Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 16, 2024
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.