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Page | 54 3350 QUALIFYING QUARTERS OF EARNED INCOME

Individuals lawfully admitted for permanent residence but have not resided in the U.S. at least five years, must meet eligibility criteria status identified in the chart in Section 3330 or can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters of earned income to be eligible. A qualifying quarter of earned income is defined as the amount of earnings received by the individual (or his/her spouse or parents) for employment or self-employment covered under Title II of the Social Security Act. (Non-covered SSA wages also count in the 40 quarters and are captured via SVES.)

The amount of earnings worked at a job covered by Social Security or self-employment earnings on which Social Security tax must be paid determine the qualifying quarters of coverage. Specialists are credited a maximum of 4 quarters per year by the Social Security Administration (SSA). Aliens must have worked to earn 40 quarters of credit as per Social Security Administration’s rules unless their spouse or parents can share their credits with them. Once the alien can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters, he/she has met non-citizen eligibility requirements even if he/she stops working. The only time credits would be removed from an alien would be if the individual received credits from a spouse and they divorced or if parental rights terminated for a child. The same quarter of credit may be applied to more than individual (self, spouse, and dependent children).

3351 SPOUSAL CREDITS

Spousal credits may be shared for the period of time they are married if they are still married or were married at the time the spouse was deceased. Qualifying quarters may be credited to a non- citizen spouse even if the individual employed is a US citizen. If the marriage terminates during the certification period, the qualifying quarters from the spouse are no longer allowed to be credited when the case is next certified (eligibility continues until renewal occurs).

3352 PARENTS/CHILDREN CREDITS

The credits of income earned by a natural, adoptive, or stepparent, including a deceased parent, may be credited to children. Qualifying quarters may be credited to children until the child turns 18. Once the child turns 18, only the credits earned by the parents up until the 18th birthday of the child may be used, including the time period before the child’s birth.

Credits may be credited from parents to children through the quarter the child turns 18. A child can receive qualifying quarters from each parent as well as themselves. Quarters earned by children cannot be deemed to their parents or siblings. Example 1: Jim and his wife Janet are aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Jim has been credited with 25 qualifying quarters of employment and Janet has 10 qualifying quarters. Neither Jim nor Janet is eligible because individually or together they do not have 40 credits. (25 from Jim + 10 from Janet = 35). Even if Jim were a US citizen, Janet would receive credit for quarters of income that Jim earned during the period they were married to each other. Example 2: Jim and his wife Janet are aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Jim has been credited with 35 qualifying quarters of employment and Janet has 15 qualifying quarters. Jim and Janet are eligible because together they have at least 40 quarters (35 from Jim+ 15 from Janet = 50). Example: John, age 25, applied for SNAP. Any credits earned by John’s parent for the time period up to his 18th birthday may be credited to John.