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West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Chapter 15

West Virginia Income Maintenance Manual Page 32 Chapter 15 Noncitizens, Refugees, and Citizenship

15.3 CITIZENSHIP AND NONCITIZENS 15.3.1 INTRODUCTION All noncitizens are subject to immigration laws that regulate their entry and set the conditions of their stay. There are various immigration documents that might be carried by a noncitizen who is legally in the United States (U.S.), and all noncitizens lawfully in the U.S. should have some kind of immigration document. The first step in determining eligibility for federal benefits is the identification of the noncitizen's immigration status. Then, other considerations relevant to their specific situations have to be taken into account; if it appears that a noncitizen qualifies for a particular federal program, it should be insured that receipt of that benefit will not affect that person's immigration status. The HR-1 (OBBB) changed the structure of and omitted some statuses from the qualified noncitizens list referred to in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) (P.L. 104-193), without amendment to the act. When implemented, the PRWORA significantly changed federal means-tested public benefit eligibility for individuals who are not citizens of the U.S. Federal means-tested public benefits must be provided to eligible citizens or nationals of the U.S. Individuals who meet the eligibility requirements for these benefits but who are not citizens or nationals of the U.S. are eligible only as provided in Section 15.7. Those noncitizens must also meet documentation and verification requirements as required. 15.3.2 DESCRIPTION OF IMMIGRATION CATEGORIES 15.3.2.A U.S. Citizenship NOTE: See Section 7.4 for additional information regarding the requirements for documentary evidence of citizenship and identity for Medicaid.