Eligibility

Determined by federal law, to be eligible for SNAP benefits a person must be:

•  a United States (U.S.) citizen – person born in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Northern Mariana Islands, or a person born outside the U.S. when at least one parent is a U.S. citizen.
• a U.S. non-citizen national – a person born in outlying possessions of the U.S. such as American Samoa or Swains Island.
• an alien who is both qualified and eligible; or non-Citizen who has documentation of qualified alien status that can be confirmed in SAVE.
• an alien not required to meet qualified alien status – American Indians from St. Regis Band of the Mohawk, Micmac, Abanaki, and Kickapoo; Hmong or Highland Laotian tribe in Vietnam, or Afghan and Iraqi refugees.

Qualified aliens are individuals who meet one of the criteria listed in 340:50-5-67(3-A)

Qualified aliens must also meet one of the eligibility requirements in 340:50-5-67 (3-B)

• Example 1: An alien who has resided in the U.S. as a Legal Permanent Resident for at least 5 years would be considered a qualified eligible alien. Legal Permanent Resident status meets the criteria for the alien to be qualified. Residing in the U.S. as a qualified alien for 5 years satisfies the criteria for the qualified alien to be eligible.
  The “5 year rule” is just one of the many ways that a qualified alien can be considered eligible. Qualified aliens who meet one of the other criteria for an eligible alien are not required to meet the “5 year rule.”
• Example 2: A minor child who has resided in the U.S. as a Legal Permanent Resident for only 1 month would still be considered a qualified eligible alien. The Legal Permanent Resident status makes the child qualified. A qualified minor child meets the conditions of eligibility regardless of when he or she was admitted.

It is important to review the policy for qualified eligible aliens, because there are multiple ways for aliens to meet these requirements.

The applicant or recipient must declare the citizenship or alien status of all household members requesting SNAP benefits on the application. This also applies if additional household members are added after certification.

Citizenship Verification

Verification is only required when a household member’s U.S. citizenship is questionable. They may provide any of the following:

• birth certificate
• baptismal certificate
• U.S. Passport
• certification of citizenship or naturalization provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services such as an identification cards for use of the resident citizen

Alien Verification

All persons who declare themselves or their minor children non-citizens must present documentation of their legal alien status from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services or other acceptable source. All documentation must then be matched by using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE).

Citizenship Affidavit

A Citizenship Affidavit form can be completed for those household members who declare that they are citizens, and provide a reasonable explanation of why they are unable to provide verification.

For additional information regarding Citizenship and Alien Status please Refer to 340:50-5-67 and the USDA FNS page for SNAP Eligibility for Non-Citizens.