The Social Security Administration has decided it will no longer issue new SSNs with a logistical sequence of numbering that indicate the state of issue and year of issue.
Effective June 25, 2011, all new SSNs will be issued on a purely random basis. The SSA will eliminate the geographical significance of the first three digits, currently referred to as the area number (assignment to individuals in specific states). The significance of the fourth and fifth digits of the SSN for validation purposes will also be eliminated. Randomization will still exclude area numbers 000, 666 and 900-999.
Thus, the existing tables and validation services will be frozen in time - they can be used for validation of SSNs issued prior to the randomization implementation date, but not going forward.
If you have a question, email to [email protected] or visit www.ssa.gov/employer/randomization.html.
One general question often asked about SSNs is "Under what circumstances will the SSA issue a different number to a number holder?" The SSA reports it will do so only per one or more of the following conditions:
Sequential numbers assigned to members of the same family are causing problems;
More than one person is using the same number;
An individual has religious or cultural objections to certain numbers or digits in the original number.
A victim of identity theft continues to be disadvantaged by using the original number.
Situations of harassment, abuse or life endangerment (including domestic violence).
The web site listed above gives specific references to documentation of these issues.
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