Means Tested Benefits and LPR

[mrgoeswest 0]

Hi all, long time reader first time poster with a question regarding means tested benefits and how they related to green card holders.

Long story short, my wife and I came to the States in late 2008 (I'm a US citizen and she is the immigrant). She had conditional residency at first since we were married less than 2 years at the time but her conditions have since been removed and she has her 10 year green card. With money getting on the tight side we were encouraged to apply for food stamps (SNAP as I believe it is called now). I initially felt this wasn't doable since I remember filling out the Affadavit of Support, but other immigrants living nearby told us they were receiving benefits with no problems. I applied earlier today, but after digging deeper it appears the information I was working on may not have been sound.

My question/concern is what should I do next? I am planning on calling the department that administers food stamps in our area and asking them some questions tomorrow and asking them to pull the application (the application itself has been submitted but we haven't submitted the back up documents requested yet).

If there is anyone with any background knowledge or experience I would appreciate the advice.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

You the USC can get food stamps. Your wife can't . SO to qualify you on your own ( as a household of one ) has to be under the proverty line based on both incomes. And you can only recieve whatever a single person would ( if you have USC kids they can also get them ) So if your combine ( household) income is less that whatever a single person household needs to qualify YOU can recieve food stamps.

[mrgoeswest 0]

Thank you for that information. That confirms what I was thinking was the case, but its nice to have the certainty. We are expecting our second child this fall (one of the reasons we looked into SNAP in the first place) and at that point we will be able to apply without my wife being reflected in the household numbers. Hopefully by then though our household income will be enough that we won't even have to worry about applying.

As a follow up question, are there any possible negative reprecussions of having applied today with my wife on the application? One source seemed to indicate that even applying before an LPR has been in the US for 5 years is no-go and could have negative consequences. They didn't elaborate and I couldn't find anything specific myself online to back that up, but it has me a bit worried and I'm still planning on calling our local agency and having them pull our application just to be safe.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thank you for that information. That confirms what I was thinking was the case, but its nice to have the certainty. We are expecting our second child this fall (one of the reasons we looked into SNAP in the first place) and at that point we will be able to apply without my wife being reflected in the household numbers. Hopefully by then though our household income will be enough that we won't even have to worry about applying.

As a follow up question, are there any possible negative reprecussions of having applied today with my wife on the application? One source seemed to indicate that even applying before an LPR has been in the US for 5 years is no-go and could have negative consequences. They didn't elaborate and I couldn't find anything specific myself online to back that up, but it has me a bit worried and I'm still planning on calling our local agency and having them pull our application just to be safe.

There should be no negative repercussions, as long as you haven't provided any false information on the forms.

[Married2009 32]

Is your wife on WIC? Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think WIC qualifies as a means tested benefit, since it is for the baby.

[milimelo 4,481]

May also want to consider naturalization for your wife, make it easier for her (travel, absences out of country, benefits...).