for subsidized housing. You cannot get a Social
Security number for the sole purpose of obtaining a driver license."
For banks, landlords, and other organizations who ask for a
Social Security number, some schools have found it effective to write a letter
on school letterhead for the student, giving the student's full name, address,
program start date, and the program end date. The letter explains that SSA will
not issue a Social Security number for nonimmigrant students who do not have
work authorization. It suggests that the business accept the student's
passport, Form I-20, and/or Form I-94 as an alternate form of identity.
The
sample letter (PDF) is only a suggested format and schools may modify this
letter to fit their needs.
1.4.4. If students cannot get Social
Security numbers, can they get individual taxpayer identification numbers
(ITIN) instead?
2. Security Issues for F-2 and M-2 Dependents
2.1. Can the dependents of a nonimmigrant
student be employed?
No. F-2 and M-2 nonimmigrants are not allowed to be employed.
2.2. Do the F-2 or M-2 dependents of a
nonimmigrant student need a Social Security number?
2.3. What if a federal or state agency
requires a Social Security number?
The following comes from the SSA publication,
Social Security
Numbers for Noncitizens, at
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10096.pdf.
If you do not have permission to work, you
may apply for a Social Security number only if:
- A federal law requires you to
provide your Social Security number to get a particular benefit or service; or
- A state or local law requires you to provide your Social Security number to
get general assistance benefits that you already have qualified for.
If you need a number to meet state or local
requirements, you must bring us a letter from the government agency. It must be
on letterhead stationery (no form letters or photocopies) and:
- Specifically
identify you as the applicant;
- Cite the law requiring you to have a Social
Security number;
- Indicate that you meet all the agency’s requirements, except
having the number; and
- Contain an agency contact name and telephone number.
If you are assigned a number for non-work purposes, you cannot use it to work.
If you use it to work, we will inform DHS.
3. Problems
with Social Security Accounts
3.1. Where can I refer my nonimmigrant
students who have problems with Social Security payments?
3.2. Who do I contact if one of my
students is having a problem getting a Social Security card?
If the
student has followed the advice in this FAQ and there still are difficulties,
contact the local SSA office. Some schools have called and/or met with local
SSA office managers to decide the best way to handle these applicants,
particularly if you will have large numbers of applicants going to any one
office. You may also want to call ahead
and discuss optimal times to visit the office. This helps ensure that SSA has
sufficient office staff available to handle the traffic and can help expedite
the application process. If this doesn’t help, advise SEVP through an email
addressed to
SEVIS.Source@dhs.gov. Provide:
- Applicant's family name, first name, SEVIS ID#, date of
birth, and most recent I-94 number
- Applicant's contact information (include mailing
address and telephone number)
- Specific SSA office where the application was submitted
and the submission date
- A brief description of the problem
SEVP and SSA
will work together to resolve the problem. However, investigation will not
begin until all information requested above is received. Allow several weeks
for resolution.
3.3. Is there anything, long-term, that
DSOs can do to help students avoid data discrepancies?
Data discrepancies aren't isolated to
SSN issuance, but do complicate the process. From your earliest communication
with prospective F/M/J nonimmigrants, try to minimize potential data errors.
See the
FAQ on Eliminating
Data Discrepancies.
3.4. I have a student whose file needs a
data fix. Until the data fix is complete, I cannot issue a Form I-20. With no
Form I-20, there is no document to complete list C on the Form I-9. What should
I do?
Be sure you have an open ticket on the data fix. If not, call the
Help Desk and open a ticket. Send an e-mail to
toolbox.SEVIS@dhs.gov
asking for an expedited data fix because the student needs to begin working. Be
sure to include the ticket number.
In the meantime, the student can use their most current Form I-20
along with a letter from you explaining that the student is currently in status
and that a more up-to-date Form I-20 will be furnished upon completion of the
data fix.
4. Tax
Issues for Nonimmigrant Students
4.1. Where can I find more information
about U.S. income taxes for nonimmigrant students?
4.2. Are nonimmigrant students required to
file U.S. income tax forms?
Nonimmigrant students that have any of the following types of
income need to file a special form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ:
- A scholarship or fellowship, which is not partially or
totally a Tax Free Scholarship or Fellowship as defined by the IRS
- Income partially or totally exempt from tax under the
terms of a tax treaty; and/or
- Any other income, which is taxable under the Internal
Revenue Code.
See the IRS Web site at
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=129239,00.html
for more information.
4.3. Are there special income tax rules
for nonimmigrant students?
Yes. The IRS divides aliens into residents and nonresidents for
tax purposes. (These rules are different than the DHS rules governing
immigration status.) Generally speaking, aliens who are in the United States
for more than 183 days in any three-year period are considered resident aliens
for tax purposes and are taxed in the same way as U.S. residents.
However, there is an exception available to students if they:
- Do not intend to reside permanently in the United
States
- Have substantially complied with the immigration laws
and requirements relating to their student nonimmigrant status
- Have not taken any steps to change their nonimmigrant
status in the United States to become a permanent resident of the United
States; and
- Have a closer connection to another country than to the
United States
To claim the exception for students on an income tax return,
students should attach Form 8843 to their Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ along with
an attachment explaining their eligibility for the closer connection exception.
See
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=129255,00.html
for more information.
4.4. Where do I find a Form 1040NR,
1040NR-EZ, or IRS Form 8843?