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Overview of Immigrant Eligibility for Federal Programs

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Updated OCTOBER 2011  |  Download Adobe reader symbol - PDF

THIS TABLE PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW of immigrant eligibility for the major federal public assistance programs. Some states provide assistance to immigrants who are not eligible for federally funded services.

Program

 "Qualified" Immigrants
Who Entered the U.S.
Before Aug. 22, 1996		 "Qualified" Immigrants
Who Entered the U.S. on
or After Aug. 22, 1996		 "Not Qualified"
Immigrants

Supplemental Security
Income
(SSI)

 Eligible only if:
  • Receiving SSI (or application
    pending) on Aug. 22, 1996
  • Qualify as disabled and were
    lawfully residing in the U.S. on
    Aug. 22, 19961
  • Lawful permanent resident with
    credit for 40 quarters of work1,2
  • Were granted refugee or asylum
    status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/
    Haitian entrant, Amerasian
    immigrant, or victim of trafficking—
    but only during first 7 years after
    status was granted
  • Veteran, active duty military;
    spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
 Eligible only if:
  • Lawful permanent resident with credit for 40 quarters of work2 (but must wait until 5 years after entry before applying)
  • Were granted asylum or refugee status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrant, Amerasian immigrant, victim of trafficking, or Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant status — but only during first 7 years after
    status was granted
  • Veteran, active duty military; spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
 Eligible only if:
  • Receiving SSI (or application pending) on Aug. 22, 1996
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries during the first seven years after status was granted

Food Stamps4

 Eligible only if:
  • Are under age 183
  • Were granted refugee or asylum status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrant, Amerasian immigrant, or victim of trafficking
  • Have been in “qualified” immigrant status for 5 years1
  • Are receiving disability-related assistance1, 4
  • Lawful permanent resident with credit for 40 quarters of work
  • Were 65 years or older and were lawfully residing in the U.S. on Aug. 22, 19961
  • Veteran, active duty military; spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Member of Hmong or Laotian tribe during the Vietnam era, when the tribe militarily assisted the U.S.; spouse, surviving spouse, or child of tribe member1
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
 Eligible only if:
  • Are under age 183
  • Were granted asylum or refugee status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrant, Amerasian immigrant, victim of trafficking, or Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant status
  • Have been in “qualified” immigrant status for 5 years1
  • Are receiving disability-related assistance1, 4
  • Lawful permanent resident with credit for 40 quarters of work
  • Veteran, active duty military; spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Member of Hmong or Laotian tribe during the Vietnam era, when the tribe militarily assisted the U.S.; spouse, surviving spouse, or child of tribe member1
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
 Eligible only if:
  • Member of Hmong or Laotian tribe during the Vietnam era, when the tribe militarily assisted the U.S., spouse, surviving spouse or child of tribe member, who is lawfully present in the U.S.
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries

Temporary
Assistance
for Needy
Families
(TANF)

 Eligible1 Eligible only if:
  • Were granted asylum or refugee status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrant, Amerasian immigrant, victim of trafficking, or Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant status5
  • Veteran, active duty military; spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Have been in “qualified” immigrant status for 5 years or more1, 5
 Eligible only if:
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries

Emergency
Medicaid
(includes labor
and delivery)

  Eligible  Eligible  Eligible

Full-Scope
Medicaid

  Eligible6 Eligible only if:
  • Were granted asylum or refugee status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrant, Amerasian immigrant, victim of trafficking, or Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant status7
  • Veteran, active duty military; spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Receiving federal Foster Care
  • Have been in “qualified” immigrant status for 5 years or more1, 7
  • Children under 21 (state option)10
  • Pregnant women (state option)10
 Eligible only if:
  • Were receiving SSI on Aug. 22, 1996 (in states that link Medicaid to SSI eligibility)
  • Certain American Indians born abroad
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries
  • Lawfully residing children under 21 (state option)10
  • Lawfully residing pregnant women (state option)10

Children’s
Health
Insurance
Program
(CHIP)

  Eligible Eligible only if:
  • Were granted asylum or refugee status or withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrant, Amerasian immigrant, victim of trafficking, or Iraqi or Afghan special immigrant status
  • Veteran, active duty military; spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child1
  • Have been in “qualified” immigrant status for 5 years or more1
  • Children under 21 (state option)10
  • Pregnant women (state option)10
  Eligible only if:
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries
  • Lawfully residing children under 21 (state option)10
  • Lawfully residing pregnant women (state option)8, 10

Medicare
“Premium
Free” Part A
(hospitalization)
(eligibility basedon work history)

  Eligible  Eligible Eligible only if:
  • Lawfully present, and eligibility for assistance is based on authorized employment

Premium
“Buy-in”
Medicare

 Eligible only if:
  • Lawful permanent resident who has resided continuously in the U.S. for at least 5 years
 Eligible only if:
  • Lawful permanent resident who has resided continuously in the U.S. for at least 5 years
 Not Eligible

HUD Public
Housing and
Section 8
Programs

 Eligible except:
  • Certain Cuban/Haitian entrants and “qualified” abused spouses and children
Note: If at least one member of the household is eligible based on immigration status, the family may reside in the housing, but the subsidy will be pro-rated.		 Eligible except:
  • Certain Cuban/Haitian entrants and “qualified” abused spouses and children
Note: If at least one member of the household is eligible based on immigration status, the family may reside in the housing, but the subsidy will be pro-rated.		 Eligible only if:
  • Temporary resident under IRCA general amnesty, or paroled into the U.S. for less than 1 year
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries
  • Citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau

Note: For other immigrants, eligibility may depend on the date the family began receiving housing assistance, the immigration status of other household members, and the household composition.

Also note: If at least one member of the household is eligible based on immigration status, the family may reside in the housing, but the subsidy will be pro-rated.

Title XX
Block Grants

  Eligible  Eligible Eligible only if:
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries
  • Program or service funded by the block grant is exempt from the welfare law’s restrictions

Social
Security

  Eligible9  Eligible9 Eligible only if:
  • Lawfully present9
  • Were receiving assistance based on an application filed before Dec. 1, 1996
  • Eligibility required by certain international agreements

Other
Federal Public
Benefits
Subject to
welfare law’s
restrictions

  Eligible  Eligible  Eligible only if:
  • Victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries

Benefits
Exempt from
welfare law’s
restrictions

  Eligible  Eligible  Eligible

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

KEY TERMS USED IN TABLE (IMMIGRANT ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL PROGRAMS)

“Qualified” immigrants are: (1) lawful permanent residents (LPRs); (2) refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deportation/removal, conditional entry (in effect prior to Apr. 1, 1980), or paroled into the U.S. for at least one year; (3) Cuban/Haitian entrants; (4) battered spouses and children with a pending or approved (a) self-petition for an immigrant visa, or (b) immigrant visa filed for a spouse or child by a U.S. citizen or LPR, or (c) application for cancellation of removal/suspension of deportation, whose need for benefits has a substantial connection to the battery or cruelty (parent/child of such battered child/spouse are also “qualified”); and (5) victims of trafficking and their derivative beneficiaries who have obtained a T visa or whose application for a T visa sets forth a prima facie case. (A broader group of trafficking victims who are certified by or receive an eligibility letter from the Office of Refugee Resettlement are eligible for benefits funded or administered by federal agencies, without regard to their immigration status.)

“Not qualified” immigrants include all noncitizens who do not fall under the “qualified” immigrant categories.

NOTES

  1. Eligibility may be affected by deeming: a sponsor’s income/resources may be added to the immigrant’s in determining eligibility. Exemptions from deeming may apply.

  2. LPRs are eligible if they have worked 40 qualifying quarters in the U.S. Immigrants also get credit toward their 40 quarters for work performed (1) by parents when the immi-grant was under 18; and (2) by spouse during the marriage (unless the marriage ended in divorce or annulment). No credit is given for a quarter worked after Dec. 31, 1996, if a federal means-tested public benefit (SSI, food stamps, TANF, Medicaid, or SCHIP) was received in that quarter.

  3. Children are not subject to sponsor deeming in the food stamp program.

  4. Disability-related benefits include SSI, Social Security disability, state disability or retirement pension, railroad retire-ment disability, veteran’s disability, disability-based Medi-caid, and disability-related General Assistance if the disa-bility determination uses criteria as stringent as those used by federal SSI.

  5. In Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas, TANF is available only to immigrants who entered the U.S. on or after Aug. 22, 1996, who are: (1) LPRs credited with 40 quarters of work; (2) veterans, active duty military (and their spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child); or (3) refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of de-portation/removal, Cuban/ Haitian entrants, and Amerasian immigrants during the five years after obtaining this status. Indiana provides TANF to “refugees” listed in (3) regardless of the date they obtained that status. Missis-sippi does not address eligibility for Cuban/Haitian entrants or Amerasian immigrants.

  6. In Wyoming, only LPRs with 40 quarters of work credit, abused immigrants, parolees, veterans, active duty military (and their spouse, unremarried surviving spouse, or child), refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deporta-tion/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrants, and Amerasian im-migrants who entered the U.S. prior to Aug. 22, 1996, are eligible for full-scope Medicaid.

  7. In Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Wyoming, full-scope Medicaid is available only to immigrants who entered the U.S. on or after Aug. 22, 1996, who are: (1) LPRs credited with 40 quarters of work; (2) veterans, active duty military (and their spouse, unre-married surviving spouse, or child); or (3) refugees, asylees, persons granted withholding of deportation/removal, Cuban/Haitian entrants, and Amerasian immigrants during the seven years after obtaining this status. Wyoming provides full-scope Medicaid to “qualified” abused immigrants and persons paroled into the U.S., regardless of their date of entry. In Texas, Amerasian immigrants are eligible only during the five years after obtaining this status; Mississippi, and North Dakota do not address eligibility for Cuban/Haitian entrants or Amerasian immigrants. Virginia and Texas are among the states that provide Medicaid to lawfully residing children regardless of their date of entry into the U.S.

  8. In states that opt to cover fetuses, SCHIP provides prenatal care regardless of the mother’s immigration status. The scope of coverage depends in part on how the option is im-plemented.

  9. For applications based on Social Security numbers issued on or after Jan. 1, 2004: must have been assigned a Social Security number that was, at the time assigned or at any later time, valid for work purposes. Alternatively, must have been admitted to the U.S. temporarily for business or as a crewman when the relevant work quarters were earned.

  10. For a list of states providing medical assistance to additional categories of immigrants, either with state funds or under the option to provide federal Medicaid and CHIP to lawfully residing children and pregnant women, regardless of their date of entry into the U.S., and to provide prenatal care, regardless of the mother’s status, under the CHIP program’s “fetus” option, see the table “Medical Assistance Programs for Immigrants in Various States” (PDF). For a definition of “lawfully residing” for the purpose of Medicaid and CHIP coverage of children and pregnant women, see a letter from Cindy Mann, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, to state health officials, Re: Medicaid and CHIP Coverage of “Lawfully Residing” Children and Pregnant Women (July 1, 2010), at www.cms.gov/smdl/downloads/SHO10006.pdf.