Requirements

• When you apply for a new Social Security card, bring a completed application, proof of your identity and proof that you are a U.S. citizen.
  
  

Types of Identification

• The Social Security Administration (SSA) accepts, as proof of citizenship, originals or certified copies of U.S. birth certificates, U.S. consular reports, Certificates of Naturalization and Certificates of Citizenship. Original or certified copies of U.S. driver licenses, state-issued ID cards and U.S. passports are accepted as proof of identity.
  
  

Considerations

• After the SSA receives your completed application and verifies your documents, it will send your new card by mail. The replacement card will bear the same number as the original one. Keep it safe, with other important documents, except for circumstances where you absolutely need to produce it. Although the SSA will replace lost cards free of charge, it allows only three replacements per year and 10 in a lifetime.