Illegal with a tax ID? What? Please explain.

[Anonymous]

So I interviewed a nanny today that I found on care.com who seems great but at the end of the interview she stated she didn't have a SSN and would prefer to do her own taxes. When I asked her if she was illegal she said no she has a tax ID.....but she said she is not a citizen and does not have a green card. So she is illegal, right? How can you be legal if you don't have a SSN or a green card? Furthermore.....how can care.com provide me with a background check if she has no SSN? Any help here would be great. I cannot risk hiring someone who is in this country Illegally, and although she may be a great person there are too many issues that could go wrong. Any clarity here would be helpful for my interviews in the future. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

In order to work legally in the US, she needs the documents acceptable for the IRS I-9 form.

I imagine anyone can get a tax ID number; you don't have to be a US citizen to pay US taxes, and there are many ways to earn money that would be taxable in the US aside from working (like investments or gifts), so I'm sure those numbers are more widely available than SSNs.

In fact, you can get a SSN and not be legal to work (students get them, for example).

[Anonymous]

I knew someone who was here illegally. He was in his mid 20s and overstayed his Visa from when he was a young teen. He does have a tax ID number but had a tough time finding a steady job because of his immigration status.

[Anonymous]

I have de same experience, so please if somebody here has more information please do it!

[Anonymous]

It isn't sufficient to show just a SS card on an I9 form. If you show a SS card, you need a secondary form of proof, like a birth certificate with original seal to show you are legal.

[Anonymous]

There is a difference between being in the country legally and having an authorization to work in the US, and having green card.

If you are not a US citizen, you are considered an alien. You can be a resident alien (also known as permanent resident or having a green card) or a non-resident alien (meaning you have some immigrant or non-immigrant status). There are quite a number of legal statuses in the latter category: a tourist, a student, a skilled worker, a dependent of skilled worker, a dependent of a diplomat, a spouse waiting for a green card, etc. Some statuses allow work (e.g., dependent of a diplomat), some allow limited work (e.g., a student can only work on campus, as a part of training, or by showing significant hardship), some don't allow any work (spouse of a skilled worker).

If your immigrant status doesn't allow work, you usually can get ITIN (tax identification number), and you potentially can get as SSN that says "Not valid for work", but you need to explain why you need SSN in that case.

If she is legal, you need to ask her what is her status. Form I-9 lists documents that she can produce to show that she is eligible to work in US. (PP is wrong -- unrestricted SS card is proof that you can work legally in the US, but you need is a photo ID like driver's license, as SS card doesn't have a photo).

What could be that she is present legally in the country, but doesn't have an authorization to work in whatever status she is in. You should ask her what her status is.

An alien is referred to as illegal alien if she/he doesn't have authorization to be physically present in the country (e.g., entered without inspection, overstayed visa, out of status).

[Anonymous]

I have an acquaintance who immigrated here illegally with his family as an infant, and now has a tax ID number under an immigration reform act. This enables him to attend college and hold jobs legally, and he pays taxes. Maybe this is what your candidate has?

[Anonymous]

If she does not have a green card she might have a student visa or work visa. It does not sound like she has a work visa (if she did, she would be required to work for that person/company). If she has a student visa she is not allow to work. Let her go.

[Anonymous]

Maybe she is using someone else's identity.

This just sounds too sketchy.

If hiring someone and paying them on the books is very important to you OP, then this nanny is not the one for you.

[Anonymous]

we had this issues - you can be in the US, on a tourist visa, but not authorized to work, but "pay taxes". its murky and in my opinion, not to get involved. If you hire this person, do it under the table, but don't pay taxes.

[Anonymous]

You can have a background check done without a SSN, You just need the persons correct name and date of birth.

It sounds like she is technically illegal but may be getting sponsored for her green card? Although I would be surprised she didn't mention that.

[Anonymous]

People can pay taxes with a tax id number. Our nanny does this (we pay her on the books and pay both her and our portion of the fica taxes in addition to her salary. She then pays income taxes on the salary). I am sure the tax id rather than ss has to do with her status. She is working with a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

People can pay taxes and be illegal! My friend did that and she had to pay "small" penalty fee when she applied for green card thru marriage.

[Anonymous]

There is a difference between being in the country legally and having an authorization to work in the US, and having green card.

If you are not a US citizen, you are considered an alien. You can be a resident alien (also known as permanent resident or having a green card) or a non-resident alien (meaning you have some immigrant or non-immigrant status). There are quite a number of legal statuses in the latter category: a tourist, a student, a skilled worker, a dependent of skilled worker, a dependent of a diplomat, a spouse waiting for a green card, etc. Some statuses allow work (e.g., dependent of a diplomat), some allow limited work (e.g., a student can only work on campus, as a part of training, or by showing significant hardship), some don't allow any work (spouse of a skilled worker).

If your immigrant status doesn't allow work, you usually can get ITIN (tax identification number), and you potentially can get as SSN that says "Not valid for work", but you need to explain why you need SSN in that case.

If she is legal, you need to ask her what is her status. Form I-9 lists documents that she can produce to show that she is eligible to work in US. (PP is wrong -- unrestricted SS card is proof that you can work legally in the US, but you need is a photo ID like driver's license, as SS card doesn't have a photo).

What could be that she is present legally in the country, but doesn't have an authorization to work in whatever status she is in. You should ask her what her status is.

An alien is referred to as illegal alien if she/he doesn't have authorization to be physically present in the country (e.g., entered without inspection, overstayed visa, out of status).

Close, but not quite. If you produce a SS card for an I9, you need another document (birth certificate with seal) and a photo ID. I just had to do this. It has to do with proving both identity and legality to work.

[Anonymous]

She is illegal most likely. Many illegals we able to get tax ID number (maybe still are) to do their taxes. IRS and INS didn't work together. IRS just wanted their money, didn't matter who paid it.