Department of Human Services: Chapter7 - Sections 7.11 thru 7.12

ALL

If an applicant who is not a citizen has provided required verification to establish his/her alien status, but IMA cannot verify his/her status with INS or verify whether the alien meets the 40-quarters requirement with SSA within relevant application processing timeframes (see Chapter 2: Processing Timeframes in Part III), the application must be approved if the alien meets all other financial and non-financial eligibility requirements. This applies only in cases in which the documentation provided by the applicant and the alien’s attestations indicate the alien is eligible for assistance.

Example 1

Mr. Gull applies for FS. He can only be eligible if he meets the 40-quarter criteria. The SSA interface indicates that he has 35 QQs, but there are six quarters with a Z indicator. Mr. Gull attests that he worked during those years and earned enough to earn QQs. The SSR submitted a request for information to the SSA Office of Central Records Operations for Investigation, but the office did not resolve the issue prior to the end of the 30-day application processing time period. The SSR must approve the FS application. If SSA subsequently finds that Mr. Gull did not have sufficient QQs and he cannot provide further evidence that he did earn sufficient quarters, his benefits would be terminated and the benefits received in error would be charged as a household-caused overpayment.

Example 2

An SSR has requested additional information from INS using the G-845 and the G-845 Supplement form because information in SAVE and the immigration documents presented by the applicant do not match. INS has not responded by the end of the application processing timeframe. The SSR must accept the documentation provided by the customer. If INS subsequently provides additional information indicating that the documentation provided by the applicant does not establish eligibility, the individual's benefits will be terminated and, if applicable, the case can be referred for investigation if the mistake appears fraudulent.

ALL

Copies of the following documents will, when combined with satisfactory proof of identity (which will come from the document itself if it bears a photograph of the person to whom it relates) and, in some cases, verification with the INS, demonstrate that a person is a U.S. citizen, non-citizen national, or qualified alien for purposes of determining eligibility for TANF, GC, IDA, FS, and Medicaid.

It is important to note that immigration documents are numerous and subject to change. If an individual presents a document that is not included in this list, the SSR should not assume the document is illegitimate or that it does not adequately verify immigration status. If the nature of the document is unclear, INS should be contacted for assistance.