How to replace a lost Social Security card

Start with the SSA's own framing, because it saves most people the entire exercise. The agency's replacement page states that you may not need to replace your card if you know your Social Security number, and that in most cases a physical card is not necessary. Nothing about the number changes when the card goes missing — the number is permanent, it stays the same on any replacement, and the card is only ever a printed record of it. If you have the number memorized or written somewhere safe, the practical loss is close to zero.

The one common situation where the card is genuinely required is a new job. On USCIS's list of documents acceptable for Form I-9, an unrestricted US Social Security card is a List C document establishing employment authorization, paired with a List B identity document such as a driver's license. USCIS is strict about two things: the card must not be laminated, and it cannot carry any of the notations "NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT", "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION" or "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION". A laminated card an employer would otherwise accept is not acceptable.

If you have just been hired and the card was the document you planned to use, you are not stuck. USCIS's guidance on receipts allows an employee to present a receipt showing they have applied to replace a lost, stolen or damaged List A, B or C document, and that receipt is valid for ninety days from the first day of work for pay. Within those ninety days you show the employer the replacement document. Two limits are worth knowing: receipts cannot be used at all if the job will last less than three days, and an employer may not accept a second receipt when the first expires.

There is also a simpler escape route that many people miss. Form I-9 does not require the Social Security card specifically — it requires one List C document, and an original or certified copy of a US birth certificate bearing an official seal, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad on Form FS-240, or a Certificate of Naturalization are all on the same list. A US passport is a List A document that satisfies identity and work authorization on its own. If any of those is in your desk drawer, the lost card stops being urgent.

For everything else, apply the Federal Trade Commission's test before you replace anything. The FTC's identity theft guidance points out that organizations such as the IRS, your bank and your employer legitimately need the number, but many others that ask for it do not really need it, and it suggests asking why they need it, how it will be used, what happens if you refuse, and whether the last four digits are enough. SSA makes the same point in the same language — giving your number is voluntary even when you are asked directly — and advises keeping the card with your important papers rather than carrying it.

The SSA says plainly that the fastest way to get a replacement is to start the application online, and it says something else in the same breath that people find surprising: your local Social Security office cannot print a card for you. There is no counter anywhere in the country that hands over a card while you wait. Every card is produced centrally and mailed, whichever route you use, so an office visit buys you document verification, not speed.

A subset of applicants can complete the entire request inside a personal my Social Security account without any office contact. SSA's publication on the online request lists five conditions, and all five have to be true: you are a US citizen aged eighteen or older; you have a driver's license or state-issued identification card from one of the participating states or the District of Columbia; you have a US mailing address, which includes APO, FPO and DPO addresses; you have a my Social Security account; and you do not need to change your name, date of birth, place of birth or gender.

The state condition is the one that quietly disqualifies people, and it has nothing to do with where you live now. SSA verifies the licence or state ID you enter against the issuing state's records, so the question is whether the state that issued your ID shares that data. SSA's FAQ describes the online route as available "in most states" rather than all of them, and directs you to answer the questions on its number-and-card pages to find out whether yours participates. If it does not, you can still start the application — you just cannot finish it in the browser.

Getting into my Social Security is itself a step, because SSA no longer runs its own usernames. The account is created through one of two credential providers: Login.gov, which SSA recommends for most users in the United States and which needs an email address, a government-issued photo ID and a phone number; or ID.me, which SSA points at people inside or outside the United States and which needs an email address, a government-issued photo ID and a device with a camera. SSA specifically directs people living outside the US, or without a Social Security number, to the ID.me route.

Once you are in, the flow is short. SSA's step-by-step publication describes it as selecting the "Replace your Social Security Card" link, verifying your email address, choosing the state that issued your licence or ID, answering the background questions, then entering the identity-verification details — name, Social Security number, date of birth, licence or state ID information, address and phone number. When the identity check clears, the request is complete. There is nothing to print, nothing to sign and nothing to post.

On timing, the SSA's replacement page says that after it completes your request you will receive the card by mail in five to ten business days, while its general publication on the number and card gives seven to ten business days for a card generally and Form SS-5 tells you to enter an address where you can receive the card seven to fourteen days from now. Treat two weeks as the working assumption and do not order a second card because the first has not arrived in five days — replacements are capped, and the clock in those figures starts when SSA completes the request, not when you submit it.

This is the single most useful procedural point on the page. Even where the online application cannot be completed — because you are under eighteen, are not a US citizen, hold ID from a non-participating state, or need a name or record change — SSA's guidance is still to begin on its replacement page and answer the series of questions there. Doing so starts a case, and SSA's publications say you may then be eligible to self-schedule an appointment at your local Social Security office or Card Center rather than joining a phone queue for one.

Starting online also opens a defined window rather than an open-ended errand. The publications for US citizen adults, US citizen children and non-US citizen adults all say the same thing in the same words: you start the application process online, then bring the required documents to your local Social Security office or Card Center within forty-five calendar days to complete it. Miss the forty-five days and you begin again. Put the deadline in a calendar the moment you submit, because the documents you need — a certified birth certificate, a replacement licence — can themselves take weeks to obtain.

Where you go matters more than most people expect. SSA's Field Office Locator carries an explicit instruction that you must visit a Card Center if you only need to get a new or replacement Social Security card, update your personal information, or visit at your employer's request, and that for all other services you should use a different office. The same tool flags some locations as offering express card services only and others as limited-service offices that do not handle card replacements and updates at all. Check the office type before you travel, not after.

Book before you go. SSA's replacement publications tell you to call 1-800-772-1213, or TTY 1-800-325-0778, to schedule an appointment for your visit, with staff answering from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the Field Office Locator leads with "Skip the line — make an appointment before visiting an office." SSA's number-and-card publication adds that free interpreter services are available on request, and that lines are shortest between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time and later in the week, from Wednesday to Friday.

What happens at the counter is unglamorous and quick. Staff inspect the original documents, confirm they match SSA's records, and hand them back — Form SS-5 states that any documents submitted with the application will be returned. Nothing is printed there. The card is produced centrally and posted to the address on the application, which is why an office visit gets you verification and a start date, not a card in your pocket. If none of that is workable, SSA's replacement page tells you to call 1-800-772-1213 and say you want to request a replacement card, and staff will tell you which route your combination of citizenship, age, state and record changes leaves open.

Three rules govern every document you hand over, and they are absolute. SSA can only accept original documents or copies certified by the agency that issued them; photocopies and notarized copies are not acceptable. Every document must be current, meaning not expired. And SSA cannot accept a receipt showing that you have applied for the document — the irony of that rule, given that a receipt is exactly what USCIS accepts for Form I-9, catches people out. One document can sometimes serve two purposes: SSA gives the example of a US passport proving both citizenship and identity.

A replacement is a lighter application than an original. Form SS-5 states that to apply for a replacement card you must provide one document to prove your identity, and that if you were born outside the United States you must also provide documents proving your US citizenship or current, lawful, work-authorized status. An original card, by contrast, requires at least two documents covering age, identity and status. If SSA already holds your citizenship evidence, it does not need to see it again.

For identity, SSA wants a US driver's license, a state-issued non-driver identification card, or a US passport or passport card. Where you have none of those and cannot get a replacement within ten business days, SSA says it may accept other current documents that show your legal name and biographical or physical information — an employee identification card, a school identification card or record, a health insurance card that is not a Medicare card, a US military identification card, a Medicaid card, or a certified copy of a medical record from a clinic, doctor or hospital. Documents with no expiry date should generally have been issued within the past two years for adults, or four years for children.

The exclusion that surprises people most is that a birth certificate cannot prove identity. Form SS-5 says so in capital letters, and rules out a hospital souvenir birth certificate, a Social Security card stub and a Social Security record alongside it. A birth certificate proves age and, if issued in the United States, citizenship — but SSA needs evidence that the person in front of it continues to exist beyond the date of birth, which is why the child publication makes the same point and asks for a document showing the child's current existence as well.

Non-citizens replacing a card work from a different list. SSA's publication for non-US citizen adults asks for one Department of Homeland Security document — Form I-94 arrival record together with an unexpired foreign passport, an admission stamp in an unexpired foreign passport, Form I-551 permanent resident card, or Form I-766 employment authorization document — and notes that international students and exchange visitors must show additional papers such as Form I-20, Form DS-2019 or an authorization letter from the school and employer for F-1 holders, or from the sponsor for J-1 holders. A foreign birth certificate is required for age if you have one or can obtain a copy within ten business days.

Applying on someone else's behalf adds a layer. SSA may ask for evidence that you have custody of, or responsibility for, that person — a court custody document or a letter from a state social services agency placing them in your household — plus a doctor's certification where they cannot file for themselves. For a child, you also prove your own identity with a US driver's license, state non-driver ID or US passport.

Form SS-5 is the underlying application for everything in this area — an original card, a replacement card, and changes or corrections to your Social Security number record. The current edition is dated 12-2024, it carries OMB number 0960-0066, and it is downloadable at no charge from ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf. SSA's replacement publications tell people who cannot use the online services to complete this form and bring it to an office or Card Center with their documents. Filling it in beforehand shortens the appointment considerably.

The form itself has a mail route that the web pages do not advertise. SS-5 states that in most cases you can take or mail the signed application with your documents to any Social Security office, and that any documents you mail will be returned to you. That is the fallback for people who cannot reach an office, and SSA points to its office locator to find the office or Card Center serving your area. It is not the fast route, and it puts your original identity documents in the post.

The completion rules are fussy enough to fail an application if ignored. SSA asks for the form to be completed and signed legibly using only black or blue ink on 8½ by 11 inch or A4 paper. Item 16 asks for an address where you can receive the card seven to fourteen days from now — not necessarily your permanent address. Item 17 governs signatures: an adult who is physically and mentally able signs personally, a parent or legal guardian may sign for someone under eighteen, and someone who cannot sign may make an "X" with two witnesses signing beside it.

If you are outside the United States, the geography changes. SSA has no offices abroad; its Office of International Operations works through the Department of State's embassies and consulates, and the Federal Benefits Units attached to them handle Social Security business for people living overseas. SSA's country contact directory routes you to the right one, and Canadian residents are served by domestic border offices instead. Its international line is 1-855-522-6936, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. SSA also warns that international mail disruptions have delayed or prevented documents reaching it from some countries.

There is a related route worth knowing if your card has gone missing during an immigration process rather than at home. SSA works with the State Department and USCIS so that a Social Security card can be requested on the immigrant visa application itself, and it has extended that arrangement — Enumeration Beyond Entry — to Form N-400 for naturalization, Form I-765 for work authorization and Form I-485 for adjustment of status. If you requested a card that way and it has not arrived within fourteen days of receiving your immigration document, SSA asks you to contact your local office rather than file a fresh application.

There is a hard statutory ceiling on replacements, and it is not an SSA policy that can be argued away at the counter. Form SS-5 attributes it to Public Law 108-458, and the underlying provision — codified in the Social Security Act at 42 U.S.C. §405(c)(2)(G) — directs the Commissioner to restrict the issuance of multiple replacement cards to three per year and ten for the life of the individual, while allowing reasonable exceptions on a case-by-case basis in compelling circumstances.

The exclusions matter as much as the limit. SSA states that cards issued to reflect changes to your legal name, or to a work-authorization legend, do not count toward these limits, and that it may grant exceptions where you provide evidence from an official source establishing that a card is required. Its consumer publication adds that changes in non-citizen status requiring card updates may not count either, and that you may not be affected by the limits at all if you can prove you need the card to prevent a significant hardship.

If your name has legally changed, you do not file anything different. SSA's own name-change page tells you that you make the change by requesting a replacement Social Security card, through the same routes described above, with the same five-to-ten-business-day delivery. The new card carries the same number as the old one and shows your new legal name. Note the interaction with the online route: needing a name change is one of the five conditions that pushes you out of the browser-only path and into an office.

Proving a name change has its own evidence rules. SSA accepts a marriage document, a divorce decree, a Certificate of Naturalization showing the new name, or a court order approving the change. If that document does not carry enough information to identify you in SSA's records, or the change happened more than two years ago — four years if you are under eighteen — you must also show an identity document in your prior name, and SSA will accept an expired one for that purpose. Where no prior-name document exists, it may accept an unexpired document in the new name if it can establish your identity another way.

Not telling SSA about a name change has consequences beyond an out-of-date card. The agency warns that it can prevent your wages from being posted correctly to your Social Security record, which may reduce your future benefits, and that it can delay your tax refund and cause problems when you file. If you are working, tell your employer as well as SSA — the two records have to agree for earnings to post.

Corrections are a separate category from replacements, and they behave differently. When you apply for a replacement card online, SSA lets you also flag corrections to your date of birth, place of birth, one or both parents' names, your citizenship or your immigration status — but it will then ask you to bring original documents into a field office or Card Center to complete those updates, and it notes that these corrections do not appear on the Social Security card itself. A birth certificate, US hospital birth record, religious record established before age five, valid passport, final adoption decree or tribal identification card can correct a date of birth.

The price is zero, and it is worth being precise about how many places say so. Form SS-5 opens with "Applying for a Social Security Card is free!". SSA's replacement FAQ states there is no charge for a replacement card. SSA's publication on the number and card says there is no charge for a number or a card, and instructs you to report anyone attempting to charge you to its Office of the Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov. USAGov's page says the same in one line: Social Security card replacements are free.

So what are the paid sites selling? Almost always one of two things. Some sell "application assistance" — a wizard that reformats your answers onto Form SS-5, which you can download free in a single click and complete in about ten minutes. Others sell an "appointment service" for a booking you must still make yourself on 1-800-772-1213 or through SSA's self-scheduling, since no third party can create an SSA appointment on your behalf. Neither can submit your application, because SSA has to inspect your original documents itself.

The cost is not only the fee. To use one of these services you type your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, address, phone number and often photographs of your driver's license into a private website with no statutory duty to protect any of it. That is the precise dataset the FTC describes identity thieves using to open accounts, file tax returns in your name and claim benefits. Paying a stranger to assemble it for you inverts the entire point of replacing a lost card carefully.

Recognizing the real thing is straightforward once you know the shape of it. SSA runs on ssa.gov; the account sits at ssa.gov/myaccount and is reached through Login.gov or ID.me, both of which are federal credential services; the form lives at ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf; the office finder is at ssa.gov/locator. There is no payment step anywhere in the genuine process, and no legitimate SSA route asks for a card number or a gift card at any point.

The same reasoning applies to unsolicited contact about your number. The FTC's guidance is blunt: organizations that genuinely need your Social Security number — the IRS, your bank, your employer — will not call, email or text you to ask for it, and if they do, it is a scammer. A lost card generates exactly the anxiety that this kind of approach exploits, and a message arriving days after you have searched for "replace social security card" is more likely to be an advertisement or a scam than a coincidence. If you have already paid such a service, report it to the Office of the Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov and treat the information you handed over as exposed.

The distinction changes the priority completely. A card that slid out of a folder at home is an administrative nuisance; a card taken with a wallet, or exposed in a data breach, is a disclosure of a permanent identifier that you cannot rotate. Ordering a replacement does nothing about that, because the replacement carries the same number. The card and the number are separate problems and they need to be handled separately, in that order of seriousness.

SSA is explicit about who owns the second problem, and it is not SSA. Its "Report stolen Social Security number" page directs you to tell the Federal Trade Commission what happened if you think you are a victim of identity theft, and says in terms: "We're not involved in this process, but they'll be able to support you." Reporting a stolen number to the SSA phone line does not create a case, does not flag your record and does not stop anyone using the number.

The FTC route is IdentityTheft.gov. Its consumer guidance explains that reporting there produces a free personal recovery plan that walks you through each step, and it is the report that banks, credit bureaus and the IRS expect to see when you dispute accounts or filings that are not yours. SSA's own scam page points to the same destination, alongside calling your local police department and adding a fraud alert with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Know what misuse looks like so you can recognize it early. The FTC lists someone using your Social Security number to file a tax return and collect your refund, and someone claiming Social Security benefits in your name, among the standard patterns. Neither shows up in your mailbox as an alert — the first surfaces when your own return is rejected as a duplicate, the second when a benefit statement does not match your history. Checking your earnings record inside my Social Security is one of the few ways to spot the second one, which is one of the uses SSA lists for the account.

A credit freeze is the other half of the response, and it is free, separate from the SSA process, and placed with each of the three nationwide bureaus individually. It stops new accounts being opened against your file, which is the single most common downstream use of a stolen number. Our guide on freezing your credit sets out the mechanics, and the identity theft guide covers the fuller recovery sequence — including what to do when a tax return has already been filed in your name.

Finally, resist the idea that a new Social Security number is the remedy. SSA issues one only in narrow circumstances, and it deliberately makes replacement cards hard to obtain fraudulently — its publication explains that it requires and carefully inspects proof of identity from people applying to replace a lost or stolen card precisely to stop people building false identities. Replace the card if you need it, protect the number, and put the new card somewhere that is not your wallet.