US Social Security Administration

As everyone else mentioned — the wait is very long. But it’s not like the officers are not doing their job. (Or at lease my officer was efficient and nice)
In order to avoid the wait, coming in early in the morning would be a good option.
Or if you are lucky enough like me who works 1 block away from the office, and believe you have some lucky star shining above your head that day — try this:
— Get into the office during a lunch break.
— Get a number, say… E532
— Look up to the screen and find out that they are currently helping with… E519
— Sit down for 10 mins and find out that not a single E*** number has been called (well, you can skip this step)
— Walk back to your work or grab lunch or whatever
— Come back in 1 and half hours
— Look up to the screen again and there is… E531
— Sit for 2 mins, your turn
— 2 mins get your stuff done, walk out
Maybe I should buy some lottery tickets today.

The woman working here who is always in window H with the curly hair is really disrespectful. She has a problem with herself or something I’m not sure. I applied for an ssn about a month ago for my cpt. They denied it because my employment start date is too far out. She asked me to come back on the 28^th of August, which is today. The same situation with my wife. Take note, we are in the same situation and and we have the same documents. So anyway we went back today. My wife went to another window and I was designated to this suka again. Guess what, she denied me again because she said my program does not start till 28^th of September. I reminded her that she told me to come back before and now she’s denying me again. I said how can I start working if I do not have my ssn on said date. She said the school should know about this and she can’t do anything about it. I was really frustrated I swear. She said my f1 status is not valid either. I’ve been a student for a year and a half now and I even provided my i20 for last term. She said it’s expired. Well that’s why I renewed my program and needed an ss for cpt! She is so I swear I dont know how else I can describe her in the most decent way possible. My wife applied as well and guess what? She was approved, someone else reviewed her case that’s why. I’m not the person who writes reviews and complains about things but this really is frustrating to say the least. The security here is disrespectful as well, acting as if they are some sort of tough guy just cause they have a badge. Well that does not mean sh*t guys. AVOID THIS SS OFFICE GUYS. Just take my advice and go someplace else.

Dear Hoodrat Clerk with dry ass dreadlocks and bad skin,
You should learn how to type correctly as you’re making me waste another afternoon for a replacement card because of your incompetence. I hope this karma comes back to you one day :)
For real though, don’t assume these workers know what they are doing. Do your homework. Check everything. Follow up constantly. They are pathetic government employees with no incentive to do a good job. Because of the aforementioned employee’s lack of a brain, I will now not be able to make my student loan payment.
Thanks for nothing, Social Security Administration! I can see my tax dollars flushed down the toilet before my very eyes!

One star is an exaggeration Requested my missing Form 1099 on 2÷6÷15 and three more separate times! Still no 1099!

I’m only giving it 2 because the guy who helped me with my name change was SUPER friendly and helpful. Waiting TWO HOURS before he called me up, I thought I was going to lose it. Good lord.

Actually not as bad as I thought. I came in to change my name and had filled out the PDF form before coming (look online at website, you may be able to cut down your wait time or even avoid coming in at all depending on what you need). I waited maybe 30 minutes after going through security.

I had to come here to order a replacement social security card. I dread going to any government building but I was pleasantly surprised. First off, the security officers on the main floor and in the actual office are extremely helpful and polite. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions. I got there early knowing places like this would have a wait and it paid off.
BRO TIP! — The office opens @ 9am on most days but they won’t let you go past security until 8:30am. Get to the building by 8:30am and inform the officer you’re going to the social security office and just wait until they signal you. Once you go up to the 3^rd floor you only have a short wait til they open. You just check-​in via kiosk and wait for your number to be called. I got in at 9am and left by 9:08!
**Keep in mind I got there very early so I don’t know how it is later in the day***

I also was dreading my visit to the Social Security office based on other reviews. I needed to get in to change my name. I was EXTREMELY happy with my visit! I arrived a little after 9 am on a Thursday morning — got through security with no wait, got to the 3^rd floor via the escalators, and checked myself in with the self-​check in kiosks. There were only 4 numbers ahead of mine and that was about 9:15 am. My number was called within 5 minutes and I took maybe 5 minutes at the counter. The staff was very friendly and the process was painless. Be sure to have all your identification/​forms/​etc. as that will definitely expedite your visit!

Be prepared to WAIT. I needed to change my name, so this was my first stop. I arrived and there were roughly 30 people already waiting. I signed in and was assigned a number– after waiting for an hour my number was called. Once I was seated with the agent, it only took about 5 minutes to get everything done.

After reading other people’s reviews about the social security office downtown, I headed there on a Friday with lots of trepidation. I ended up being so pleasantly surprised that I decided to write my first Unilocal review-​ever! I got through the metal detectors very quickly, there was only one person in front of me and the security officer was very nice and directed me up to the third floor social security office.
Once there, I panicked when I saw the twenty or so other people waiting. I was there to change my name on my social security card so I’m not sure if that made a difference in why I was called so quickly, but all I know is within ten minutes of waiting, my number was called.
I was greeted by the very friendly and very helpful Mr. Dave Simons who chatted with me and asked me how my holiday was. Within less than five minutes after answering a few simple questions and providing the proper paper work, I was all set. The whole process from entering to exiting the building was around 25 minutes. Very impressive! Who knows if it was luck or what, but my experience was great mostly due to Mr. Simons positive demeanor.

This place opens at 9am, and I got there at 9:10 and was out by 9:35am! I had the nicest guy and it was the easiest process to get a replacement card. Definitely place to go.

While it was not absolutely terrible, the experience was still pretty bad. The first time I attempted to go was Friday at around 10:30 AM. The line was out the entrance and there were about ~50 people in front of me and the queue was hardly moving (~ 3 people per 20 mins). I gave up after waiting 30 mins and I didn’t even register or get a number inside.
I went back on a Tues and got there at 8:30 AM. There were already 12 people in line waiting for the doors to open at 8:45 AM. I got an «E» number and there were only 2 people ahead of me in the same group E. I got called up at 9:06 AM and wasn’t done until 10 AM. The person helping me did not seem very experienced (I was correcting my name) but fortunately, he did make an effort to get his supervisor who straightened everything out. However, I could definitely imagine a terrible scenario where I would have to come back again if 1. he was in a bad mood, 2. his supervisor was busy, 3. he didn’t have the patience to deal with my specific problem himself 4. the supervisor was in a bad mood/​impatient.
Go EARLY (at 8:30 AM) and if in doubt… ASK for the supervisor!!!

Dear Social Security Office on Jackson Street (Chicago Loop),
I took the morning off work on Jan 22 to get my name changed (married 2012). I filled out the application form ahead of time and brought my passport (after extensively reviewing the instructions, my interpretation was that I did not need my marriage certificate). I was told they could not process my application because I did not have my marriage certificate, but that I could mail my application and certificate instead of returning to the office. Fine, no problem. I cannot now recall the woman’s name at the second window around the corner, but she told me to mail in my application with my original certificate. She gave me her last name (which I now cannot remember since I have since thrown away the post-​it) and I specifically asked her if she needed me to mail in my passport or driver’s license. She said no. I asked her if she wanted to make a copy of my passport now, while it was in front of her, she said no. The next day I mailed my application and original marriage certificate, and addressed them «attn to [this woman].» I just received both back in the mail today (Feb 7) with a notice that I could not be issued a social security card since I did not provide identification. !!! Very annoyed. I am going to my state of residence, California, on Feb 14, and was hoping to renew my soon expiring driver’s license with my new legal name. I doubt there will be time for this to process now. Please let me know if I can scan and email all necessary documents or what I should do from here. This is inefficiency at its worst. I literally asked the clerk TWICE if she was sure she didn’t need my identification and she wrote me out a checklist on a post it with the two items I needed to send: app and marriage cert only. If I am unable to do this electronically, please schedule me for the earliest appointment available next week.
Thanks,
unhappy customer
PS. If a social security office worker responds to my email by Monday evening, I’ll be happy to change my rating to five stars for stellar customer service in response to lame customer service.

I needed to go to the SSA to 1. Correct my middle name (I have a two part middle name, and the order apparently had been wrong my entire life), and 2. Request a replacement card. First, I encountered the metal detectors coming in. It only took a minute and the security guards were super friendly. Check in time at the SSA on the third floor was 9:31am. My attendant was super friendly, helpful, and efficient. Check out time? 10:05am. Amazing for a government office! I would recommend going early (esp before the lunch rush). I think later in the week usually fairs better too (I went on Thursday).

Just don’t come here, they don’t want you here either! Before you even get through the metal detectors, they will probably hand you a list of other offices to chose from instead. Stood in line for half an hour to get a number and never even made it. Once you got a number, it was an extra 1.5 hour wait. Just terrible.

Yeah… dont go here. At all costs if you can just do your stuff thru the mail. I sat for an hour while 2 people were called back. 2 people in an hour?! Forget that.

The line was forever long! But I must say this, despite their crazy hours that can make bankers jealous, the one girl that we had was in such an awesome spirit that it made it all worthwhile. She was very polite, smiled, and joked with us. If you come here, I hope you get lucky as we did.

Before I can even get upstairs to the SSI I had to go through a metal detector I guess it wouldn’t have been bad if I didn’t keep setting off the alarm… I had a darn quarter in my pocket, I swear I thought I emptied my pockets.
I don’t know what it is but if you are applying for a Replacement SS card be prepared to wait!
I don’t know what other people were there for but I was there for over an hour!
I say go early or wait long!

Not bad at all!
Came here on Wednesday afternoon. I had to get a replacement SS card in order to renew my driver’s license. I presumed the experience would be awful but was pleasantly surprised that I was in and out of the office in less than an hour. Be prepared, know what documents you need.
The only issue I had was the building itself, and not the SS office. The building has high security so you have to go through a metal detector (similar to the airport) before you can head toward the Social Security office. The line wasn’t even that long, but somehow, took awhile. It was annoying and I was impatient.
Once through security, you head up the elevators to the SS office. Upon walking in there is a computer that you approach in order to get your number in line. I sat down once I got my ticket number but didn’t realize I was supposed to fill out a replacement card form. The ticket actually tells you to fill out the appropriate form but I wasn’t paying close attention to it. Learn from my mistake!
My number was called 15 minutes later and it only took about 15 minutes at the counter in order to get my confirmation for a replacement card.

When man created bureaucratic government offices, he must have been dreaming of a hell on earth. Only someone who enjoys the Dark Arts or the lure of darkside would create such an office. The Loop’s Social Security Administration office is without a doubt a hell on earth meant to torment those with identification and other government needs.
Hoping that my visit to hell would be a quick trip, I got here at 9a.m. today. Everybody else got the memo to go early because there was a hearty line out of the door when I got there. I pulled a ticket from their ancient machine and waited. As 9a.m. approached, the government’s minions opened up their crank windows. Hell also resembles the 70’s because this office hasn’t been remodeled in decades.
Hell has a funny way of doling out numbers. For different Social Security needs, there are different windows and numbers. Each need has a completely different number or letter set. You may have been in line one person, but that doesn’t mean that you’re next in line. Nope, you have to wait for your certain number set to be called. It’s agonizing waiting for your magic number to be called.
I waited and waited in this government hell for nearly an hour. I had the fortunate luck of sitting next to a self-​proclaimed neurotic Jewish woman who wouldn’t shut up about having a 10 a.m. appointment after a previous failed appointment. She repeated her monologue about her appointment for nearly a half hour. She also read from a discounted, unauthorized biography of Michelle Obama throughout my wait. Lucky me!
A ray of heavenly light shined upon me when my fangled E506 was called. I presented the Social Security minion with all of my information ready for my new card with my new name on it. The minion was actually quite nice and earned the one star for the experience. Within a few minutes, she had my information entered and ready to go.
I happily left this government hell on earth for the bright, cold of the city. If you absolutely have to go here, be prepared for the hell on earth that is a government office. It’s an ancient office stuck in the 70’s with a confusing system and a long wait. It’s hell on earth or at least its waiting room.