Evidence Required for Duplicate Social Security Number Card

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

20 CFR Part 422

RIN 0960-AE18

Evidence Required for Duplicate Social Security Number Card

AGENCY: Social Security Administration (SSA).

ACTION: Interim rule.

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SUMMARY: We intend to conduct a pilot project in as many as 100 social

security offices throughout the country and in as many as 10

teleservice centers to encourage people who need a duplicate social

security number (SSN) card to contact us by phone to request the

duplicate card. We are, therefore, providing an exception to our rule

in 20 CFR 422.107(c) on the corroborative evidence of identity a person

must submit when he or she applies for a duplicate SSN card.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This regulation is effective on June 22, 1995. Since

this rule grants a limited exemption from certain requirements for

issuing duplicate SSN cards, the 30-day delay in effectuating rules, as

provided by 5 U.S.C. 553(d), does not apply. We will consider any

comments we receive by August 21, 1995 and will publish a revised final

regulation if public comments warrant it.

ADDRESSES: Comments on this rule should be submitted in writing to the

Commissioner of Social Security, P.O. Box 1585, Baltimore, MD 21235,

sent by telefax to (410) 966-2830, sent by E-mail to

``[email protected],'' or delivered to the Division of Regulations

and Rulings, Social Security Administration, 3-B-1 Operations Building,

6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235, between 8:00 a.m. and

4:30 p.m. on regular business days. Comments received may be inspected

during these same hours by making arrangements with the contact person

shown below.

Organizations and individuals desiring to submit comments on the

information collection requirements under the ``Paperwork Reduction

Act'' should submit them to the Office of Management and Budget, Office

of Information and Regulatory Affairs, New Executive Office Building,

Room 3208, Washington, D.C. 20503, Attention: Desk Officer for SSA.

The electronic file of this document is available on the Federal

Bulletin Board (FBB) at 9 a.m. on the date of publication in the

Federal Register. To download the file, modem dial (202) 512-1387. The

FBB instructions will explain how to download the file and the fee.

This file is in Wordperfect and will remain on the FBB during the

comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jack Schanberger, Room 3-B-1

Operations Building, 6401 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21235,

(410) 965-8471.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 205(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act provides

that an applicant for an SSN must submit such evidence as may be

necessary for the Commissioner of Social Security (the Commissioner) to

establish the applicant's age, citizenship or alien status, and true

identity. Under this provision, the applicant must also provide

evidence that the Commissioner may need to determine which (if any)

social security account number has previously been assigned to the

applicant. This provision was added to the Act in 1972 (Pub. L. 92-603)

to provide instructions for assigning SSNs. In addition, Pub. L. 92-603

amended section 208 of the Act to provide penalties for anyone who

knowingly, willfully, and with intent to deceive uses an SSN that was

obtained with false information. See S. Rep. No. 92-1230 and H.R. Rep.

No. 92-1605, 92d Cong., 2d Sess. (1972).

The amendments were in response to the expanding use of the SSN and

a concern about its misuse. To implement the amendments, we increased

the security of the procedures we used for assigning an SSN. We also

published regulations at 20 CFR 422.107(c) which, among other things,

require that each applicant for an original, duplicate, or corrected

SSN card must submit documentary evidence of identity. The primary

purposes for requiring an applicant for a duplicate SSN card to furnish

this evidence are to avoid assigning more than one SSN to a person and

to ensure that the card is issued to the correct person.

[[Page 32445]]

A recent report by SSA's Inspector General (IG), entitled ``SSA

Field Office Visitor Workload,'' indicates that approximately one-third

of the many people who visit Social Security offices each day are there

to request a new or duplicate social security number card. The IG

report suggested that individuals could request duplicate cards by

telephone or by mail, thereby significantly reducing the volume of

people (approximately 8 million per year) who visit social security

offices to apply for original or duplicate SSN cards.

In a continuing attempt to furnish better service to the public, we

will conduct a pilot project which will enable certain individuals to

apply by phone for a duplicate SSN card without having to complete and

sign an application and take or mail their identity documents to a

social security office. We plan to conduct the pilot project in as many

as 100 social security field offices throughout the country and in as

many as 10 teleservice centers.

We are modifying the evidentiary requirements for identity in 20

CFR 422.107(c) for this project. This will enable us to forgo

requesting the corroborative documentary evidence of identity for some

applicants who request a duplicate SSN card. The pilot project will

apply to U.S. citizens born in the U.S. and to U.S. citizens born

outside the U.S. who have previously presented to us evidence of U.S.

citizenship. The applicant must be the number holder or a parent

applying on behalf of his or her minor child number holder.

Because of our enhanced ability to screen by electronic means an

applicant requesting a duplicate SSN card, we believe that we may be

able to eliminate or at least modify our current requirement that all

persons applying for a duplicate SSN card must submit a signed

application and corroborative documentary evidence of identity. If we

find that this evidence and the signed application are no longer needed

in some kinds of cases, we should be able to provide more efficient,

more economical, and more convenient service to the public, while at

the same time reducing the need for many people to apply in person at

social security offices for duplicate SSN cards. We will also be

helping businesses with their wage reporting obligations by ensuring

that their employees have their correct social security numbers.

With our current electronic systems capability, we believe that

under the interim rule we will be able to comply with the evidentiary

requirements of the Act. We can compare the information the number

holder gives when requesting a duplicate card with the information

already available in our electronic records. The true number holder

should know the information contained in these electronic records.

Therefore, we believe it is reasonable to treat the conforming

information provided by the person requesting a duplicate SSN card as

acceptable evidence of his or her identity within the meaning of

section 205(c)(2)(B)(ii) of the Act. If our records do not confirm the

information provided by the applicant, we will require that he or she

submit corroborative evidence of identity and a signed application

either by mail or in person to an SSA office.

If we decide to discontinue this project concerning duplicate SSN

cards, we will rescind this interim rule. If we decide to expand this

project, we will publish a notice in the Federal Register. If we decide

to implement the procedures nationally, a regulation reflecting this

decision will be promulgated. However, before deciding to expand the

test or implement nationally, we will conduct a study to determine

whether the pilot procedures provide sufficient safeguards against

fraud.

These special pilot procedures for issuance of duplicate SSN cards

will not apply to aliens who request such duplicate cards, because

pursuant to 20 CFR 422.107(e), aliens must also furnish proof of alien

status as well as identity. Under section 205(c)(2)(B)(i)(I) of the

Act, the Commissioner must take affirmative measures to assure that

SSNs are assigned to certain aliens. Aliens are assigned SSNs when they

are lawfully admitted to the U.S. as permanent residents, when they are

admitted to the U.S. for a temporary period of time with authorization

to work, or when they receive authorization to work subsequent to entry

into the United States. The Immigration and Naturalization Service

issues to aliens documentation of their lawful admission and requires

that an alien keep that documentation on his or her person at all

times. Generally, aliens are required to submit that documentation to

us as proof of alien status. Therefore, aliens will need to take their

INS documents to SSA to apply for a duplicate SSN card.

These special procedures also do not apply to requests for

corrected SSN cards because the corrected information cannot be

verified on our records. Additionally, these procedures do not apply to

(1) foreign-born U.S. citizens who have not already submitted evidence

of citizenship; (2) a person applying on behalf of another if the

applicant is not a parent applying on behalf of his or her minor child;

and (3) people whose address is an in-care-of address, a post office

box, general delivery, or a suite.

Regulatory Procedures

Justification for Interim Rule Without Proposed Rule

We are publishing this amendment to the regulations as an interim

rule instead of a proposed rule. The Social Security Administration

follows the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) notice of proposed

rulemaking and public comment procedures specified in 5 U.S.C. 553 in

the development of its regulations. The APA provides exceptions to its

notice and public comment procedures when an agency finds that there is

good cause for dispensing with such procedures on the basis that they

are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. We

have determined that, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B), good cause exists for

waiver of notice of proposed rulemaking and public comment procedures

in this instance because the use of such procedures to provide a very

limited exception to the evidentiary requirements that must be met when

a person requests a duplicate SSN card notice is unnecessary. This is a

minor rule of limited applicability that should be of little interest

to the general public. We do not believe that there is significant

public interest in whether persons in areas where this pilot project

will be conducted who request duplicate SSN cards must supply signed

applications and supportive documentary evidence of their identities

when they request duplicate SSN cards.

Executive Order (E.O.) 12866

We have consulted with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

and determined that this rule does not meet the criteria for a

significant regulatory action under E.O. 12866. Thus, it was not

subject to OMB review.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

We certify that this regulation will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities because it

affects only the issuing of duplicate SSN cards to individuals.

Therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis as provided in Pub. L. 96-

354, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, is not required.

Paperwork Reduction Act

This regulation contains a new reporting burden in section 422.107.

As required by section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, we

[[Page 32446]] will submit a copy to the Office of Management and

Budget for its review.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is

estimated to average 2 minutes per response. This includes the time it

will take to read the instructions, gather the necessary facts, and

provide the information. If you have any comments or suggestions on

this estimate, write to the Social Security Administration, ATTN:

Reports Clearance Officer, 1-A-21 Operations Building, Baltimore, MD

21235.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 96.001 Social

Security--Disability Insurance; 96.002 Social Security--Retirement

Insurance; 96.004 Social Security--Survivors Insurance; 96.006

Supplemental Security Income)

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 422

Administrative practice and procedure; Freedom of information;

Organization and functions (Government agencies); Social Security.

Dated: June 14, 1995.

Shirley S. Chater,

Commissioner of Social Security.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, Subpart B of Part 422 of

20 CFR Chapter III is amended as follows:

PART 422--ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES

1. The authority citation for Subpart B is revised to read as

follows:

Authority: Secs. 205, 702, and 1143 of the Social Security Act;

42 U.S.C. 405, 902, and 1320b-13.

2. Section 422.107 is amended by adding language at the end of

paragraph (c), to read as follows:

Sec. 422.107 Evidence requirements.

(c) Evidence of identity. * * * An applicant for a duplicate social

security number card who is a U.S. citizen and who resides in an area

where the Social Security Administration is conducting a pilot project

on the issuance of duplicate cards will not be required to submit a

signed application or corroborative documentary evidence of identity if

the Social Security Administration is able to compare information

provided by the applicant with information already in its records and,

on the basis of this comparison, decides that corroborative documentary

evidence is not needed to establish the applicant's identity. These

special procedures do not apply to foreign-born U.S. citizens who have

not already submitted evidence of citizenship to us; to a person

applying on behalf of another if the applicant is not a parent applying

on behalf of his or her minor child; and to people whose address is an

in-care-of address, a post office box, general delivery, or a suite.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 95-15301 Filed 6-21-95; 8:45 am]

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