HAR §17-655-48. Verification of alien status

(a) The department shall verify the alien status of each applicant and recipient. Applicants and recipients shall provide verification for each alien member as follows: (1) Aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall present INS form I-151 or I- 551 or other documents which identify the aliens' immigration status and which the department determines are reasonable evidence of the aliens' immigration status. (2) Aliens permanently residing in the United States under conditional residence shall present INS form I-94 or other documents which identify the aliens' immigration status and which the department determines are reasonable evidence of the aliens' immigration status. The form I-94 shall be acceptable verification if it is annotated with: 655-32 (A) Section 203(a)(7), section 207, section 208, section 212(d)(5), or section 243(h) of the INA; or (B) One of the following terms or a combination of the following terms: (i) Refugee; (ii) Parolee or paroled; (iii) Conditional entrant or entry; or (iv) Asylum. (3) Aliens admitted under provisions of Public Law 99-239, the Compact of Free Association Act of 1985, shall present INS form I-94, which has been stamped with the admission stamp and is annotated as follows: (A) CFA/MIS, for citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands; (B) CFA/FSM, for citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia; or (C) CFA/PAL, for citizens of the Republic of Palau. (b) When the INS form does not bear an acceptable annotation and the alien has no other verification of alien classification in the alien's possession, the department shall advise the alien to submit form G-641, Application for Verification of Information from INS Records, to INS. The department shall accept form G641 when presented by the alien and properly annotated at the bottom by the INS representative as evidence of lawful admission. The alien shall also be advised of the following: (1) The classifications under sections of the INA that shall result in eligible status; (2) The alien may be eligible if acceptable verification is obtained; (3) The alien may contact the INS or otherwise obtain the necessary verification, or if the alien wishes and signs a written consent, the department shall contact INS to obtain clarification of the alien's status; and 655-33 (4) If the alien does not wish to contact the INS, the family shall be given the option of withdrawing the application or participating without that individual. (c) When an alien is unable to provide any INS document, the department shall not be responsible for contacting INS on the alien's behalf. The department shall contact INS when the alien has an INS document that does not clearly indicate eligible or ineligible alien status. When the department accepts non-INS documentation determined to be reasonable evidence of the alien's immigration status, the department shall photocopy the document and transmit the photocopy attached to the INS form G-845 for INS for verification: (1) Pending the receipt of the verification from the INS, the department shall not deny, delay, reduce, or terminate the individual's eligibility for assistance on the basis of the individual's immigration status; and (2) The department is not required to obtain the alien's written consent in order to transmit the photocopy to INS. (d) The department shall provide alien applicants with a reasonable opportunity to submit acceptable documentation of the applicant's eligible alien status prior to the thirtieth day following the date of application for food stamps and prior to the forty- fifth day following the date of application for financial assistance. A reasonable opportunity shall be at least ten days from the date of the department's request for an acceptable document; (1) An alien who has been given a reasonable opportunity to submit an acceptable document and who has not done so by the thirtieth day following the date of application for food stamps and the forty-fifth day following the date of application for financial assistance shall not be eligible until acceptable documents are received by the department; and 655-34 (2) When the department fails to provide an alien applicant with a reasonable opportunity to submit acceptable INS documents and non-INS documents or if the ten day reasonable opportunity period goes beyond the thirtieth day for food stamps and forty-fifth day for financial assistance, the following shall apply: (A) For food stamps, the department shall provide the family with assistance no later than thirty days following the date of application, provided the family is otherwise eligible; and (B) For financial assistance, the department shall provide the family with medical assistance on the forty-sixth day and medical assistance shall continue until the applicant is determined ineligible. (e) While awaiting verification, the alien member whose status is questionable shall be ineligible. The ineligible alien's income and assets shall be considered available in determining the eligibility of the remaining family members: (1) When the department determines from discussions with the household that the alien either does not wish to contact INS or will not give permission for the department to contact the INS for the alien, the family shall be given the option of withdrawing the application or participating without the alien member; and (2) When the department receives verification of eligible alien status, the department shall act on the information as a reported change in household composition if the family is receiving assistance without the alien member. (f) When the date of expiration on the INS form has passed, the department shall request documentation 655-35 from the alien indicating an extension from the expiration date: (1) If an alien does not possess a document from INS indicating an extension, the alien shall be instructed to obtain the documentation from INS before the individual is determined eligible for initial or continuing assistance; (2) Without proper documentation, the alien shall be ineligible for assistance; and (3) At each eligibility redetermination or recertification, the alien status shall be verified if the department has reason to believe a change may have taken place. [Eff 3/19/93; am 8/1/94; am 7/16/99 ] (Auth: HRS §346-14) (Imp: HRS §346-14; 7 C.F.R. §§273.2(f), 273.4(c)) §17-655-49 Verifying the validity of documents presented by aliens. (a) The department shall verify the validity of all documents used to confirm the alien status of the alien which the department determines are questionable or inconclusive. (b) A written consent by the alien shall not be required as condition for the department to contact INS to verify the validity of the alien's document. (c) To verify the validity of questionable documents, the department shall submit INS form G-845 to INS and attach a photocopy of the alien's document that is in question. (d) While awaiting response to the INS form G- 845, the department shall not deny, delay, reduce, or terminate the alien's eligibility for assistance on the basis of the individual's alien status. (e) When the department determines, after complying with the requirements of this section, that the alien is not in an eligible alien status, the department shall take action, including proper notices to the family, to terminate, deny, or reduce benefits 655-36 and to provide an opportunity for the family to request a hearing. [Eff 3/19/93; am 2/7/94; am 7/16/99 ] (Auth: HRS §346-14) (Imp: HRS §346-14; 7 C.F.R. §273.2(f); 42 U.S.C. §1320b-7) §17-655-50 Food stamp requirement to report illegal aliens. (a) The department shall immediately inform the local INS office whenever it is determined that any member of the food stamp household is ineligible to receive food stamps because the member is present in the United States in violation of the INA. (b) When a household indicates inability or unwillingness to provide documentation of alien status for any household member under the food stamp program, that individual shall be classified as an ineligible alien. In such cases, the department shall not continue efforts to obtain documentation. [Eff 3/19/93] (Auth: HRS §346-14) (Imp: 7 C.F.R. §273.4(e)) §§17-655-51 to 17-655-53 (Reserved) SUBCHAPTER 6 INCOME AND ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION SYSTEM (IEVS)