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SNAP CERTIFICATION MANUAL – SECTIONS 1000 1600 Determining Household Composition 1621.3.2 Aliens Who Have Forty (40) Qualifying Quarters

Aliens legally admitted for permanent residence who can be credited with at least forty (40) qualifying quarters of work under Title II of the Social Security Act are not prohibited from receiving SNAP benefits if the household is otherwise eligible. A qualifying quarter of work includes quarters worked by the alien, by a parent (natural, adoptive, or step) of an alien while the alien was under eighteen (18) years of age, or by a spouse during a marriage if the alien remains married to the spouse or the spouse is deceased. (This does not include common-law marriages since such marriages are not recognized in Arkansas.) Quarters earned by a current spouse and one (1) or more deceased spouses can be added together and credited. In the case of a divorce, the former spouse’s quarters can no longer be credited. At the household’s next renewal, the alien’s eligibility will be determined without crediting the alien with the former spouse’s quarters of coverage. If the alien lived with both parents, each parent’s quarters will be counted individually. This means if both parents worked in the same quarter, this would count as two (2) qualifying quarters of work. This also includes any quarters worked by a parent before a child was born or before the child entered the U.S. In the case of a natural or adoptive child, the child may be credited with the quarters even if the child is not living with the parent due to death, separation or divorce. The relationship between stepparent and stepchild will be severed by divorce but not by death. Therefore, at the first renewal following the divorce, the quarters credited to a stepchild by a stepparent will no longer be credited to the child. Quarters of coverage earned by minor children cannot be credited to a parent. All quarters earned by a stepparent can be credited beginning with the quarter in which the marriage occurred if the marriage occurred before the alien turned eighteen (18) and did not end by divorce or annulment before the forty (40) quarters were credited. All quarters earned by an adoptive parent can be credited through the quarter in which the alien turns eighteen (18) if the adoption occurred before the alien turned eighteen (18). Quarters earned by a biological parent whose parental rights are lost as the result of an adoption of the child by another person are not creditable. The Social Security Administration is the primary source of verification of qualifying quarters of work. An automated system has been developed to provide an array, by year, beginning with 1937, of all qualifying quarters of work. In some instances, there will be discrepancies between the information provided by SSA and the information provided by the alien. In other instances, the automated system will not provide verification of qualifying quarters of work. The SSA Quarters of Coverage History System Appendix also provides instructions for resolving discrepancies and for manual verification of qualifying quarters of work. An alien may participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as an eligible household member for up to six (6) months while SSA works to resolve a discrepancy between the information in their system and the information provided by the alien. However, when the eligibility worker is working with the alien to obtain verification of quarters of work not appearing in the system, the normal processing standards will apply. If the household does not provide the requested information by the specified deadline, the alien will be treated as an ineligible alien as per the policy in SNAP 1621.6. Any quarter during which the alien actually received federal means-tested public benefits is not a qualifying quarter. Quarters worked by a parent or spouse are not qualifying quarters if the parent or spouse actually received federal means-tested public benefits in that quarter. SNAP benefits are classified as federal means- tested public benefits. The following benefits have also been officially determined to be federal means-tested public benefits for the purposes of this provision: Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and