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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 89 8.1.3 Residency of Students Students wishing to file an application for benefits must live in the District of Columbia to be considered meeting residency requirements. This includes students who live in the District but are enrolled in and commute to an institution of higher education elsewhere. For SNAP, students who live and attend school in another state are temporarily eligible for benefits in the District when they return home to the District for breaks. 8.1.4 Temporary Residency For SNAP, no durational residency requirements exist. Individuals who reside in the District temporarily, such as temporary workers or individuals who reside part of the year in the District, may potentially be eligible for SNAP during the time they are living in the District. 8.1.5 Individuals Experiencing Homelessness Individuals experiencing homelessness who generally reside within the District borders are considered residents of the District. They are not required to provide a fixed mailing address to meet residency requirements or to receive benefits. However, they must provide a mailing address to receive notices from ESA about their benefits on their benefit application. An individual experiencing homelessness is one who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence or whose primary nighttime residence is one of the following:  A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations  An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized  A temporary accommodation in another individual’s residence for no more than 90 days  A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, such as tents, boxes or alleys 8.1.6 Incarcerated Individuals An inmate who is incarcerated in a federal facility outside the District of Columbia does not meet residency requirements and is ineligible. 8.1.7 Verification of Residency Residency is a mandatory verification for SNAP prior to authorization of benefits, except if verification cannot be obtained because the customer is experiencing homelessness, is a migrant/seasonal farmworker or has other unusual circumstances. Verification for expedited SNAP processing may be postponed if existing documentation is not available. For categorically eligible households, residency is deemed and is not required to be verified.

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