Social Security Name Correction (updated)

[amaristella]

Okay. I trust you guys to let me know if I'm being unreasonable about this. Little guy's social security card showed up with a missing letter in the first name. This was prior to us requesting a certified copy of the birth certificate. I had no idea where it could have gone wrong so I started by calling the hospital. They said their records from 2013 had already been locked down so they sent an affidavit for the correction to the state department of health. I followed up with them later and they acted confused about any change saying his record was only flagged because the field for my race was empty (they wouldn't let me put "mixed" so I told them to put undeclared.) I ordered certified copies and they even say at the bottom that A) This is a document legal in any US Court and B) That per the hospital's affidavit the first name had been amended.

Social Security office still wants a document to "establish identity". They won't make the change otherwise. They want certified records from the hospital. Something signed by a doctor. (He was delivered by a CNM.) I checked the discharge papers we have and his first name just says "male" and the section titled "delivery personnel" is entirely blank. Nobody filled it out. If we're using this to establish identity or as a document showing the originally incorrect name I'm not sure how that's supposed to work.

I looked up SSA policy and from this page I really think that, according to their policy they should accept the certified birth certificate with the note about the amended name. We also offered them the social security card with the incorrect name. What more can we do? Establishing legal identity of a 4 month old infant is a little difficult. I even asked if a military dependent ID would work! (LOL, no)

DH has handled most of this himself because I get hotheaded with people easily and it turns them off from helping me. But I'm ready to make an appointment and go down there and pound the ground and ask for a supervisor and give them a really hard time.

Update: They ended up letting him show them a copy of his 4 month well visit with the doctor's signature on it. Quite possibly the least legal looking thing I can imagine, but it's done.

[Smurfette]

That sounds irritating to me. I'm glad that it's all worked out

[JakJak]

That's ridiculous, I'm so glad you guys got it fixed so you don't have to deal with it anymore