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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 322 Determining Qualifying Quarters (QQs) of Work for SNAP When determining QQs, the dates the person earned the income do not matter. Someone can qualify for all four QQs for the year in a single quarter if their earnings are high enough. Example 1 In 1998, an individual must have earned $700 to earn a single QQ for the year:  If a customer earned less than $700 in 1998, they would not earn a QQ of work for the year.  If a customer earned at least $1,400 in 1998, they would earn two QQs.  If a customer earned $3,000 in 1998, they would earn all four QQs for that year, even if they earned all the income in a single month in that year.

Example 2 In 2020, an individual must have earned $1,410 to earn a single QQ for the year.  If a customer earned less than $1,410 in 2020, they would not earn a QQ of work for the year.  If a customer earned at least $2,820 in 2020, they would earn two QQs.  If a customer earned $5,640 in 2020, they would earn all four QQs for that year, even if they earned all the income in a single month in that year.

Whose QQs Count Toward the 40-Quarters Criteria When determining if an immigrant has 40 countable quarters, use the earnings and work quarters of the immigrant or their family as follows:  Immigrant’s earnings and work quarters  Immigrant’s natural or adoptive parents before the immigrant turned 18; this includes work quarters the parents earned before the immigrant was born or adopted  Immigrant’s spouse if they are still married or the marriage ended in the spouse’s death  Immigrant’s stepparent for quarters the immigrant was under age 18 and the stepparent was married to the immigrant’s parent Determining Whether Applicant Could Have Met 40-Quarter Requirement In some cases, the applicant will not have been in the US long enough to have met the 40 QQs requirement. Use the following process to determine whether someone may meet the requirement:  Ask how many years the applicant and each of the people whose QQs may count toward the applicant’s 40-quarter requirement have lived in the US.  Total the years in the US for the people whose earnings may count toward the 40-quarter requirement. Return