TO: Consumers, Disability Advocates, Interested Persons
FROM: Melinda Bird & Michelle Malebranche
RE: Welfare Reform Update #6: Legal Immigrants
DATE: September 24, 1997
By now, everyone should be aware that all non-citizens who are currently getting SSI will continue to be eligible under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Also eligible for SSI are (a) SSI applicants who entered the U.S. before August 22, 1996 and who meet the SSI disability standards and (b) refugees - for their first 7 years - whether they are disabled or aged and even if they entered after August 22, 1996.
Included is a handy benefits overview chart from the National Immigration Law Center (NILC). NILC is conducting a series of trainings on Welfare Reform and the Balanced Budget Act changes, and has also prepared a great new manual of materials on the 1997 changes. Contact NILC directly for copies of the materials at (213) 938-6452.
Legal immigrants with disabilities who are eligible for SSI now in light of the new Balanced Budget Act should file and application for SSI now if they have not already done so. For folks who applied previously and were denied because they were not citizens, they should file a new application and ask that their files be re-opened whether or not they filed for an appeal. To assist we have included a consumer alert and directive regarding the changes in SSA rules for legal immigrant non-citizens and a sample form for consumers to use to request a new application and the re-opening of their old applications.
Some legal immigrants will be entitled to a deemed filing date pursuant to 20 CFR 416.351 because SSA refused to accept their prior application because they were non-citizens, or prevented them from filing an application by telling them they could not or would not be found eligible because they were not citizens. These folks should go to SSA to request a deemed filing date now. To assist people we have included a consumer alert on deemed filing dates, and a sample form for consumers to use in requesting a deemed filing date.
We are concerned that SSA is refusing to process both new and "re-opened" applications from legal immigrants with disabilities under the terms of the recently enacted Balanced Budget Act. They are refusing to send applicant files to the DED for a disability determination because they lack instructions with regard to processing legal immigrants who are aged and now need to qualify on the basis of disability, and lack a policy to address the issue of retroactive benefits. It is our position that despite the current non-existence of such instructions and policies, applications can and should be processed to determine at a minimum, eligibility for current and future benefits.
SSA's failure to process applications now will result in a huge backlog once the instructions and policies at issue are finally developed. A more immediate and disturbing result is the continued denial of SSI benefits to individuals who are clearly and legally entitled to them.
Please use the enclosed materials to make sure applicants have their applications in and have requested a deemed filing date where appropriate. We want to make sure everyone is ready to be processed. We also want to hear about any problems folks are having so keep in touch.
DID YOU TRY TO APPLY FOR SSI BUT SOCIAL SECURITY SAID YOU COULDN'T... OR REFUSED TO TAKE YOUR APPLICATION BECAUSE YOU WERE NOT A CITIZEN? IF SO, YOU CAN STILL GET SSI STARTING FROM THE DATE YOU TRIED TO APPLY!
Social Security has a rule which says that if you were stopped from filing an application for SSI because they gave you wrong information, they have to make the date you tried to apply your official application date. This date is called your "deemed filing date."
To get a deemed filing date you need to:
1. Have a current application for SSI. If you don't - go file one now!
2. Have been told wrong information from a Social Security worker.
3. Have relied on the wrong information by not filing an application.
To show you got wrong information you should try to remember the date, time and place where you got information, and who you got it from. It is also important to get written statements from friends, family members, interpreters or others who were with you on the day you tried to apply or anyone else who knows you tried to apply, like a social worker or advocate.
Use the attached form to request your deemed filing date and attach any other information you think is important. Call us if you have problems.
NAME: _______________________________________
ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER: ___________________________
DATE: _______________________
I tried to apply for SSI but didn't because:
[ ] A Social Security worker told me I couldn't file an application because I was not a citizen - so I didn't think I could.
[ ] The Social Security office would not take my application because I was not a citizen.
I found out that I always had the right to file an application for SSI. Social Security gave me wrong information when they refused to take my application and/or told me I could not apply for SSI because I was not a citizen.
I filed a new application for SSI and want to receive benefits back to the date when I first tried to apply. I want a deemed filing date back to the date I first tried to apply.
The date I tried to apply was _______________________________________
The Social Security worker I spoke to was __________________________________
The Social Security office I went to was ___________________________________________
The wrong information I was given was ___________________________________________
I have other evidence that I was given wrong information. I have attached or will provide:
[ ] Statements from family who know when I tried to apply;
[ ] Statements from friends who know when I tried to apply;
[ ] Statements from others who know I tried to apply;
[ ] Other information: (explain)________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
All legal immigrants who are getting SSI will keep getting it.
No legal immigrants will be cut off because of they are immigrants.
Legal immigrants who applied for SSI and were denied within the past year just because they were not citizens are now eligible. Go to the Social Security office right away to re-apply, so that you can start getting your SSI check as soon as possible. If you already applied for Medi-Cal and were approved because you were disabled, bring your Medi-Cal notice to show Social Security. This will save time, since Social Security will not have to make you prove that you are disabled all over again.
When you file your new application, tell Social Security that you also want to "re-open" your old application and get retroactive benefits back to the first time that you applied for SSI. A form letter to help you tell Social Security these things is attached. Sign it and give it to Social Security. If Social Security won't pay you back benefits after making you eligible, you should appeal. You can file an appeal for retroactive SSI benefits, even when you are getting SSI for current months.
Call us at the number above if you have questions, want more information, or if you tried to apply for SSI in the past and the Social Security office wouldn't let you turn in an application because you were not a citizen.
NAME: ____________________________________________
ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________________________
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER: __________________________________
DATE: ______________________
I applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and was denied because I was not a citizen.
Because of the new Balanced Budget Law, I am eligible for benefits now and I can also get SSI benefits back to the date of my original application.
I am here to file a new application. I also want my old application and file to be re-opened. I want my applications to be processed as soon as possible so I can start getting the benefits I need to pay my rent, buy food to eat and pay for other living necessities.