Registry entry

United States Social Security Card Replacement (Form SS-5)

Request a replacement Social Security card for an individual using Social Security Administration Form SS-5 (Application for a Social Security Card). This document describes the online-vs-in-person eligibility branch, the applicant inputs, and the identity/citizenship evidence required. A simple replacement (no name change, not a first card) can in most states be requested online with a personal my Social Security account; a name change or a first-ever card must be done in person or by mail. It does not submit the form; the live ssa.gov source is always authoritative (see verification).

You are viewing v1.0.0

The latest published version of this schema is v1.1.0 — see the current reference page. Published versions are immutable; this page stays for agents pinned to us/ssa/social-security-card-replacement-ss5@1.0.0.

Registry entry

us/ssa/social-security-card-replacement-ss5

Jurisdiction
United States · national
Version
1.0.0
Verification
draft
Authority
U.S. Social Security Administration

GovSchema spec v0.1

Authoritative source SS-5

Machine access

Schema document
registry/us/ssa/social-security-card-replacement-ss5/1.0.0/schema.jsonapplication/schema+json
Verification record
registry/us/ssa/social-security-card-replacement-ss5/1.0.0/VERIFICATION.mdtext/markdown
Registry catalog
registry/index.jsonone record per schema id

Field reference

28 fields across 6 steps, read from the published schema.json — names, types, requiredness, and validation as the document states them. The live government form remains the authoritative source.

Choose how to apply

  • isFirstCard boolean required

    A first-ever (original) card cannot be requested online and must be applied for in person or by mail with original documents. Answer false for a replacement of an existing card.

  • isLegalNameChange boolean required

    A legal name change (e.g. after marriage or a court order) cannot be done online and must be applied for in person or by mail with supporting documents. Answer false for a same-name replacement.

  • applicationChannel enum required

    online = request a replacement using a personal my Social Security account (available in most states; only for a same-name replacement, not a first card or name change); in_person = at a local Social Security office or Card Center; by_mail = mail the SS-5 with original documents. If isFirstCard or isLegalNameChange is true, online is not available; you may still start online and self-schedule an appointment.

    enum: online | in_person | by_mail

Name and identity

  • cardLastName string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Your complete last name exactly as it should appear on the card.

    length: 1–100
  • cardFirstName string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 1–100
  • cardMiddleName string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–100
  • nameAtBirth string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required only if your name at birth differs from the name to show on the card.

    length: 0–200
  • otherNamesUsed string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Any other names you have used, such as a nickname or a prior married name.

    length: 0–200
  • citizenshipStatus enum required

    us_citizen = U.S. citizen; legal_alien_authorized_to_work = legal alien allowed to work; legal_alien_not_authorized_to_work = legal alien not allowed to work; other = other status explained on the live form. Determines which evidence of citizenship/immigration status is required.

    enum: us_citizen | legal_alien_authorized_to_work | legal_alien_not_authorized_to_work | other
  • sex enum required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. F = Female, M = Male, X = Unspecified or another sex identity, where the live form offers it.

    enum: F | M | X
  • dateOfBirth date required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Full date, YYYY-MM-DD.

  • placeOfBirth string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Do not abbreviate.

    length: 1–120

Parents' information

  • mothersNameAtBirth string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required for applicants under age 18; requested otherwise.

    length: 0–200
  • mothersSSN string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. 9 digits. Required for an applicant under age 18 (may be left blank if unknown).

    pattern
  • fathersName string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required for applicants under age 18; requested otherwise.

    length: 0–200
  • fathersSSN string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. 9 digits. Required for an applicant under age 18 (may be left blank if unknown).

    pattern

Previous card

  • everHadCardBefore boolean required

    Indicates a replacement/correction rather than an original. For a replacement this is true.

  • currentSSN string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. The 9-digit number currently assigned to this person, for a replacement or correction.

    pattern
  • previousCardName string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Required only if it differs from the name to show on the card.

    length: 0–200

Mailing address and signer

  • mailingAddressLine1 string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Where the card should be mailed.

    length: 1–120
  • mailingAddressLine2 string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 0–120
  • mailingAddressCity string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data.

    length: 1–80
  • mailingAddressState string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. Two-letter USPS state or territory abbreviation, e.g. CA, NY, TX.

    pattern
  • mailingAddressPostalCode string required

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. 5-digit or ZIP+4 format, e.g. 90210 or 90210-1234.

    pattern
  • daytimePhone string optional

    Personal identifier; handle as sensitive data. In international E.164 format, e.g. +12025551234.

    pattern
  • relationshipToApplicant enum required

    Who is signing the application. self = the applicant; natural_or_adoptive_parent; legal_guardian; other = another relationship explained on the live form.

    enum: self | natural_or_adoptive_parent | legal_guardian | other

Supporting documents

  • identityDocument file required

    An original or certified document proving identity — typically a U.S. driver's license, state-issued ID card, or U.S. passport. SSA requires originals or certified copies; provide as PDF, JPEG, or PNG when preparing the application.

  • citizenshipEvidence file optional

    Required if you were born outside the U.S. or are not a U.S. citizen: a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. passport, Certificate of Naturalization/Citizenship, or current immigration documents establishing work-authorized status. Provide as PDF, JPEG, or PNG.

Verification record

This file is the source-review record for this document version, per the manual-source-review-v1 practice. It documents the provenance of the published fields and flow and states the current verification claim honestly.

Current claim

  • status: draft
  • verification.method: manual-source-review-v1
  • verification.lastVerifiedAt: 2026-06-30

The document was derived from and cross-checked against the official source below, but the full field-by-field comparison the practice requires (manual-source-review-v1 → Procedure step 2) has not yet been completed and recorded against the live SS-5 PDF and online replacement flow. It therefore remains draft, not verified.

Source examined

  • Document (id, version): us/ssa/social-security-card-replacement-ss5 / 1.0.0
  • Spec version: GovSchema 0.1.0
  • Authority: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
  • Primary source URL: https://www.ssa.gov/number-card/replace-card
  • Form PDF: https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf (Form SS-5, edition 12-2024)
  • Official form id: SS-5 (Application for a Social Security Card)
  • Retrieved / reviewed: 2026-06-30
  • Reviewer: GovSchema Engineering (initial authoring source-review)

What was confirmed against the source

| Source element | Field(s) | |---|---| | A replacement (same name) can in most states be requested online with a personal my Social Security account; a first card or a legal name change cannot be done online | isFirstCard, isLegalNameChange, applicationChannel | | SS-5 collects the name to show on the card, name at birth if different, and other names used | cardLastName/cardFirstName/cardMiddleName, nameAtBirth, otherNamesUsed | | Citizenship status, sex, date of birth, place of birth | citizenshipStatus, sex, dateOfBirth, placeOfBirth | | Parents' names and SSNs (required under 18) | mothersNameAtBirth, mothersSSN, fathersName, fathersSSN | | Whether a card was previously issued, the current SSN, and the name on the most recent card | everHadCardBefore, currentSSN, previousCardName | | Mailing address, daytime phone, and the signer's relationship to the applicant | mailingAddress*, daytimePhone, relationshipToApplicant | | Required evidence: proof of identity, plus proof of U.S. citizenship / immigration status if born outside the U.S. | identityDocument, citizenshipEvidence |

Conditional requiredness (not encoded structurally in v0.1)

Several SS-5 rules are conditional and are recorded in field descriptions, not as constraints (v0.1 has no conditional-required mechanism — tracked in GSP-0004):

  • Parents' details (mothers*, fathers*) are required for applicants under 18 and requested otherwise.
  • citizenshipEvidence is required when born outside the U.S. or not a U.S. citizen, and otherwise unnecessary.
  • The online channel is unavailable when isFirstCard or isLegalNameChange is true; the applicant may still begin online and self-schedule an appointment.

What is NOT yet independently verified

  • The exact item numbering and labels of the live SS-5 (12-2024) were not captured box-by-box; sourceRef numbers are indicative of the form's structure, not a verbatim transcription.
  • State participation in the fully-online replacement flow varies and is not encoded as data; consumers must check the live source for the applicant's state.
  • SSA accepts originals or certified copies only; the file fields model the evidence requirement, not SSA's physical-document handling.

Path to a verified claim (next step)

To advance to status: verified, a reviewer applies manual-source-review-v1 (Procedure step 2 field-by-field against the live SS-5 PDF and the online flow, step 3 flow), confirms the source is authoritative, resolves any discrepancy by shipping a new schema version (immutability — VERSIONING §3, practice Procedure step 5), and records the outcome here plus sets status: verified with a current verification.lastVerifiedAt/nextReviewBy.

Re-verification

Per the practice's Cadence, nextReviewBy is set to 2026-12-30 (6 months): the online-eligibility rules and accepted-document list change periodically. Re-check the source on or before that date and on any source.url change.

View the raw record (VERIFICATION.md)

Version history

Independent and non-affiliated

GovSchema is an independent, open-source project. This reference is not produced, reviewed, or endorsed by U.S. Social Security Administration or any government. The authoritative source is always the live government form and its official instructions.