“I am moving to Montana on a CR-1 visa soon. I paid my immigrant visa fee and selected the DS-260 option to get my SSN automatically. How long does it typically take for the physical Green Card and SSN to arrive after entering the US? Also, as a male under 26, how soon after arriving do I need to register for Selective Service? Finally, can I apply for a Montana driver's license using just my passport with the I-551 stamp, or do I need to wait for the physical Green Card?”
You become a permanent resident when admitted on your immigrant visa, not when the plastic card arrives. Your endorsed passport can bridge that wait; the main licensing tasks are getting your SSN issued and gathering Montana’s other documents.
For your Montana license, the practical choice is a standard license using your endorsed passport now or a REAL ID after your physical Green Card arrives.
After admission, bring your unexpired foreign passport with its endorsed , a second accepted identity document such as a certified government-issued marriage certificate, proof of your Montana residential address, and your issued SSN for verification. Montana lists the passport-and-stamp combination and requires two identity documents; you need not wait for the plastic Green Card. If you are 18 or older and applying as a new driver, pass the written, vision, and road tests. [Montana driver manual](https://mvdmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/25-0100M-Montana-Driver-Manual-English-05.26.pdf) · [Montana MVD](https://mvdmt.gov/required-documents/) · [New drivers 18+](https://mvdmt.gov/new-driver-license/adult-driver-license/)
Montana’s September 2026 checklist expressly accepts the physical Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551, and calls for two documents showing your current physical Montana address. It does not expressly list an endorsed immigrant visa by itself as that card’s substitute. You can choose a standard license first rather than postponing all licensing. [Montana REAL ID checklist](https://mvdmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/REAL-ID-Checklist.pdf) · [Montana driver manual](https://mvdmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/25-0100M-Montana-Driver-Manual-English-05.26.pdf)
Neither route means you can drive before Montana issues the required permit or license.
Follow these steps from admission through registration, SSN delivery, and a Montana license application.
At U.S. entry
Keep your endorsed passport and confirm your mailing address
Present your immigrant visa for admission and keep the passport with the border officer’s endorsement. If the U.S. address you gave during the visa process has changed, give the new address to the border officer; USCIS mails the Green Card there, and SSA uses the Green Card mailing destination for your SSN card. If you move later, report the change to USCIS within 10 days through https://www.uscis.gov/addresschange and notify SSA of the mailing-address change. [USCIS](https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-fees/uscis-immigrant-fee) · [SSA](https://www.ssa.gov/ssnvisa/Handout_11_1.html)
Requirements
Promptly after entry, if age 18–25 before December 18, 2026
Register for Selective Service if the current rule applies
If you enter at 18–25 before December 18, 2026, register within 30 days of entry—and before turning 26—at https://www.sss.gov/register/. If your SSN has not arrived, the State Department’s Form DS-1810 also instructs you to obtain and submit a registration form at a U.S. Post Office; do not let the 30 days pass while waiting for your SSN card. If you are under 18, the current deadline is within 30 days after your 18th birthday. For an arrival on or after December 18, 2026, the enacted amendment provides for registration by the Selective Service director; verify your record at https://www.sss.gov/verify/. [Form DS-1810](https://ceac.state.gov/ivapp/ivapp/esign/ds-1810.pdf) · [Selective Service](https://www.sss.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/USCIS-Naturalization-_-SSS-registration-policy.pdf) · [50 USC 3802](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title%3A50%20section%3A3802%20edition%3Aprelim))
Requirements
Three weeks after admission
Follow up if your automatic SSN card is missing
Because you selected the SSN option on Form DS-260, no separate initial application is ordinarily needed. SSA says the card should arrive within three weeks after entry. If it does not, call 1-800-772-1213 or visit a Social Security office found at https://www.ssa.gov/locator; bring your passport with immigrant visa and birth certificate for an office visit. [SSA](https://www.ssa.gov/ssnvisa/Handout_11_1.html) · [SSA process](https://www.ssa.gov/ssnvisa/whatyou_need.htm)
Requirements
Once admitted and your SSN is known
Apply for a standard Montana driver’s license
For a first license at age 18 or older, schedule the written examination through https://cars.dojmt.gov/, take your hard-copy documents to the Montana MVD appointment, and pass the written, vision, and road tests; the written test precedes the road test. You do not need the physical Green Card or SSN card simply to prove those two items, but you do need the second identity document, address evidence, and a verifiable SSN. Montana’s listed standard noncommercial license-only totals are $15.97 at age 18, $10.82 at 19, $5.67 at 20, and $62.32 at 21–25. If you are under 18, use Montana’s learner-permit and graduated-license route at https://mvdmt.gov/new-driver-license/drivers-under-18 instead; it requires parental consent. [Montana MVD](https://mvdmt.gov/new-driver-license/adult-driver-license/) · [Documents](https://mvdmt.gov/required-documents/) · [Driver manual](https://mvdmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/25-0100M-Montana-Driver-Manual-English-05.26.pdf) · [Fees](https://mvdmt.gov/licensing-fees)
Requirements
After 90 days from entry
Ask USCIS for help if your Green Card has not arrived
Because you paid the USCIS Immigrant Fee before entry, allow up to 90 days from admission for the physical card. If it has not arrived by then, submit USCIS’s online help form at https://my.uscis.gov/account/v1/needhelp; paying again is not the step USCIS instructs prepaid entrants to take. [USCIS timing](https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/expect-green-card) · [USCIS immigrant fee](https://www.uscis.gov/forms/filing-fees/uscis-immigrant-fee)
Requirements
You are not the first to go through this. Here is how it went for others who asked the same thing.
u/water_samurai22r/NationalVisaCenterMay 12, 2026
u/Flimsy-Big3948r/USCISJun 4, 2026
These facts come from USCIS, the Social Security Administration, the State Department, Selective Service, federal law, and the Montana Motor Vehicle Division.
USCIS, When to expect to receive your Green Card
Because you already paid before traveling, USCIS measures the Green Card window from your U.S. entry.
Paid-before-entry row
|You entered the U.S. using your immigrant visa, |You paid the immigrant visa fee BEFORE you entered, |It may take up to 90 days from the date you entered to receive your permanent resident card. |
SSA, Social Security Numbers for U.S. Permanent Residents
SSA gives the expected mailing time for an SSN card requested through the immigrant-visa process.
You should receive your Social Security card within 3 weeks after you arrive.
SSA, Social Security Numbers for U.S. Permanent Residents
Selecting SSN issuance on the immigrant-visa application normally removes the need for a separate initial SSA application.
Therefore, you do not need to fill out a special application or go to a Social Security office to get an SSN.
USCIS Immigrant Fee
USCIS supplies the action to take if a prepaid entrant’s Green Card has not arrived by day 90.
If you do not receive your Green Card within 90 days of paying the USCIS Immigrant Fee or entering the United States (if you paid the fee before you arrived) please submit our online help form to request assistance.
USCIS, Temporary I-551 Stamps and MRIVs
An endorsed immigrant visa in the passport is temporary proof of permanent residence while the physical card is pending.
The employee's foreign passport with the MRIV is evidence the employee has permanent residence status for 1 year from the date of admission.
Form DS-1810
The State Department’s immigrant-visa notice states the personal registration deadline for men entering at 18–25 under the pre-December 18, 2026 rule.
If you are a man and are between 18 and 25 years old when you enter the United States, you must register with the U.S. Selective Service System within 30 days after you enter the United States.
Selective Service, USCIS Naturalization and SSS Registration Policy
The age limits change the answer if you arrive before 18 or shortly before turning 26.
1. Males Required to Register
In general, males must register with Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday but not after reaching 26 years of age.
Selective Service, Who Needs to Register
The Selective Service classification includes permanent-resident immigrants; the nonimmigrant exemption is not a CR-1 exemption.
Immigrants
Immigrants** Permanent resident immigrants (USCIS Form I-551) Yes
50 USC 3802; Pub. L. 119-60 § 535
The enacted replacement provision makes registration automatic by the agency rather than requiring the man to present himself.
§ 3802(a)(1), replacement text
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, every male citizen of the United States, and every other male person residing in the United States, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six, shall be automatically registered under this Act by the Director of the Selective Service System.
Pub. L. 119-60 § 535(c)
Congress delayed the automatic-registration amendment until December 18, 2026; it does not erase the current duty on October 4, 2026.
Effective Date of Repeal
The amendments made by this section [enacting this section, amending sections 3803, 3806, 3809, 3811, and 3813 of this title, and repealing this section] shall take effect one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 18, 2025].
Montana Driver Manual
Montana’s driver manual accepts the unexpired foreign-passport and permanent-resident-stamp combination rather than requiring the plastic card for a standard license.
Proof of Authorized Presence
o an unexpired permanent resident I-551 stamp
Montana Driver Manual
The passport does not eliminate Montana’s second identity-document requirement.
Proof of Full Legal Name and Date of Birth
You must provide two documents—either two primary documents, or one primary and one secondary document listed—to an examiner at a Montana driver license station to show proof of Full Legal Name and Date of Birth.
Montana Driver Manual
A certified government-issued marriage certificate is a practical possible second identity document for this spouse.
Secondary Documents
a certified copy of a marriage certificate or license issued by a government jurisdiction
Montana MVD, Required Documents
Montana needs an issued SSN it can verify, not necessarily the SSN card in hand.
Required Documents
You do not need to show proof of your Social Security Number (SSN) for any transaction; however, you need to know your SSN so it can be verified at the time of your appointment.
Montana MVD, Required Documents
A standard-license application needs evidence of a Montana residential address.
Proof of Montana Residence
You must provide proof of a Montana residence; if you don't receive mail at your residence, you must also provide a mailing address or PO Box.
Montana REAL ID Checklist 20-0060 (9/26)
Montana’s September 2026 REAL ID checklist specifically lists the physical resident card, unlike the standard-license manual’s passport-and-stamp entry.
Proof of lawful authorized presence
Permanent Resident Card, form I-551
Montana REAL ID Checklist 20-0060 (9/26)
REAL ID has a two-document Montana-residency requirement distinct from the standard-license route.
Proof of Montana residency
Provide TWO DOCUMENTS from this category.
Montana MVD, New Drivers 18+
A new Montana driver who is at least 18 needs these tests in addition to the documents.
For people 18 and over, you'll have to pass written, vision, and road tests as well as provide the required documents.
Montana MVD, Licensing Fees
The standard-license charge depends on the applicant’s exact age, which the question does not specify.
Fees for NCL without ME
|18 |until 21 |$15.97 |$41.72 | |19 |until 21 |$10.82 |$36.57 | |20 |until 21 |$5.67 |$31.42 | |21 to 63 |12 |$62.32 |$67.47 |
Montana MVD, Drivers Under 18
If this spouse is still under 18, Montana has a teen-permit route rather than the adult first-license route.
Learner Permit
At your appointment: Provide parental consent Provide the required documents
USCIS, How to Change Your Address
A later Montana move triggers a USCIS address-reporting deadline.
Additionally, all aliens in the United States must report a change of address to USCIS within 10 days of moving.
These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; rules can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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