5390.01
March 2004

PUBLIC BENEFITS AND
YOUR IMMIGRATION STATUS

  

PROTECTION & ADVOCACY, INC.

Toll free 1-800-776-5746

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You can receive Medi-Cal if you qualify under any of the following:

□               You are a U.S. Citizen.

□               You have a green card (lawful permanent resident).

□               You are an Amerasian immigrant.

□               You are a Refugee.

□               You are an Asylee.

□               You have been granted withholding of deportation or removal.

□               You have been paroled into the U.S. for at least one year.

□               You are a conditional entrant admitted to the U.S. before 4/1/1980.

□               You are Cuban/Haitian entrant.

□               You are a battered spouse, parent of battered child, battered child, child of battered spouse, and (1) filed a spousal petition or filed for relief under Violence Against Women Act, and (2) the welfare office decides you need Medi-Cal in part because of domestic violence.

□               You are an American Indian born in Canada or other Native American tribal member born outside the U.S.

□               You are permanently residing under color of law (PRUCOL). This is a situation where the INS knows you are in the U.S. but does not intend to deport or remove you. This is not an immigration law term but a public benefits category that includes a number of immigration statuses such as:

□               You have lived in the U.S. continuously since 1971 or earlier and can get your status adjusted as a registry alien.

□               You have an order of supervision.

□               You have been granted an indefinite voluntary departure.

□               You have been granted a voluntary departure but are awaiting your visa.

□               You have been approved for Immediate Relative Petition and are entitled to voluntary departure.

□               You have deferred action status.

 

If you are an undocumented immigrant you cannot get regular Medi-Cal. However, you can get Restricted Medi-Cal. Restricted Medi-Cal covers:

□               Emergencies

□               Long-term medical care

□               Kidney dialysis

□               Care for pregnant women from the start of pregnancy through 60 days after the child is born

 

You must be a qualified alien, that is:

□               You are a lawful permanent resident in the U.S.

□               You are one of certain Amerasian immigrants.^[1]

□               You have been paroled into the U.S. for at least 1 year.

□               You are a Refugee or have been granted Conditional Entrant Status under the law in effect before April 1, 1980.^[2]

□               You were granted Asylum.^[3]

□               You are a person granted withholding of deportation or removal.^[4]

□               You are a Haitian or Cuban entrant under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980.^[5]

□               You are one of certain battered spouses and children.

□               You were subjected to certain illegal practices such as slavery and meet the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.^[6]

PLUS, you must meet one of the following conditions:

□               You are a lawful permanent resident with 40 work quarters (10 years).

□               You were lawfully residing in the U.S. on August 22, 1996, and you are blind or disabled.^[7]

□               You were honorably discharged Veteran, active duty military, or their spouse, unmarried surviving spouse, or child.

Will applying for SSI hurt my chances of becoming a U.S. citizen?

Receiving SSI or other cash benefits will not prevent lawful permanent residents from becoming U.S. citizens. However, if you got public benefits fraudulently, the INS may find that you lack good moral character and deny you citizenship.

Is the only way I can obtain credits through my work?

No. If you are married, you can get credit for the work of your spouse during the marriage. If you are a widow or widower, you can be credited with your deceased spouse’s quarters earned during your marriage.

Can children get credit for the work of their parents?

Children under 18 years of age can get credit for the work of their parents including the time before the children were born.

Quarters earned by an adoptive parent can be credited to the child through the quarter the child reaches age 18, if the adoption occurred before age 18. Quarters earned by the biological parent whose parental rights have been lost as a result of adoption cannot be credited to the child.

Quarters earned by a stepparent can be credited to the child from the quarter of the marriage through the quarter the child turns 18 years of age, so long as the marriage occurred before the child became 18 years old and the marriage did not end in divorce or annulment before the determination of eligibility is made for the child.

Restrictions:

For immigrants who physically entered the U.S. on or after August 22, 1996, the applicant must wait 5 years after becoming a qualified immigrant to use the credits unless certain exceptions apply.

Some restrictions may apply if you entered the U.S. after August 22, 1996.

You will not get credit for a quarter worked after 12/31/96 if you got a federal means-tested benefit ^[8] in that quarter.

Examples:

1. Husband and wife are lawful permanent residents, and each has worked 5 years (earned 20 qualifying quarters). Each spouse can get credit for work done by the other spouse, and both meet the 40 qualifying quarters requirement.

2. One spouse has worked for 10 years and the other non-working spouse entered as a qualified immigrant on August 23, 1996. Generally, the non-working spouse would have to wait until August 23, 2001, to use the working spouse’s credits when applying for SSI benefits.

3. A lawful-permanent-resident couple and their three lawful-permanent-resident children (ages 7, 9 and 19) all apply for SSI. Each spouse has earned 20 qualifying quarters for work done more than 5 years earlier, before the older child turned age 18. All five of them meet the 40 qualifying quarters eligibility category based on the couple’s combined 40 qualifying quarters.

 

What is CAPI?

CAPI is a state program that provides cash benefits to certain elderly and disabled immigrants who are not eligible for SSI.

You are eligible if:

□               You are a qualified alien who is 65 years or older or disabled, OR

□               You are a non-qualified alien who is 65 years or older, or disabled, who is permanently residing in the U.S. under color of law (PRUCOL).

Do I have to worry about deeming?

□               If you used the I-134 affidavit of support and you entered the U.S. before 8/22/96, or if your sponsor is disabled: 3 years of deeming.

□               If you used the I-134 affidavit of support and you entered the U.S. after 8/22/96, and your sponsor is not disabled: 10 years of deeming.

Exceptions:

□               You became blind or disabled after entry.

□               You are, or your child is, a victim of domestic violence.

□               If you used the I-864 affidavit of support: 10 years of deeming except if you would go hungry or homeless (12 month limit), or you are or your child is a victim of domestic violence (no time limit).

Note:

□               To qualify for CAPI, you must meet the federal SSI resource and income rules.

□               CAPI is not available to you if you are already receiving SSI.

□               Receiving CAPI may cause a problem in obtaining your green card. See “Public Charge.”

To apply for CAPI, contact your local county welfare office.

Many persons seeking admission to the U.S. must show that they are not likely to become a public charge. “Public charge” is a term used by the INS for persons who cannot support themselves and are likely to rely on cash public benefits for income. If the INS decides that you are likely to become a public charge, the INS can refuse to let you enter or re-enter the U.S., or become a lawful permanent resident.

Note:

Certain categories of immigrants, including Refugees and Aslyees, are not subject to the public charge provisions.

Will receiving certain public benefits label me as a public charge and affect my immigration status?

It depends on what kind of public aid you receive, that is:

□               Obtaining non-cash aid such as: WIC, food stamps, public housing, Medi-Cal (other than long-term care), or Healthy Families will not affect your immigration status.

□               Obtaining cash welfare benefits such as: SSI, CAPI, CalWORKs, or General Assistance might affect your immigration status.

□               Obtaining government paid long-term care in a nursing home or other institution might affect your immigration status.

For public charge purposes, public cash benefits received by a child will generally not be attributed to his/her alien parents or other family members unless the family relies solely on the child’s cash benefits for support.

What does the INS look at to see if I will become a public charge?

□               The INS will look at your education and skills to see if you can you get a job.

□               The INS will look at your income to see if you can support yourself.

□               The INS will look at the size of your family to see how many people you will have to support.

□               The INS will want to know if you have a sponsor who has pledged to support you.

□               The INS will look at how old you are to see if you are you too old to work.

□               The INS will look at your health to see if you are too sick to work.

Will becoming a public charge affect my ability to become a citizen?

The INS will not look at public charge when you apply for citizenship. Rather, it will look to see if you have good moral character. Thus, if you told the truth when you obtained public benefits, it should not affect your ability to become a citizen.

As public charge, can I travel outside of the U.S.?

If you are a lawful permanent resident and receive cash public assistance, you should not travel outside the U.S. for more than six months. If you do, the INS can ask you questions about whether you are likely to become a public charge and deny you re-entry.

An immigrant must show that he/she is not likely to become a public charge. A sponsor is someone who signs an affidavit of support promising to provide support to the immigrant as a condition of the immigrant’s admission for permanent residency.

How can having a sponsor affect me?

If you have been sponsored, your sponsor’s income and resources and that of his/her spouse will be considered available to you when you apply for certain benefits. This is called “deeming.” Deeming can cause you to become ineligible for benefits because of excess resources and/or excess income. The length of time that deeming will affect you will depend on which affidavit of support you filed with the INS.

If you filed your green card application with the I-134 affidavit of support then the following rules apply:

□               If you apply for SSI on or after October 1, 1996, your sponsor’s income and resources will be deemed to you for a period of 3 years following the date of your lawful admission.

□               If you were receiving SSI in September 1996 and the date of your lawful admission to the U.S. was October 1993 or earlier, your sponsor’s resources and income will not be deemed to you.

□               If you were receiving SSI in September 1996 and the date of your lawful admission to the U.S. was November 1993 or later, deeming will apply for 3 years following the date of your lawful admission.

Exceptions:

The above rules regarding deeming will not apply if:

□               You are a non-citizen who becomes disabled or blind after becoming a lawful permanent resident.

□               You are a non-citizen who is not a lawful permanent resident.

If you filed your green card application with I-864 affidavit of support, then the following rules apply:

□               Your sponsor’s income and resources and that of the sponsor’s spouse are considered deemed until you acquire or can be credited with 40 work quarters, you become a U.S. citizen, you leave the U.S. permanently, or you die.

Exceptions:

□               You are sponsored by an organization or a group

□               You are considered to be an “indigent noncitizen” – your income does not exceed 130% of the poverty guideline for your household size

Exceptions:

Deeming will be suspended for at least 12 months if:

□               The agency determines that you would go hungry or homeless if it does not provide aid, or

□               You and your children have been battered or subject to extreme cruelty by someone in the same household, and the need for public benefits is substantially connected to the battery. The 12-month period can be extended if the abuse is recognized by an ALJ, INS or a court.

How can sponsorship affect my sponsor?

□               Your sponsor’s obligation to support you ends when you become a U.S. citizen, leave the U.S. permanently, die, or earn or can be credited with 40 work quarters.

□               Agencies that provide federal means-tested public benefits to you can seek reimbursement from the sponsor and the sponsor’s spouse. If your sponsor fails to repay, the agency can sue your sponsor for repayment. You can also sue the sponsor if your sponsor fails to provide you with basic support.

Note:

Generally, sponsorship deeming does not apply to those who are not required to file an affidavit of support – such as refugees, asylees, and certain parolees.

 

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