3320 Citizenship/Alien Status | SNAP

A U.S. citizen is an individual who meets one of the following conditions:

The criteria are as follows:

For SNAP purposes, the following aliens are to be treated as citizens of the United States until July 3, 2025. Effective July 4, 2025, with the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), these aliens will now need to become Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) first, and then they will be eligible for benefits without a waiting period:

Section 308 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) grants U.S. nationality but not U.S. citizenship to persons born in "an outlying possession of the United States" or born of a parent or parents who are non-citizen nationals and meet certain physical presence or residence requirements. The term “outlying possessions of the United States” is defined in Section 101(a)(29) of the INA as American Samoa and Swains Island. For SNAP purposes, these applicants and recipients are to be treated as U.S. citizens.

The following forms of verification may be used to verify citizenship:

Citizenship verification is not required in the first month of SNAP participation for applications subject to expedited application processing.

Refusal to verify citizenship results in an automatic determination that the individual does not meet the citizenship requirements.

An individual who does not meet the citizenship requirement is ineligible and is not included in the AU. Refer to 3635 Budget for an AU with Ineligible Aliens or Ineligible ABAWDs.

A newborn’s citizenship must be verified in order for the newborn to be included in the assistance unit. Compliance with citizenship requirements is not required until the next recertification (renewal) or within six months following the month of the newborn’s birth, whichever is later.

Newborns approved for “Newborn Medicaid” or listed on the “Newborn Report of Birth” have met the citizenship verification requirements for SNAP. Case documentation should indicate that citizenship was established by Medicaid or another governmental entity, whichever is appropriate.

Good cause may be established when it is determined that the AU has made every effort to obtain citizenship verification but has been unable to provide the documentation by the verification deadline.

The agency must make every effort to assist the AU in obtaining the documents needed to verify citizenship. Good cause is granted until the next recertification (renewal).

Good cause reasons include the following:

If good cause is established at initial application OR is established when an individual is added to the AU, then document the following information:

Include the individual in the AU.

If the individual meets the citizenship requirement during the good cause period, then document the following information:

If the good cause period has expired and the AU has not provided verification, then the individual is ineligible to participate in SNAP.

Follow the procedures below for individuals who have failed to verify citizenship:

Remove the individual from the AU effective the month following the month timely notice expires.

Refer to 3105 Application Processing regarding the policy for disclosure of citizenship/alien status and social security numbers.

An alien is anyone living in the U.S. who is not a U.S. citizen.

The USCIS categorizes aliens into two primary categories: immigrants and non-immigrants. There are also several other alien groups shown in Chart 3320.1.

Immigrant aliens are individuals lawfully admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence.

If an immigrant alien indicates an inability or unwillingness to provide verification of alien status for any alien AU member, that alien is classified as an ineligible alien. In such cases, the agency must not continue efforts to obtain the verification. Refer to 3635 Budget for an AU with Ineligible Aliens or Ineligible ABAWDs.

Non-immigrants are individuals who are admitted to the U.S. for lawful temporary residence, including those admitted under employment authorization. Also included as non-immigrants are tourists, visitors, foreign students, and diplomats. Non-immigrants are ineligible to receive SNAP benefits.

Immigrants who are legally present in the U.S. but not yet permanent residents are categorized into other alien groups. They are afforded certain benefits and pathways distinct from non-immigrants and undocumented aliens. This group contains aliens such as refugees, asylees, etc. These individuals may be eligible for SNAP if they obtain an LPR status.

SNAP-eligible Alien Groups are U.S. nationals, LPRs, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and Compacts of Free Association (COFA) citizens. If someone is a SNAP-eligible alien and meets ONE of the following conditions, they are eligible for SNAP benefits immediately.

To establish 40 qualifying work quarters, complete the following procedures:

The wage earner may be:

If SSA indicates through SVES data or other means that the number of qualifying quarters that can be credited is under investigation, the alien is eligible to be included in the AU for up to six months from the date of the notification from SSA that the number of quarters is being investigated.

Public Assistance is defined as SNAP benefits, housing, TANF, employment services, support services, childcare subsidy, federal energy assistance, subsidized utilities, SSI, or Medicaid (other than EMA). This list is not all-inclusive. Public assistance does not include EMA, public health assistance, foster care, adoption assistance, soup kitchen meals, crisis counseling, short-term shelter, educational assistance, WIOA, disaster relief, or Head Start. This list is not all-inclusive.

Determine the number of credited work quarters, as follows:

The result (up to 4), minus the number of quarters public assistance was received, is the number of credited quarters.

For example, the total yearly earnings are $3,000 for 2003. Divide $3000 by $890. The individual has 3.3 credited quarters.

To be eligible for SNAP benefits, an alien must be in a SNAP-eligible alien group AND either: (1) be eligible without having a waiting period or (2) meet one of the criteria for indefinite eligibility.

Chart 3320.3, Determining Eligibility for Aliens, below lists the alien statuses that may or may not result in SNAP eligibility, and the documents required to verify USCIS status. USCIS has the discretion to change documents and codes to allow any alien or group of aliens to stay in the U.S. indefinitely.

An individual has an “adjusted status to LPR” when they have received an approval notice and a Lawful Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) from the USCIS. An individual is not considered an LPR if they have only applied to adjust status but have not yet received a decision.

Documents issued by USCIS may vary by local USCIS office. USCIS status may also be verified by a letter of decision from an immigration judge.

Chart 3320.3, Determining Eligibility for Aliens, provides the eligibility and verification requirements for all categories of aliens.

Use Charts 4, 5, and 6 to determine eligibility for Afghan and Iraqi Immigrants.

Report aliens to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when the AU presents a formal order of deportation. The report is done by calling their hotline at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE. Document the case record with the referral information.

Income and resources are budgeted according to special procedures. Refer to 3635 Budget for an AU with Ineligible Aliens or Ineligible ABAWDs for budgeting procedures.

Refer to 3630 Budget for an AU with Sponsored Aliens for policy on Sponsored Aliens.

Verify alien status at application, at recertification (renewal), when a non-U.S. citizen is added to the AU, when the agency becomes aware of a discrepancy, if the verification previously provided has expired, and if questionable.

Aliens whose documents do not clearly verify their alien status, and SAVE verification has been submitted, but is still pending a response, are eligible to be included in the AU for up to six months pending the receipt of secondary verification of their USCIS status.

The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program is a VIS provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to verify the immigration status of non-citizens and certain citizens applying for various benefits. SAVE is designed to assist government agencies with eligibility determinations for federal, state, and/or local public benefits.

SAVE establishes the legitimacy of alien documentation and verifies the status under which an alien has been admitted to the U.S.

Complete SAVE procedures in the following situations:

SAVE may also be used to obtain secondary or additional information to verify alien status.

SAVE is accessible through Georgia Gateway or online at: save.uscis.gov/Web/vislogin.aspx?JS=YES.

LOGGING IN THE SYSTEM FOR THE FIRST TIME:

FOR INITIAL VERIFICATION REQUESTS IN SAVE:

FOR ADDITIONAL VERIFICATION REQUESTS:

There are several reasons for submitting additional verification requests including:

The VIS system will return the Case Details from the initial results, the additional verification parameters, and the status of the additional verification. A response is returned within 3 to 5 federal working days.

SAVE will respond with information about the applicant: either the applicant’s United States citizenship information, or immigration status (if any), and/or other information such as employment authorization, admit to or expiration date, or a request to “Resubmit Doc.” The agency must use the Scan and Upload function to electronically submit photocopies (front and back) of the applicant’s relevant immigration/citizenship documents when instituting additional verification to avoid the possibility of a “Resubmit Doc” response. Except for very limited circumstances, the benefit of using the Scan and Upload function at the second step is to complete the entire verification process within 3-5 federal working days. The “Resubmit Docs” response is the prompt for a third step verification.

FOR THIRD-STEP VERIFICATION REQUESTS:

SAVE was unable to verify the applicant’s status on initial verification or additional verification. There may have been an issue electronically locating the records, or third-level verification may be required due to conflicting data or the nature of the applicant’s status.

To initiate third-step verification,

The agency MUST submit photocopies (front and back) of the applicant’s relevant immigration documents using the Scan and Upload function. It is always best to submit the applicant’s most recent immigration document. If the agency is initiating a case due to the response received previously, it should explain in the comments why it believes that the prior response needs further review. If the agency needs information on pending applications, they may write "Request Pending Application(s) and the application number(s)" in comments, e.g., I-765, for the application(s) that they would like to verify are pending. Note: SAVE will not specifically indicate that an applicant does not have an application(s) pending in its response, and such requests will not receive a response. SAVE conducts a manual search of immigration databases. Agencies should receive a response within 3-5 federal working days. However, if extensive research is required, a response may take 10-20 federal working days.

The SAVE Program Assistance is available to all users Monday – Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. EST (except federal holidays).

For technical assistance, call 1-877-469-2563.

The SAVE E-Mail address is SAVE.help@uscis.dhs.gov