This rule describes the nonfinancial eligibility
standards used to determine citizenship and alien status of individuals
applying for or receiving supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP)
benefits. Unless an individual meets the criteria described in rule 5101:4-3-06
of the Administrative Code for victims of severe forms of trafficking, the
individual must meet the requirements of this rule to receive SNAP.
(A) Who is eligible for
SNAP?
(1) A United States
(U.S.) citizen or non-citizen national,
The "United States" is defined as the
fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana
islands, and the Virgin islands. In addition, non-citizen nationals from
American Samoa or Swain's island are considered U.S. citizens for the
purposes of the SNAP program.
(2) An individual who
is:
(a) An American Indian who:
(i) Was born in Canada
and possesses at least fifty per cent of blood of the American Indian race to
whom the provisions of section 289 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of
1952 (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1359 (06/1952), apply; or
(ii) Is a member of an
Indian tribe as defined in section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act of 1951, 25 U.S.C. 450b(e) (12/2000), that is
recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the
U.S. to Indians because of their status as Indians.
(b) A member of the Hmong or Highland Laotian tribe who
is:
(i) An individual
lawfully residing in the U.S. and who was a member of the Hmong or Highland
Laotian tribe at the time that the tribe rendered assistance to U.S. personnel
by taking part in a military or rescue operation during the Vietnam era
beginning August 5, 1964 and ending May 7, 1975;
(ii) The spouse, or
surviving spouse of such Hmong or Highland Laotian described in paragraph
(A)(2)(b)(i) of this rule; or
(iii) An unmarried
dependent child, or surviving dependent child of such Hmong or Highland Laotian
described in paragraph (A)(2)(b)(i) of this rule who is under the age of
eighteen or a full-time student under the age of twenty-two provided the child
was dependent upon him or her at the time of his or her death; or an unmarried
disabled child age eighteen or older if the child was disabled and dependent on
the person prior to the child's eighteenth birthday. Child means the
legally adopted or biological child of the person described in paragraph
(A)(2)(b)(i) of this rule.
(3) An alien determined
to be a qualified alien as described in paragraph (B) of this rule. A qualified
alien is a federal term referring to a pool of non-U.S. citizens eligible to
receive SNAP, provided all other eligibility requirements are met.
(B) Who is considered a qualified
alien?
An alien that meets the criteria described in
paragraph (B)(1) of this rule is considered to be a qualified alien for the
SNAP program. An alien that meets the criteria described in paragraph (B)(2) of
this rule must also meet at least one of the additional criteria listed in
paragraph (B)(3) of this rule to be considered a qualified alien for the SNAP
program.
(1) An alien with an
alien status listed below is a qualified alien for the purposes of the SNAP
program:
(a) An alien who is granted asylum under section 208 of the INA,
8 U.S.C 1158 (12/2008);
(b) A refugee who is admitted to the U.S. under section 207 of
the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1157 (5/2005);
(c) An Afghan or Iraqi alien admitted to the U.S. who was granted
a special immigrant visa (SIV) under section 101(a)(27) of the INA, 8 U.S.C
1101 (1/2014);
(d) An alien whose deportation or removal is being withheld under
section 243(h) of the INA as in effect prior to April 1, 1997, or whose removal
is withheld under section 241(b)(3) of the INA, 8 U.S.C 1231
(1/2006);
(e) An alien who is a Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in
section 501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980, 8 U.S.C. 1522
note (9/1996);
(f) An Amerasian admitted pursuant to section 584 of Public Law
(Pub. L. No.) 100-202 (12/1987), as amended by Pub. L. No. 100-461 (10/1988);
or
(g) A lawful alien with one of the following military
connections:
(i) A veteran honorably
discharged for reasons other than alien status, who fulfills the minimum
active-duty service requirements of 38 U.S.C. 5303A(d), (12/2016) including an
individual who died in active military, naval or air service duty. The
definition of veteran includes an individual who served before July 1, 1946, in
the organized military forces of the government of the commonwealth of the
Philippines while such forces were in the service of the armed forces of the
U.S. or in the Philippine scouts, as described in 38 U.S.C 107
(10/2010).
(ii) An individual on
active duty (other than training) in the armed forces of the U.S.
(iii) The spouse and
unmarried dependent children of a person described in paragraph (B)(1)(g)(i) or
(B)(1)(g)(ii) of this rule, including the spouse of a deceased veteran,
provided the marriage fulfilled the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 1304 (8/1991) and
the spouse has not remarried. An unmarried dependent child is: a child who is
under the age of eighteen or, a full-time student, under the age of twenty-two;
an unmarried dependent child of a deceased veteran provided the child was
dependent upon the veteran at the time of the veteran's death, or an
unmarried disabled child age eighteen or older if the child was disabled and
dependent on the veteran prior to the child's eighteenth birthday. Child
means the legally adopted or biological child of the person described in
paragraph (B)(1)(g)(i) or (B)(1)(g)(ii) of this rule.
(2) The following aliens
must also meet at least one of the additional criteria listed in paragraph
(B)(3) of this rule in order to be considered a qualified alien for the SNAP
program:
(a) An alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the
INA;
(b) An alien paroled into the U.S. under section 212(d)(5) of the
INA, 8 U.S.C 1182 (3/2013) for a period of at least one year;
(c) An alien granted conditional entry pursuant to section
203(a)(7) of the INA as in effect prior to April 1, 1980;
(d) An alien battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the U.S
by a spouse or a parent or by a member of the spouse's or parent's
family residing in the same residence as the alien at the time of the abuse, an
alien whose child has been battered or subjected to battery or cruelty, or an
alien child whose parent has been battered. Verification and documentation
procedures for this status are defined in exhibit B of attachment 5 of the
department of justice (DOJ) interim guidance dated November 17, 1997 (62 FR
61344).
(3) The additional
criteria for aliens listed in paragraph (B)(2) of this rule are:
(a) Has resided in the U.S. for a period of five years or more
beginning on the date of the alien's entry into the U.S. The status as a
qualified alien, as defined in paragraph (B)(2) of this rule, must be
maintained during the five year period;
(b) Is under eighteen years of age, regardless of the date of
entry;
(c) Is in receipt of federal government benefits or assistance
for disability or blindness regardless of the date of entry, or;
(d) Is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under
the INA who has forty qualifying quarters as determined under Title II of the
Social Security Act (8/1996).
(C) How does a county agency determine
when a qualified alien has forty qualifying quarters?
The county agency shall:
(1) Include qualifying
quarters from the work of a parent (natural, adoptive and step) of the alien
before the alien became eighteen years of age (including quarters worked before
the alien was born or adopted);
(2) Include qualifying
quarters credited from the work of a spouse of the alien during their marriage
when they are still married or the spouse is deceased;
(3) Exclude quarters of a
spouse when the couple divorces prior to a determination of SNAP eligibility.
However, when the county agency determines eligibility of an alien based on the
quarters of coverage of the spouse, and then the couple divorces, the
alien's eligibility continues until the next recertification. At that
time, the county agency must determine the alien's eligibility without
crediting the alien with the former spouse's quarters of
coverage;
(4) Exclude quarters that
the alien actually received any federal means-tested public benefit, such as
Ohio works first, supplemental security income or medicaid, or actually
received SNAP benefits. Likewise, a parent's or spouse's quarter is
not creditable when the parent or spouse actually received any federal
means-tested public benefit or actually received SNAP benefits in that
quarter;
The county agency must evaluate quarters of
coverage and receipt of federal means-tested public benefits on a calendar year
basis. The county agency must first determine the number of quarters creditable
in a calendar year, then identify those quarters that the alien (or parent or
spouse of the alien) received federal means-tested public benefits and then
remove those quarters from the number of quarters of coverage earned or
credited to the alien in that calendar year. However, when the alien earns the
fortieth quarter of coverage prior to applying for SNAP benefits or any other
federal means-tested public benefit in that same quarter, the county agency
must allow that quarter toward the forty qualifying quarters total.
(5) Verify whether a
lawful permanent resident has earned or can receive credit for a total of forty
qualifying quarters. However, the quarters of coverage history system (QCHS) of
the social security administration (SSA) may not show all qualifying quarters.
For instance, SSA records do not show current year earnings and in some cases,
the last year's earnings, depending on the time of the request. Also, in
some cases, an applicant may have work from uncovered employment that is not
documented by SSA, but is countable toward the forty quarters test. In both
these cases, the individual, rather than SSA, would need to verify the quarters
(D) What are the citizenship and alien
status verification requirements?
(1) When an assistance
group indicates that one or more of its members are U.S. citizens, but the
county agency questions this declaration, the county agency must verify the
member's citizenship in accordance with "attachment 4" of the
U.S. DOJ interim guidance dated November 17, 1997 (62 Fed. Reg. 61344) that
outlines documents that verify an individual's status as a U.S. citizen or
non-citizen national:
(a) When the forms of verification suggested in "attachment
4" of the U.S. DOJ interim guidance cannot be obtained and the assistance
group can provide a reasonable explanation as to why verification is not
available, the county agency shall accept a signed statement from a third party
indicating a reasonable basis for personal knowledge that declares under
penalty of perjury that the member in question is a U.S. citizen. The signed
statement shall contain a warning of the penalties for helping someone commit
fraud.
(b) Absent verification or third party attestation of U.S.
citizenship, the member whose citizenship is in question is ineligible to
participate until the issue is resolved. The member whose citizenship is in
question will have his or her income and resources considered available to any
remaining assistance group members as described in rule 5101:4-6-13 of the
Administrative Code.
(c) The county agency shall accept participation in another
program as acceptable when verification of citizenship was obtained for that
program.
(2) An alien is
ineligible for SNAP until acceptable documentation is provided
unless:
(a) The county agency has submitted a copy of a document provided
by the assistance group to the U.S. citizenship and immigration service (USCIS)
under the U.S. department of homeland security (DHS) for verification. Pending
such verification, the county agency shall not delay, deny, reduce or terminate
the individual's eligibility for benefits on the basis of the
individual's immigration status.
(b) The applicant or county agency has submitted a request to SSA
for information regarding the number of quarters of work that can be credited
to the individual. SSA has responded that the individual has fewer than forty
quarters, and the individual provides documentation from SSA that SSA is
conducting an investigation to determine if more quarters can be credited. When
SSA indicates that the number of qualifying quarters that can be credited is
under investigation, the county agency must certify the individual for up to
six months from the date of the original determination of insufficient quarters
pending the results of the investigation.
(c) The applicant or the county agency has submitted a request to
a federal agency for verification of information affecting the
individual's eligible alien status. The county agency must certify the
individual for up to six months from the date of the original request for
verification pending the results of the investigation.
(E) Is there a timeframe for verifying citizenship?
(1) The county agency
must provide alien applicants with a reasonable opportunity to submit
acceptable documentation of their eligible alien status. A reasonable
opportunity must be at least ten days from the date of the county agency's
request for an acceptable document.
(2) When the county
agency fails to provide an alien applicant with a reasonable opportunity to
submit documentation, the county agency must provide the assistance group with
benefits no later than thirty days following the date of application, provided
the assistance group is otherwise eligible.
(F) How does the county agency determine
the validity of documents?
(1) The county agency
shall verify the authenticity of the documentation of eligible alien status of
applicant aliens. When an alien does not wish for the county agency to contact
the USCIS to verify his or her immigration status, the county agency must give
the assistance group the option of withdrawing its application or participating
without that assistance group member in accordance with paragraph (H) of this
rule. The U.S. DOJ interim guidance dated November 17, 1997 (62 FR 61344)
contains information on acceptable documents and USCIS codes.
(2) The county agency
shall verify the validity of the documents presented by applicant aliens
through the systematic alien verification for entitlements (SAVE) program. In
some instances validity of documents shall be verified by submitting additional
documentation. SAVE procedures are described in rule 5101:4-7-14 of the
Administrative Code.
(G) What happens when an
individual's status as an alien changes?
(1) Each category of
eligible alien status stands alone for purposes of determining
eligibility.
(2) Subsequent adjustment
to a more limited status does not override eligibility based on an earlier less
rigorous status. Likewise, when eligibility expires under one eligibility
status, the county agency must determine if eligibility exists under another
status.
(H) What happens when an assistance group
indicates an inability or unwillingness to provide documentation of alien
status?
When an assistance group indicates inability or
unwillingness to provide documentation of alien status for any assistance group
member, that member shall be classified as an ineligible alien. In such cases,
the county agency must not continue efforts to obtain that documentation,
unless the individual requests assistance from the county agency.
(I) Should the county agency report
illegal aliens?
County agencies shall report to the Ohio
department of job and family services when an applicant or recipient is known
to be an illegal alien. To be a known illegal alien, there must be a finding of
fact or a conclusion of law made as part of a formal determination that is
conducted by the USCIS. Only documentation provided by the USCIS or the
executive office of administrative review (e.g. a final order of deportation)
shall be considered evidence.
