SettleKit LogoSettleKit
Get started
Answered June 2026

Your SAVE CaseCheck status indicates that SAVE has sent a response back to the Social Security Administration (SSA). The official guidance for this status is to contact the SSA about your application.

“I am on an H4 EAD and applied for my SSN nearly three months ago. The SAVE portal shows my case as 'Returned to Agency', but the SSA says they cannot do anything until USCIS verification is cleared and that they will initiate third-level verification. How does the SAVE verification process work in this situation, and what can I do to resolve this delay and get my SSN?”

Summary

You can cross this worry off your list: USCIS has finished its SAVE review and sent the response back to the Social Security Administration, so they have what they need from the verification system.

Read the full explanation

How the SAVE verification process works

The SSA is required to verify your immigration status through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program before issuing a Social Security Number.

SAVE provides an initial verification response within seconds. If it cannot verify your status immediately, the case requires additional verification, which takes approximately 14 federal workdays as of June 2026.

When you use the SAVE CaseCheck tool and receive the message that a SAVE response was returned to the agency, it means SAVE has completed its review. The official instruction for this status is to contact the agency (the SSA) about the status of your application.

Next steps

Since your SAVE status has updated, here is what you can do next.

Confirm your SAVE CaseCheck status

Verify that your status officially shows that a SAVE response was returned to the agency.

Contact the SSA

Reach out to the SSA regarding your pending application. There is no official process for this in the documents, but it is often worth visiting your local SSA field office in person with your physical EAD and passport to ask a representative to check your application status.

Others who faced this

You are not the first to go through this. Here is how it went for others who asked the same thing.

Has anyone had a similar experience with SSN application on H4 EAD?

u/Routine_Throat_258r/USCISApr 13, 2026

I applied for my SSN on March 31 after receiving my EAD for the first time. At the SSA office, initiated SAVE verification. Recently, my SAVE case status updated to “Returned to Agency,” which I understand means DHS has completed verification. However, when I followed up with SSA, I’m getting mixed responses. One officer earlier mentioned that initial verification is complete and there’s an additional internal processing step pending. But when I called again, another agent said my verification is still in progress and asked me to check back mid-week. I had a dreadful experience with the deliv
1 View on Reddit

Legal sources

The information above is based on the following official documents:

RM 10205.700

The SSA must verify an applicant's immigration status through the SAVE program.

RM 10205.700

NOTE: The immigration status must be verified through the SAVE program.

Read the full text

SAVE Verification Response Time

SAVE provides an initial response in seconds, while additional verification takes about 14 federal workdays.

SAVE Verification Response Time

Initial Verification Response Time: SAVE provides an initial response within seconds. Most requests are verified at initial verification and do not require additional verification. Additional Verification Response Time: Approximately 14 federal workdays as of June 2026.

Read the full text

SAVE CaseCheck

If a SAVE response was returned to the agency, the applicant should contact the agency about their application status.

SAVE CaseCheck

✔ A SAVE response was returned to the agency. Contact the agency about the status of your benefit application.

Read the full text

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Please confirm with a licensed immigration attorney.

SettleKit is not a law firm and this is general information, not legal advice.

Related answers

Join the SettleKit newsletter

We research the hard parts of settling in the US and write articles you will not find anywhere else. Subscribe to get each new article by email.

One email per new article. Unsubscribe anytime.

This is likely not your only questionCheck out SettleKit, the best source on the internet for newcomers to the US.
Build your free SettleKit