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This declaration is normally provided as part of a signed application for health care that provides some basic information regarding the immigration status of household members. However, in some cases, a person may only indicate on his or paper or ACCESS application that he or she is not a U.S. citizen and not provide any information about his or her immigration status. In such a situation, it is not known whether the person is telling us that he or she is lawfully present in the U.S. (i.e., that they have a satisfactory immigration status) or that they are undocumented. Federal law requires that agencies obtain a declaration of satisfactory immigration status before taking any action to verify a person’s immigration status, including granting eligibility during a reasonable opportunity period (see 7.3.2.2 REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY PERIOD). To meet this declaration requirement, everyone who indicates that he or she is not a U.S. citizen or national must provide one of the following: • His or her immigration status • His or her immigration number (including an I-94, passport, SEVIS, or similar number) • A signed declaration that says he or she has a satisfactory immigration status Anyone who is required to and fails to provide immigration information or a declaration (or have an adult in the household provide it on his or her behalf) within standard verification timeframes must be denied health care benefits and must not be granted a reasonable opportunity period. 7.3.2 Verification 7.3.2.1 Verification through FDSH or SAVE Primary verification of immigration status is done through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by use of the Federal Data Services Hub (FDSH) or Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE), an online service used to verify immigration status and naturalized/acquired U.S. citizenship. A worker processing an application can simply enter the immigrant’s A-number or USCIS number and immigration document type into CWW. That information, along with demographic information of the individual, is sent in real time to the FDSH. The FDSH will immediately return verification of the immigrant’s status, date of entry, and the date the status was granted if it's available from UCIS, along with other information. If the FDSH cannot provide verification of the immigration status, workers are directed to seek secondary verification though SAVE or take other action. The verification query via the FDSH or SAVE most likely results in returning the latest date of any qualified immigration status update for an individual, not their original date of arrival. The only way to obtain an accurate date of arrival for those who do not meet an exemption category and who report a date of arrival prior to August 22, 1996, is through the secondary verification procedure. The FDSH or SAVE will describe the immigrant’s current status which may have changed from the original status. In some situations, workers will need to maintain the original status in CWW (see the Additional Eligibility Information column in the table in SECTION 7.3.3.1 QUALIFYING IMMIGRANTS). It may be necessary to complete a secondary or third level verification procedure with USCIS via SAVE, including confirming the date of arrival, in the following situations: • The applicant does not fall into any of the categories of non-citizens who are exempt from the five-year waiting period (for example, refugees, asylees, those with military service). • A worker has made an initial or primary verification inquiry using the SAVE database. The information from the inquiry conflicts with information on the applicant's immigration documents or what they are telling the worker.