Amex no longer allows authorized users without an SSN
u/zarkersr/amexDec 14, 2025
I just added my fiancé as an AU without a SSN, Amex happily took the AU fee. I did this in October.
140 View on Reddit
Answered August 2026
Yes—you start this request by calling the number on the back of your Amex Card, and Amex publishes no fixed number of days for verification or delivery.
“I'm trying to add an authorized user to my Amex card who doesn't have an SSN or ITIN. I was told this now requires phone verification. What is the actual timeline and process for getting them verified?”
Summary
Not having an SSN or ITIN does not make the request automatically impossible. The honest limitation is that Amex publishes the starting step but not a guaranteed verification or delivery timetable.
Because this person has neither an SSN nor an ITIN, the current Amex instructions direct you to the phone route rather than the ordinary online route.
Call from the primary Cardyour route
The calls the number printed on the back of their Amex Card, says the proposed has no SSN or ITIN, and supplies the person’s legal name, address, and date of birth. This is the no-SSN/ITIN route stated in the current Amex Additional Card Member FAQ.
Use the normal online applicationnot for you
The ordinary request asks for the person’s legal name, address, date of birth, and SSN or ITIN. Because your person has neither identifier, Amex’s own instruction is to call instead.
Amex calls an authorized user an .
Read the full explanationHide the full explanation
Watch out for
Do not rely on the old 60-day storyThe current Amex consumer instructions do not offer an add-now, verify-later route for someone with no SSN or ITIN. They say to call the number on the back of the ’s Card to make the request; the public page gives no 60-day grace period.
Eligibility still appliesAmex says the must be over age 13 and must never have had a defaulted American Express account.
You remain responsibleAdding the person does not shift payment responsibility: Amex says the remains responsible for all purchases made on both Cards.
Next steps
These steps start the no-SSN/ITIN request and prevent you from relying on an unpublished timetable.
Before calling
Gather the person’s details and consent
Confirm the person’s legal name, address, and date of birth are correct, and obtain their consent for Amex to add them and verify their identity.
Requirements
Legal name
Address
Date of birth
Their consent to be added and identity-verified
At the request stage
Call the number on the back of your Amex Card
The Basic Card Member should call the account-specific number printed on the back of the Card and say: “I want to add an Additional Card Member who has no SSN or ITIN.” The current consumer FAQ directs this situation to that number; it does not publish a generic substitute number.
Requirements
Your Amex Card
The prepared personal details
Before ending the call
Complete the phone intake and get a clear status
Provide the prepared details and confirm consent. Ask the representative to state whether verification is complete or pending and to identify any missing item, reference number, and case-specific deadline; Amex’s public consumer instructions do not publish a standard document list or turnaround time.
Requirements
Legal name, address, and date of birth
Any case-specific item requested during the call
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.
Legal sources
The answer rests on American Express’s current U.S. Additional Card Member FAQ and Additional Card Membership terms.
Amex Additional Card Member FAQ
This establishes both the ordinary identity fields and the phone route when the person has neither an SSN nor an ITIN.
Amex Additional Card Member FAQ
You need the Additional Card Member’s legal name, address, date of birth, and Social Security Number (SSN) or International Tax Identification Number (ITIN) to request to add them to your account as an Additional Card Member. If the Additional Card Member does not have an SSN or ITIN, please call the number on the back of your Card.
Amex Additional Card Membership Terms
This establishes the age and prior-default eligibility conditions.
Amex Additional Card Membership Terms
The Additional Card Member must be over the age of 13 and never had a defaulted account with American Express.
Amex Additional Card Membership Terms
This establishes that the primary Card Member remains financially responsible for the authorized user’s charges.
Amex Additional Card Membership Terms
You will remain responsible for all purchases made on both your Card and the Additional Card Members’ Card.
Amex Additional Card Membership Terms
This establishes that you must have the person’s consent to be added and identity-verified.
Amex Additional Card Membership Terms
When you tell us to add a user to your account, you are confirming that you have a relationship with the person or people whose name (s), address(es), date of birth(s), and SSN(s) you’ve told us, that all their information is correct and that you have their consent to add them and for us to verify their identities.
These are American Express’s official rules as published on the cited pages and accessed on 2026-08-24; rules can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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