Considering howflimsyyour Social Security card is , laminate it seems like the most creditworthy course of study of action at law to keep it from tardily deteriorating as decades pass .
According tothe Social Security Administration ( SSA ) , however , you perfectly should n’t . Unlike COVID-19vaccination cards , it ’s not because you might have to write in updates sometime in the future tense — but rather because “ lamination prevents detection of many security features . ” These security feature were introduced in 1983 , when the SSA overtake the design and manufacturing process to make the card less susceptible to counterfeiting . ( If your Social Security card was make out before 1983 , it may not have built - in security touchstone , but you still should n’t laminate it due to the potential for the ID problem noted below . )
In accession to being printed on banknote paper , all cardsissuedafter October 31 , 1983 , boast at least one of the following attributes : a “ tamping bar - proof background signal ” ; “ color - shifting ink ” ; inscribe schoolbook ; yellow , pink , and blue circles ; a hide picture that you may only see if you tilt the carte a sure manner ; or an “ anti - copy radiation diagram ” that only shew up if you run off the posting . If your carte was printed in February 1996 or subsequently , it might have your nine - digit telephone number in “ crimson fluorescent ” ink on the back . And if yours was issued in April 2007 or later , the payoff date might be beneath your key signature line .
For anyone who laminate their Social Security card before slip up upon this clause , do n’t worry too much — it ’s not illegal . But it could cause you a snatch of a worry if you begin a Modern problem and the human resources department refuses to accept it as a valid form of identification . If that happens , you might have to call the U.S. Office of Special Counsel , which hasdirectedHR staff to accept a laminated Social Security carte on at least two occasions in recent years .
Instead of laminate your card , you may always stick it in a baseball card arm or some other similar removable plastic case to protect it .
