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ESA SNAP Policy Manual 328  ESA has elected to credit the applicant for a quarter even if the year is not yet complete but does not allow credit for future quarters even if the individual had enough earnings in one quarter to cover the full year. Example The applicant entered the US in 2014. The applicant’s spouse entered on or before that time. They married in June 2019. ESA determined that a QQ history for both SSNs would be needed for the applicant to meet the 40-quarter exception. ESA obtained a Consent for Release of Information from the spouse and requested information on their quarters of work through the automated DCAS interface. The QQ history received is shown below. The quarter display begins on the left with the first quarter and ends on the right with the fourth quarter. If ESA receives data in a format different than what is presented below, it will be clearly labeled.

Applicant Applicant’s Spouse 2014 AANA CCCC 2015 CAAC CCCC 2016 AAAA ZZZC 2017 NNAA CCCZ 2018 AAAA CCCC 2019 AAAA CCCC The applicant has a combination of wage and agricultural quarters totaling 21. The spouse’s quarters earned during the marriage must be added to the applicant’s QQs. The spouse has 20 quarters during the marriage. When added to the applicant’s quarters, the total exceeds the 40-quarter requirement. In this case, ESA does not need to reconcile the Z quarters with SSA because they are not needed to reach the 40-quarter requirement.

Reconciliation of QQs Lag Quarters When the applicant or other individual does not agree with the QQ pattern provided by the query and the problem is missing quarters in the current year, do the following:  For current year earnings, accept a current employer-prepared wage statement as proof of earnings and credit a quarter for each increment, as outlined in Table 25.4, Minimum Earnings for SSA Qualifying Quarters of Work by Year. Assume the earnings are covered employment if the wage statement shows FICA withholding.  QQ information for a particular calendar year will not show up in the automated system until September of the following year. For quarters in the prior calendar/taxable year, which do not show up in the SSA automated system because the information is requested on or before September of the following year, accept forms such as W-2 or W-2 C, employer-prepared wage statements or an IRS copy of the individual’s tax return. Credit QQ as outlined in Table 25.4, Minimum Earnings for SSA Qualifying Quarters of Work by Year. Return