<p>Do all international students who don't have a social security number have to pay a deposit in order to get a cell phone? I went to AT&T today, and was told that I need to pay a 500 dollar deposit...Is this typical? Is there any service that wouldn't require this?</p>
<p>Therer are always the prepaid cell phone plans which might be more reasonable. The deposits are usually if you have no credit hx.</p>
<p>I'm international and I got a prepaid from AT&T (which was then Cingular). The handset was about $40 and I top up with about $100 every few months. I find it pretty good, but I've never tried a contract in the US. I did it because when I'm home I won't be using the contract so I didn't want to waste.
You can try giving your N number when people ask for a SS number. It's the same number of digits I think and proves your identity. Sometimes people are cool with that. Also if you end up getting a job on campus you get a SS number, that makes things a lot easier!</p>