DNR required to collect SSN
In 2003, the State of Minnesota passed legislation that requires the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to collect your social security number (SSN) as part of an application for a non-commercial hunting or fishing license. This legislation was passed to meet the federal requirements of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. [The federal law is Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, U.S.C., Title 42, section 666(a)(13).] This federal requirement is to assist states in enforcement of child support programs.
To purchase a hunting or fishing license, regardless of your age, you must either have your SSN on your DNR customer file or provide your SSN as part of your license application. If you have a SSN but refuse to provide it, you will be denied a hunting or fishing license.
Key points to consider
- Once your SSN is in your DNR customer file, you will not need to provide it again for future hunting or fishing license purchases.
- The DNR may have your SSN on file from your driver's license information. If so, you will not have to provide your SSN as part of your hunting or fishing license purchase.
- Your SSN will not be printed on any document (e.g., your hunting or fishing license) and will be stored in a secured database with very limited access.
- If you are concerned about reciting your SSN to a license agent, ask to input the number yourself or write the number on a slip of paper for the license agent to read. Either show the paper to the agent or hand the paper to the agent and then ask to get it back.
- If you indicate that you do not have a SSN and are a United States resident, you must complete and file a certification form (download file below) with the DNR attesting that you do not have a SSN.
- If you are a non-resident alien (i.e., from a country outside the U.S.), you are not required to provide a SSN, but the DNR will create a customer record.
- The DNR will provide your SSN to the Minnesota Department of Human Services for the purpose of child support enforcement. The DNR will not use your SSN for any other purpose.
Social Security certification form - for customers without a SSN