Citizenship and immigration status—Definitions

(a) Individuals lawfully admitted for permanent residence (LPRs).

(b) Individuals who are admitted to the U.S. as refugees under INA § 207. The following individuals are treated the same as refugees in their eligibility for public assistance:

(ii) Victims of trafficking according to federal law are:

(A) Individuals who have been certified as victims of trafficking by the federal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or have been granted a T visa.

(B) Immediate family members of trafficking victims. Immediate family members are the spouse or child of a victim of any age and the parent or unmarried minor sibling if the victim is under 21 years old.

(iii) Afghan nationals paroled into the U.S. between July 31, 2021, and September 30, 2023, whose initial parole period has not expired or who have been granted reparole, after evacuation from Afghanistan to the U.S.: or

(A) An individual who was paroled into the U.S. after September 30, 2023, and is the spouse or child of an Afghan national as defined in subsection (iii) of this section; or

(B) An individual who was paroled into the U.S. after September 30, 2023, and who is the parent or legal guardian of an individual defined in subsection (iii) of this section who is determined to be an unaccompanied child;

(iv) Special immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan are individuals granted:

(A) Special immigrant status under INA § 101 (a)(27);

(B) Special immigrant conditional permanent resident; or

(C) Paroled under section 602 (B)(1) AAPA/Sec 1059(a) NDAA 2006.

(v) Individuals from Ukraine and their family members admitted as humanitarian parolees between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2024, and whose parole has not been terminated by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who are:

(A) Citizens or nationals of Ukraine;

(B) Non-Ukrainian individuals who were habitually residing in Ukraine, and have documentation confirming last habitual residence in Ukraine;

(C) Individuals who were first granted humanitarian parole, and then obtained temporary protected status (TPS). They are eligible for federally funded assistance until the end of their parole term due to underlying receipt of humanitarian parole;

(D) A spouse or child of an individual described in subsections (A)-(C) of this section who is paroled into the United States after September 30, 2023;

(E) An individual who is paroled into the U.S. after September 30, 2023, as a parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver of an unaccompanied refugee minor or an unaccompanied child described in subsections (A)-(C) of this section.

(vi) Individuals who have been granted asylum under INA §208.

(vii) Cuban/Haitian entrants. These are nationals of Cuba or Haiti who were paroled into the U.S. or given other special status.

(viii) Amerasians who were fathered by an American citizen and born in Vietnam between January 1, 1962, and before January 1, 1976, and their spouses, children, parents, or guardians accompanying them.

(c) Abused spouses or children, parents of abused children, or children of abused spouses:

(i) When the alien no longer resides with the person who committed the abuse, and has one of the following:

(A) A pending or approved I-130 petition or application to immigrate as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen or as the spouse or unmarried child under age 21 of a lawful permanent resident (LPR);

(B) A notice of "prima facie" approval of a pending self-petition under the violence against women act (VAWA); or

(C) Proof of a pending application for suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal under VAWA.

(ii) Children of an abused spouse do not need their own separate pending or approved petition, but are included in their parent's petition if it was filed before they turned 21 years old. Children of abused persons who meet the conditions in this section retain their "qualified alien" status even after they turn 21 years old.

(d) Individuals who have been granted parole into the U.S. for at least a period of one year (or indefinitely) under INA §212 (d)(5), including "public interest" parolees.

(e) Individuals granted withholding of deportation or removal under INA § 243(h) or § 241 (b)(3).

(f) Individuals who were admitted to the U.S. as conditional entrants under INA § 203 (a)(7) prior to April 1, 1980.

(g) Citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

(3) "Nonqualified aliens" are noncitizens who are lawfully present in the U.S. and who are not included in the definition of qualified aliens in subsection (2) of this section. Nonqualified aliens include but are not limited to:

(a) Immigrants paroled into the U.S. for less than one year;

(b) Immigrants granted temporary protected status; or

(c) Nonimmigrants who are allowed entry into the U.S. for a specific purpose usually for a limited time are also nonqualified. Examples include:

(i) Business visitors;

(ii) Students; and

(iii) Tourists.

(4) "Survivors of certain crimes" are noncitizens, and any of their qualifying family members, as defined in subsection (5) of this section, who have:

(a) Filed or are preparing to file an application for a T visa (trafficking victim);

(b) Filed or are preparing to file an application for a U visa (crime victim); or

(c) Been harmed by one of the specific crimes described below; and

(i) Was granted continued presence by U.S. Homeland Security; or

(ii) Has filed or is preparing to file an application for asylum status. Specific crimes include:

(A) Those related to human trafficking, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, custodial interference, luring, trafficking, coercion of involuntary servitude, and others under chapter 9A.40 RCW;

(B) Sexual exploitation of children and others under chapter 9.68A RCW; or

(C) Substantially similar crimes under federal law or the laws of another state.

(5) "Qualifying family members" are the spouse and child(ren) of survivors of certain crimes, and the parents or unmarried minor siblings if the survivor is under 21 years old. Qualifying family members do not include a person charged with or convicted of attempt, conspiracy, solicitation, or commission of a crime, listed under subsection (4)(c) of this section, against the survivor of certain crimes.

(6) "Undocumented aliens" are noncitizens without a lawful immigration status as defined in subsections (2) or (3) of this section, and who:

(a) Entered the U.S. without inspection; or

(b) Were lawfully admitted but whose status expired or was revoked per the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or other federal agency.

(7) "U.S. citizens" are one of the following:

(a) Individuals born in the United States or its territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; also residents of the Northern Mariana Islands who elected to become U.S. citizens).

(b) Individuals who have become naturalized U.S. citizens.

(c) Individuals born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent depending on conditions at the time of their birth, per title 8, subchapter III, section 1401 of the United States Code.

(d) Individuals who turn 18 years of age on or after February 27, 2001, automatically become U.S. citizens if the following conditions are met while the individual is under age 18 per INA 320.

(i) The individual is granted lawful permanent resident (LPR) status;

(ii) At least one of the individual's parents is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization; and

(iii) The individual:

(A) Resides in the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent; or

(B) Was adopted according to the requirements of INA 101 and resides in the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent.

(e) Individuals, who turned 18 before February 27, 2001, would have automatically became a citizen if, while still under 18, they became a lawful permanent resident and both of their parents were naturalized. Such individuals also may have derived citizenship when only one parent naturalized, if the other parent was dead or a U.S. citizen by birth, or the individual's parents were separated and the naturalized parent had custody.

(8) "U.S. nationals" are persons who owe permanent allegiance to the U.S. and may enter and work in the U.S. without restriction. The following are the only persons classified as U.S. nationals:

(a) Persons born in American Samoa or Swain's Island after December 24, 1952; and

(b) Residents of the Northern Mariana Islands who did not elect to become U.S. citizens.

(9) " American Indians " born outside the U.S. are eligible for benefits without regard to immigration status or date of entry if:

(a) They were born in Canada and are 50% American Indian blood (but need not belong to a federally recognized tribe); or

(b) They are members of a federally recognized Indian tribe or Alaskan Native village or corporation.