We require a SSN before we will open an account. We have a father, who is a resident alien with a SSN for work purposes only. We opened an account for him the other day. He came in today wanting to open 2 savings accounts for his children who are also resident aliens and they also have SSNs for work purposes only. My question is, these children are ages 4 and 7. Are SSN's issued for resident alien children for work purposes only? This seemed strange to us, but I am also not aware of all of the rules for issuing SSN's to non-citizens.

Help!

A resident alien would have a standard SSN card and not one for work purposes only. Either they did not get them updated when they became resident aliens or they are not resident aliens.

Ok....so then lets say they are not resident aliens. Would children be issued a "for work purposes only" SSN?

I doubt it. To get a SSN for work purposes only you need to be here on a VISA that authorizes you to work. If the kids have actual SSNs it would indicate "Not Valid for Employment". But if they are resident aliens, they would have neither designation. Have they presented green cards or what other documentation have they given you?

They have not presented green cards but I'm also not sure the account rep asked. I talked to the account rep just now and all they have provided us for the children are the SS cards that say for work purposes only and birth certificates from the country they were born in. I have asked the account rep to ask the father if they have green cards - as I've found that many times when we ask a customer if they are a resident or non-resident - they aren't always correct in what they say. As I don't believe they fully understand the way things work. (who does??) I went ahead and instructed her to find this information out and if they have a green card then I told her to ask them to get their SS cards updated. I'm in full agreement that the children's cards would not say "for work purposes only" at their ages.