[arxv33]

Thanks for doing this. I have started working in the US with L1B visa in March but because of the pandemic and the US-Canada border closure I have not been able to move there officially. My L1B was issued in a US-Canada land border (basically flagpoled - took the visa and came back) and my company is fine working remotely since we will be working from home for the rest of the year anyway.

However I need to get a SSN and so far from the SSA website they are issued only through a physical appointment. I have called up a few SSA offices and they all told me they are closed right now and don’t take any appointments. They will let me know when they start scheduling appointments and at that point I will have to go to their office and attend the interview physically.

My questions are:

1) assuming the border remains closed for a while and I have no means of going there while the current EO is in force, is there an alternative way of getting SSN you know of?

2) If it comes to that and there is no way of getting SSN without going there physically - the EO doesn’t impact existing L1Bs but my situation is a bit complex since there was never a stamp in my visa. They just issued I140 and an entry seal in the passport (as is done for all land entries through Canada I suppose). The EO does specifically mention having to have the visa stamp for me to be allowed to enter. How strict do you think the enforcement is going to be and do you think I will be allowed to enter if I attempt when they schedule the interview for SSN? Are the CBP officers enforcing the EO as verbatim or there is room for interpretation for someone who already has L1B but no visa stamps?

[icesin]

FYI, the US border is not closed to Canadians if you enter via air; only the land border is closed to non-essential travel.