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o The surviving spouse was married to the veteran or active duty personnel for at least one year, o A child was born of the relationship between the surviving spouse and the veteran/active duty personnel either during or before the marriage, or o The surviving spouse was married to the veteran or active-duty individual within 15 years of the veteran/active duty personnel leaving the service and the veteran/active duty personnel must have died of a condition incurred or aggravated while s/he was in the service. If an individual demonstrates that s/he was married to a veteran or active duty personnel who meets the criteria for the Veteran Exemption, IMA will accept a self-declaration that the surviving spouse has not remarried and that s/he meets one of the three conditions listed above. The following demonstrate that an individual is a surviving spouse of a veteran or active duty personnel: • the Military Identification Card of the deceased spouse or the surviving spouse or child with an expiration date of more than one year from the date of application; • the military orders of the deceased spouse; or • a discharge certificate, DD Form 214 or equivalent that shows active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard and character of discharge 'Honorable.' If the individual cannot produce these documents, the SSR should contact the local VA office in cases in which the individual claims to be the surviving spouse of a veteran and the DEERS office in cases in which the individual claims to be the surviving spouse of an active-duty personnel.

Expired or Absent Documentation 7.12.2

ALL If an applicant presents expired documents or is unable to present any documentation evidencing his or her immigration status, refer the applicant to the local INS office to obtain documentation. In unusual cases involving applicants who are hospitalized, are medically disabled, or can otherwise show good cause for their inability to present documentation and for whom securing such documentation would constitute an undue hardship, if the applicant can provide an alien registration number, the SSR may file INS Form G 845 and Supplement, along with the alien registration number and a copy of any expired INS document presented, with the local INS office to verify status. As with any documentation of immigration status, the SSR should confirm that the status information received back from INS pertains to the applicant for whom identity verification was sought.

Receipt for Replacement Document 7.12.3

ALL If an applicant presents a receipt indicating that s/he has applied to the INS for a replacement document for one of the documents identified above, file INS Form G 845 and Supplement along with a copy of the receipt with the local INS office to verify status. Upon return receipt of information from INS, confirm that it pertains to the applicant whose identity you have verified. The SSR should ask to see the replacement document at a later date.

Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Verification 7.12.4

ALL After a customer has provided his/her alien number and other documents indicating his/her alien status, the SSR must attempt to verify this information with INS. The first step to verifying information with INS is through the Systematic Alien Verification of Entitlements system. The SAVE computer terminal allows the Department to enter a customer’s alien number and then provides the worker information about the individual’s immigration status.