SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR FORMS SS-5, SS-5-FS
APPLICATION FOR A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER CARD (U.S. RESIDENTS, U.S. CITIZENS LIVING OUTSIDE THE U.S.)
20 CFR 422.103 -.110
OMB No. 0960-0066
Justification
Section 205(c)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act and section 20 CFR 422.103-.110 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) authorize the Social Security Administration (SSA) to assign Social Security numbers (SSNs) and issue SSN cards for those numbers. Section 20 CFR 422.107 discusses the evidentiary and interview requirements for obtaining an SSN. 20 CFR 422.103 specifies that an individual may apply for a new or replacement SSN by completing a Social Security Administration (SSA)-approved form designed for this purpose. Section 20 CFR 422.103(e)(2) places annual and lifetime limits on the number of replacement SSN cards SSN holders may receive to no more than three in a year and 10 per lifetime. Forms SS-5 (Application for a Social Security Number Card; completed by U.S. residents) and SS-5-FS (Application for a Social Security Number Card; completed by U.S. SSN-holders living outside of the U.S.) are the forms applicants use for this purpose. As per section 20 CFR 422.110, members of the public may also complete one of these forms to request a change in their SSN records.
In this ICR, we are making the following revisions to these forms: 1) we are updating question #6, “Race/Ethnic Description,” to reflect the correct OMB Race/Ethnicity categories and 2) we are making several minor changes to the form’s instructions. We are also implementing a new internal-use system for recording SS-5 responses called SSNAP, but this will not affect the public’s experience in any way.
SSA uses the information collected by forms SS-5 and SS-5-FS to assign new and replacement SSN cards.
Hospitals also collect the same information for SSA from newborn children through the Enumeration-at-Birth (EAB) process. In this process, parents of newborns provide hospital birth/registration clerks with information that is required to register these newborns for an SSN and SSN card. Hospitals send this information to State Bureaus of Vital Statistics (BVSs). The BVSs then send this information to SSA’s National Computer Center. SSA then uploads this data to the SSA mainframe along with all other enumeration data, and we assign the newborn an SSN.
SSA does not currently maintain an electronic version of this form under the agency’s Government Paperwork Elimination Act plan. However, applicants can avoid completing a paper form SS-5 by undergoing an interview at an SSA field office, and SSA employees will fill in the SS-5 information in the new SSNAP system.
The nature of the information we are collecting and the manner in which we collect it preclude duplication. SSA does not use another collection instrument to obtain similar data.
This information collection does not affect small businesses or other small entities.
If SSA did not conduct the information collection, we would have no means of assigning SSNs and issuing SSN cards to eligible applicants. Since the public needs SSNs to maintain earnings records, apply for jobs, file tax returns, open accounts at financial institutions, etc., not having an SSN or SSN card would be a great disadvantage.
If we did not make the current revisions, our Race/Ethnicity categories would continue to be in non-compliance with OMB guidelines.
Since we only collect the information when an applicant needs an original or replacement SSN card, we cannot collect it less frequently.
There are no technical or legal obstacles to burden reduction.
There are no special circumstances that would cause SSA to conduct this information collection in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5.
SSA published the 60-day advance Federal Register Notice for this collection on February 29, 2008, at 73 FR 11185, and we did not receive any public comments. We published the 30-day Federal Register Notice on February 25, 2009, at 74 FR 8607. If we receive any public comments in response to the 30-day Notice, we will forward them to OMB. Please note the unusual time gap between the first and second FRNs was due to a delay in SSA’s development of the new SSNAP system.
SSA did not consult with the public in the development or revision of this form.
SSA provides no payment or gifts to the respondents.
SSA protects and holds confidential the information we are requesting in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1306, 20 CFR 401 and 402, 5 U.S.C. 552 (Freedom of Information Act), 5 U.S.C. 552a (Privacy Act of 1974), and OMB Circular No. A-130.
The information collection does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
Below are annual burden data for the different types of SS-5/SS-5-FS applicants. Since the questions are identical (only the instructions are different), we combined the burden data for all application scenarios.
Application Scenario |
Number of Annual Respondents |
Completion Time (minutes) |
Burden (hours) |
Respondents who do not have to provide parents’ SSNs |
13,000,000 |
8.5 |
1,841,667 |
Respondents whom we ask to provide parents’ SSNs (when applying for original SSN cards for children under age 18) |
540,000 |
9 |
81,000 |
Applicants age 12 or older who need to answer additional questions so SSA can determine whether we previously assigned an SSN |
40,000 |
9.5 |
6,333
|
Applicants asking for a replacement SSN card beyond the new allowable limits (i.e., who must provide additional documentation to accompany the application) |
4,000 |
60 |
4,000 |
Totals |
13,584,000 |
- |
1,933,000 |
The total annual burden for these forms is 1,933,000 hours, a figure which represents burden hours. We calculated a separate cost burden for State BVSs only for the EAB process (see next question).
Regular members of the public incur no cost for completing forms SS-5 or SS-5-FS. However, the State BVSs incur costs for participating in EAB. The State BVSs incur a total cost of $8,367,000 for transmitting data to SSA’s mainframe. Please note the States receive reimbursement for these costs at a later date.
The annual cost to the Federal Government for these collections is approximately $62,832,000. This estimate is a projection of printing and distribution costs for the forms, the cost of processing the forms, and salary costs for SSA employees to complete the applications in SSNAP during a field office interview.
There is no change to the public reporting burden.
SSA will not publish the results of the information collection.
OMB granted SSA an exemption from the requirement to print the OMB approval expiration date on its program forms. SSA produces millions of public-use forms, many of which have a life cycle longer than that of an OMB clearance. SSA does not periodically revise and reprint its public-use forms, (e.g., on an annual basis). OMB granted this exemption so that we would not have to destroy otherwise usable editions of forms with expired OMB dates, thus avoiding Government waste.
SSA is not requesting an exception to the certification requirements at 5 CFR 1320.9 and related provisions at 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods
SSA does not use statistical methods for this information collection.
0960-0066 (S-5, SS-F-FS)
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | TSapia |
| Last Modified By | John Biles |
| File Modified | 2009-03-10 |
| File Created | 2009-03-10 |