Citing national security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Social Security Administration announced this summer that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service must now review the passports and other immigration documents of all non-U.S. citizens before they can receive a Social Security number.
An individual needs a Social Security number in order to file taxes on the wages they earn, so many colleges will not pay an individual before he or she has a number. Without the ability to pay the individual, The University will also not hire him or her.
This change threatened to upset the financial plans of many international students who were expecting to earn money as teaching assistants or researchers. The new policy, college officials were told, could delay the application process from two to 12 weeks. An international student cannot apply for a Social Security number until he or she is physically in the United States.
One of the two types of student visas is the J-1, which is issued under the provisions of the Fulbright-Hays Act. This act was passed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy to increase understanding between Americans and people of other countries through educational and cultural exchanges.
The J-1 specifies where the individual is allowed to work. International students would be able to work outside of the university only illegally.
The other type of student visa is the F-1, under which the INS may grant permission for the student to work off-campus after the first year of study.
“This potentially is a significant disruption for hundreds of institutions of higher education and others,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education.
However, as this semester began, the first semester with this new Social Security procedure in place, international students at The University of Memphis experienced little, if any, disruption of their lives.
The student advisor for the International Students Association at The University of Memphis, Clar Nunis, credits this favorable development to the cooperative local Social Security office, which sent to the college a representative with forms in different languages outlining the new Social Security policy.
The University had been notified of the policy change six months ago.
The International Students Association held a heavy orientation session to disseminate information on the new policy.
“There were no problems for students,” Nunis said.
A graduate student in the Earth Sciences Department and a citizen of Paraguay, Mario Cardozo works as a research assistant and said there was “no problem” with getting his Social Security number.
