Means tested public benefit + school?

[thefish 0]

My wife wants to start going to a community collage here in California. We don’t make much money and when she applied to the school their financial aid office said she qualified for a fee waiver offered by the board or governors ( BOGFW Type B ). I asked them if this is considered a "means tested public benefit" which she would not qualify for. They said they had never heard the term before so they could not say and if I wanted to be safe I should consult an immigration lawyer... what do you all think? So far she has simply refused to accept the fee waver and paid everything but they keep offering it.

Edited June 4, 2007 by thefish

[YuAndDan 153]

The college is correct, the alien is elegable for educational assistance.

Benefits Not Subject to Public Charge Consideration

Non-cash benefits and special-purpose cash benefits that are not intended for income maintenance are not subject to public charge consideration. Such benefits include:

• Medicaid,

• Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP),

• Food Stamps,

• the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC),

• immunizations,

• prenatal care,

• testing and treatment of communicable diseases,

• emergency medical assistance,

• emergency disaster relief,

• nutrition programs,

• housing assistance,

• energy assistance,

• child care services,

• foster care and adoption assistance,

• transportation vouchers,

• educational assistance,

• job training programs,

• and non-cash benefits funded under the TANF program.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/public_cfs.pdf

[diadromous mermaid 36]

My wife wants to start going to a community collage here in California. We don't make much money and when she applied to the school their financial aid office said she qualified for a fee waiver offered by the board or governors ( BOGFW Type B ). I asked them if this is considered a "means tested public benefit" which she would not qualify for. They said they had never heard the term before so they could not say and if I wanted to be safe I should consult an immigration lawyer... what do you all think? So far she has simply refused to accept the fee waver and paid everything but they keep offering it.

This is asked frequently, and therefore the definition of Federal means-tested public benefits bears repeating.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), P.L. 104-193, was signed into law by the President on August 22, 1996.

Section 403 of PRWORA bars most qualified aliens who

enter the U.S. on or after enactment (August 22, 1996)

from eligibility for "Federal means-tested public

benefits" for five years beginning on the date the

individual entered the United States with a qualified

alien status.

As defined in a Federal Register notice dated August 26, 1997 (62 FR 45256) "Federal means-tested public benefits" .... include only those benefits provided

under Federal means-tested, mandatory spending programs.

The following HHS programs meet this definition:

Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF) Block Grant - the successor to the AFDC program.

Therefore, no other HHS programs are "Federal

means-tested public benefits" for purposes of PRWORA, and

all qualified aliens, regardless of when they entered the

U.S., continue to be eligible to receive assistance and

services under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance

Program (LIHEAP) if they meet other program requirements.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

I am confused. In the first list, Medicaid is included in what the immigrant can have. In the second it is excluded. Which is it?

[diadromous mermaid 36]

I am confused. In the first list, Medicaid is included in what the immigrant can have. In the second it is excluded. Which is it?

This is quite a good resource to explain why some of the programmes listed are not exclusively prohibitted. http://www.nilc.org/immspbs/special/pb_iss...vrvw_042005.pdf

Regardless of their status, all

immigrants remain eligible for emergency Medicaid,

if they are otherwise eligible for their state's

Medicaid program.17 The law did not restrict access

to public health programs providing immunizations

and/or treatment of communicable disease

symptoms (whether or not those symptoms are

caused by such a disease). School breakfast and

lunch programs remain open to all children regardless

of immigration status, and every state has

opted to provide access to the Special Supplemental

Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and

Children (WIC).18 Also exempted from the restrictions

are in-kind services necessary to protect life

or safety, as long as no individual income qualification

is required. In Jan. 2001, the attorney general

published a final order specifying the types of

benefits that meet these criteria. The attorney general's

list includes child and adult protective services;

programs addressing weather emergencies

and homelessness; shelters, soup kitchens, and

meals-on-wheels; medical, public health, and mental

health services necessary to protect life or

safety; disability or substance abuse services necessary

to protect life or safety; and programs to

protect the life or safety of workers, children and

youths, or community residents.

14 SCHIP (Title XXI of the Social Security Act) was created in § 4901 et seq. of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (hereinafter "BBA"), Pub. L. No. 105-33, 111 Stat. 552 (Aug. 5, 1997).

15 HHS, Division of Energy Assistance, Office of Community Services, Memorandum from Janet M. Fox,Director, to Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Grantees and Other Interested Parties, re. Revision- Guidance on the Interpretation of "Federal Public Benefits" Under the Welfare Reform Law (June 15, 1999).16 Welfare law § 411 (8 U.S.C. § 1621).

17 Welfare law § 401(b. )(1)(A) (8 U.S.C. § 1611(b. )(1) (A)).

18 Welfare law § 742 (8 U.S.C. § 1615).

[JayJay 4]

I am at school and applied for, and got, federal financial aid through the FAFSA system

I also was given a Pell grant and a student loan through Wells Fargo, so everything is fine as far as that is concerned I'm currently about to start my second block of courses and am enjoying every minute! I hope your wife enjoys her time at school as well