Public Charge? Or Not Public Charge?

[George Judea 29]

Hi everyone so I am asking this question to weight out options as my family and I were impacted by the Covid-19 directly...is applying for emergency assistance through your county Gov't a public charge? For an example each state allows you to apply for a once every 12 months emergency assistance whether it's to help pay rent, a deposit for housing etc...so I want to know will this count as a public charge if I (the U.S Citizen) apply for it?

 

(Brief Background)

My, now, husband came on fiance visa in November 2019 and in January 2020 we got married. We are now waiting to hear back from USCIS for the case results for his Adjustment of status to GC holder....

[Villanelle 4,122]

Benefits received or likely to be received by the applicant’s spouse, children, or other family members are not considered in determining whether the applicant is likely to become a public charge. But the fact that the household qualifies for a designated public benefit program may indicate that the applicant has a low income, in addition to other possible negative factors.

Similarly, receipt of benefits by the sponsor on an affidavit of support will not be counted against the applicant. However, the sponsor may not count any federal means-tested benefits as income. These include SNAP, SSI, Medicaid, TANF, or CHIP.

 

The above was a snippet from clinic legals FAQs about the new public charge guidelines. If you do decide to enroll in an emergency assistance program make sure that only you (the USC) are the one getting the benefit. They will want his information to calculate household size and income but the amounts you receive will be for you only if that makes sense. Example if you were applying for SNAP food assistance they want to know you guys are a household size of 2 and both your incomes but they will only give you benefits for 1 (you) based on both your incomes/household size. So dont get nervous if they want his information, they need it, just make sure the benefits are only being awarded to you....

I think the quote above is the best advice you are going to get. Do you have a joint sponsor? Are there other negative factors? You can read through the link I took the quote from here- https://cliniclegal.org/resources/ground-inadmissibility-and-deportability/public-charge/public-charge-final-rule-faqs Its impossible to say how things are going to go when they do start adjudicating people under the new guidelines. So try to be objective and look at his specifics and see where he falls. If he already has a lot of negative factors against him you may not want to add another. But if you really need the assistance you should take it. Does he have an EAD yet? Once he starts working his income can count for 864/944 purposes so that will help offset any negatives. 

[Ryan H 3,830]

Moved from K1 Progress Reports to Adjustment of Status from K Visas forum.

[MissyB651 15]

I believe it doesn’t apply right now during COVID.

[Cutegal 0]

Under COVID-19, no. Normal situations, yes. If you need to apply for food stamps, Medicaid. WIC, etc, he can not be a recipient of any of those things, but you and your kids can. As far as housing assistance, you are not eligible because you have a sponsoring immigrant in your household