The noncitizen status chart in Appendix A lists the categories of lawfully admitted noncitizens who may qualify for benefits. It also lists the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provision number that indicates eligibility. The INA provision number may appear on the noncitizen’s USCIS document. There are samples of USCIS documents in Appendix B.
NOTE: Cuban or Haitian entrants are qualified aliens. They are not subject to the five-year bar on receipt of TANF. They are eligible for TANF benefits without restrictions, as long as they are otherwise eligible.
Noncitizens other than those described in Appendix A are not eligible for TANF. These include visitors, tourists, diplomats, temporary residents authorized for employment, and students who enter the U.S. temporarily with no intention of abandoning residence in their own country.
To establish noncitizen status, a noncitizen applicant must present to the CAO an original unexpired document from the USCIS indicating the noncitizen is lawfully residing in the U.S. The CAO must copy this document, front and back, and keep the copy permanently in the case record. Each noncitizen registered with the USCIS is assigned an alien registration number (A number), which should appear on the USCIS document. The A number is needed by USCIS to verify noncitizen status. The CAO must get the A number from the noncitizen's USCIS document and enter it in the case record.
55 Pa. Code § 149.24(b) Pub. L. 99-603
NOTE: A noncitizen who is the payment name only and not a member of the budget group is not required to provide documentation of his or her noncitizen status.
Noncitizens are required by law to have immigration documents in their possession at all times. The CAO must refer noncitizens without documentation or with an expired USCIS document to their local USCIS office. The CAO may accept a receipt from USCIS that a petition has been filed but not yet adjudicated.
Some acceptable documentation may not have the bearer’s photograph. When this is the case, the CAO should get another identity document that includes the person’s photograph. If a noncitizen's USCIS document has an expiration date, proper alerts should be maintained for the CAO to request that the noncitizen provide updated valid USCIS documentation.
The CAO must verify the lawful noncitizen status of each applicant identified as a noncitizen through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. See Supplemental Handbook, Chapter 740.
The CAO must permanently keep hard-copy evidence of verification of noncitizen status through SAVE in the case record, along with a copy of the noncitizen’s USCIS documentation, front and back.
Evidence of SAVE verification is an Alien Status Verification Index (ASVI) printout with a verification number or a completed USCIS Document Verification Request (Form G-845S). The CAO must keep a copy of the G-845S as sent to USCIS in the case record until the original is returned.
NOTE: Cuban or Haitian refugees must present either an I-551 or an I-94 with one of the following stamps:
Humanitarian Parole
Paroled in the Public Interest
Parolee
Paroled as a Refugee
Cuban/Haitian Entrant Status Pending
Form I-589 Filed
Parole
Paroled
Asylum
If the USCIS indicates on a Document Verification Request form that the verification has expired, the CAO must ask the person if he or she has documentation verifying parolee status before taking adverse action.
Once noncitizen status is verified through SAVE, reverification is not necessary unless:
Verification previously obtained is questionable;
The noncitizen's status is subject to change; or
Neither the ASVI printout nor the USCIS Document Verification Request form indicating legal noncitizen status is in the case record.
NOTE: An ASVI verification number alone is not enough evidence that noncitizen status was verified through SAVE. Only a satisfactorily completed primary verification printout or secondary verification form is acceptable proof of SAVE verification.
The CAO must not delay, deny, or reduce benefits pending verification of noncitizen status. Benefits may be delayed, denied, or reduced if a noncitizen does not provide satisfactory USCIS documentation in a timely manner. See Chapter 178.
The CAO does not have the responsibility to report undocumented or illegal noncitizens to USCIS unless a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge is submitted by the applicant to the CAO.
Reissued September 18, 2012, replacing January 31, 2012