Which document is issued by the U.S. government displaying an individual's social security number?

The Social Security card is the primary document issued by the U.S. government that explicitly displays an individual's social security number. This card is issued to citizens and eligible non-citizens to formally identify them and their social security number for various purposes, such as employment, tax reporting, and accessing government services.

While a W-2 form is generated by an employer and contains an employee's social security number, it is not an official government-issued document. The Certificate of Citizenship serves to verify a person's citizenship status but does not include a social security number. Similarly, a letter from the Social Security Administration might include information about a social security number but is not the document that displays it prominently like the Social Security card does. Therefore, the Social Security card is the most direct and recognized form of identification that showcases an individual’s social security number.