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MS 2900

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Volume 2 - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) MS 2900 – R. 6/30/26 – OMTL – 684 Alien Status

[A person must be a United States (U.S.) citizen or an eligible alien to participate in SNAP. Nationals of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, or Swain’s Island are equivalent to U.S. citizenship. Other individuals are ineligible to participate until they become U.S. citizens or meet the exemption criteria outlined below:

A. An alien must be both a qualified alien listed below in item 1 and meet special SNAP criteria in item 2 to be eligible. Aliens who are both qualified and meet SNAP criteria are eligible to receive SNAP indefinitely from the date of application. Aliens who are considered qualified but do not meet SNAP criteria must live in the U.S. for five years or longer in a qualified status to be eligible.

1. Qualified Alien:

a. Admitted to the U.S. as a Lawful Permanent Resident; b. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, Public Law 118-42, citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau who are lawfully residing in the U.S. are considered qualified aliens for SNAP purposes. They are not subject to the five-year ban; or c. Cuban or Haitian entrant as defined in 501(e) of the Refugee Education Assistance Act (REAA) of 1980. Section 501(e) defines Cuban and Haitian entrants as any individual:

(1) Granted parole status as a Cuban/Haitian entrant (Status pending); (2) Granted any other special status established under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) laws for these nationals; (3) Being a national of Cuba or Haiti, paroled into the U.S., and having not acquired another status under USCIS; (4) Subject to exclusion or deportation proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); or (5) Having an application for asylum pending with USCIS.

Cuban and Haitian nationals who are paroled under section 212(d)(5) of INA are considered paroled in the special status in section 501(e)(1) of the REAA of 1980, except for those paroled for purposes of criminal prosecution or solely to testify as a witness in court proceedings, which continue to fall under f. of this section.

2. SNAP Criteria: