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Citizenship and Alien Status - Work Quarters
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Revised October 28, 2007
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Purpose: This section describes how to determine whether an alien can be credited with Social Security Administration (SSA) work quarters.
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For information on how work quarters affect immigrant eligibility for federal Basic Food assistance, see WAC 388-424-0020. For information on how work quarters affect whether an immigrant is subject to sponsor deeming for either federal or state programs, see WAC 388-450-0156. For information on how work quarters affect whether an alien who is receiving GA would qualify for SSI, see the SSI Facilitation Chapter in the Social Services Manual.
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Citizenship and alien status – Work Quarters WAC 388-424-0008
CLARIFYING INFORMATION
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What is a “quarter”?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) defines a quarter as the 3-month calendar period ending March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31.
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A parent’s work quarters for their child.
Credit the child with qualifying work quarters earned by a parent before the child turns age 18. This includes quarters earned before the child was born and quarters earned before the child entered the U.S. A parent cannot be credited with work quarters earned by their child.
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EXAMPLE
Twenty-two year old mom, dad, and their child apply for Basic Food. The child is a U.S. citizen. Mom is a permanent legal resident, and dad is undocumented. Mom provides a signed release of information from her father and mother to check their work quarters prior to the client's 18th birthday. (If mom cannot provide a signed release, follow procedures in Worker Responsibilities #7(f) below.) Mom has 16 work quarters; her parents have 35 combined work quarters prior to her 18th birthday. Since neither the mom, nor her mother or father were receiving federal means-tested benefits while they earned these quarters, all 51 quarters can be counted. Mom is eligible for federal Basic Food benefits because she has at least 40 quarters. Child is eligible as a U.S. citizen. Dad is not eligible at present because he is undocumented.
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A spouse’s work quarters.
If neither spouse has sufficient quarters on their own but combined they total 40 or more quarters, then both become eligible based on shared quarters.
A sponsored alien can get credit for a work quarter earned by a spouse as long as they are married but not after a divorce (see Worker Responsibilities #1 below). Only divorce, not legal separation, prevents transfer of credits between a client and spouse.
Once a sponsored alien gains credit for 40 work quarters, their “Affidavit of Support” or I-864 is null and void, regardless of any subsequent change in marital status.
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EXAMPLE
Nina got her green card and was sponsored by her husband Carlos (a lawful permanent resident) after they had been married for six years, during which time Carlos was working. They also had an Affidavit of Support signed by Carlos’ brother. Neither of them received federal means-tested benefits. They both worked for two years after she received her green card, allowing both to be credited with 10 years (his eight plus her two) or 40 quarters. At this time, the legal obligations under both Affidavits of Support were terminated and Nina and Carlos both became eligible for Basic Food based on shared quarters. When Nina and Carlos were divorced one year later, the Affidavits of Support remained null and void, but they could no longer share work quarters.
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“Holding Out” as married - expanded definition of “marriage” for SSA purposes.
Note that work quarters can also be credited between a man and woman who are considered married for SSA purposes if they live in the same household and “hold themselves out” (i.e. present themselves) as husband and wife to the community in which they live. Having a child in common is not sufficient grounds for establishing “holding out as married” (see Worker Responsibilities #2 below).
It is important that clients understand the advantages and disadvantages of choosing to “hold themselves out” as married. While “holding themselves out” as married may qualify them for benefits sooner than they might otherwise qualify - through crediting of work quarters - it will also require that they be considered part of the same household for Basic Food purposes, resulting in a lower total benefit level than they might otherwise receive.
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A work quarter cannot be credited if:
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The alien earning the quarter or seeking to receive credit for the quarter himself received a federal means-tested benefit during the quarter; or
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The family member earning the quarter to be credited to the alien received a federal means-tested benefit during the quarter.
Receipt of state-funded benefits, such as State Family Assistance (SFA) or state-funded Basic Food, does not disqualify a person from receiving credit for a work quarter.
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Earnings outside the U.S.
An immigrant can receive credit for a work quarter earned by a family member (parent or spouse) outside the U.S. if the family member was a U.S. citizen working abroad for a U.S. employer.
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Eligibility in the quarter the client has 40 quarters of credit.
Clients can qualify for work quarters in advance by having earnings that qualify for four quarters. Even though a client may have qualified for a future quarter, the client cannot get credit for the quarter until the quarter has started. A client may be eligible for federal benefits the month after the month they get credit for the 40th quarter.
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EXAMPLE
An immigrant has not received any federal means-tested benefit that prevents us from counting his quarters of work. He had enough earnings in the first three months of 2004 to cover all 4 quarters for that year (each year is counted separately). We can credit the January-March quarter right away but cannot credit the April-June quarter until April 1st. Likewise, we cannot credit the July-September quarter until July 1st nor the October-December quarter until October 1st. The client had previously earned the same amount of money during the first quarter of 2003, so all four quarters can be credited for that year as well.
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EXAMPLE
An immigrant has not received any federal means-tested benefit that prevents us from counting her quarters of work. Her 40th quarter is October-December 2002. She earns her 40th quarter in October and could be eligible for federal benefits beginning November 2002.
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WORKER RESPONSIBILITIES
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Crediting work quarters between spouses.
For Basic Food eligibility purposes, only credit quarters between spouses as long as the couple remains married. Once a divorce occurs, a former spouse’s quarters are no longer available to the other party. If the divorce occurs before Basic Food eligibility is determined, a former spouse’s quarters are no longer available to the applicant. If the divorce occurs after eligibility is determined, eligibility will continue until the next re-certification, at which time it must be re-determined without crediting any of the former spouse’s work quarters.
In the case of a couple who are “holding themselves out” as married, the beginning and ending date of their “marriage” is determined by their self-declaration (see Worker Responsibilities #2 below).
If a “married” couple, whether by legal marriage or “holding out,” are divorced (or separated in the case of “holding out” couples) and then re-united, they can continue to be credited for quarters earned during their previous period of “marriage” but not for quarters earned while they were not “married”.
For sponsor deeming purposes, a divorce (or separation in the case of “holding out”) does not affect quarters previously credited that led to the termination of an Affidavit of Support.
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Verification of“holding out as married” (only for the purpose of crediting work quarters)
If both parties state they view themselves as husband and wife, obtain signed statements from each. No further documentation is needed. Even unmarried couples with a child in common need these additional signed statements to qualify as “holding out”.
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Quarters earned during the year.
SSA uses the amount of earnings in the table in Appendix IV to determine whether a person can be credited with a qualifying quarter. The amount of money a person needs to earn to qualify is based on the yearly amount of earnings no matter when the person worked during the year. For example, in 1995 a person received credit for each $630 of earnings in which Social Security taxes were paid, up to a total of four qualifying quarters for the year.
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Quarters of coverage before 1978.
For earnings before 1978 a person gets credit for each quarter where they earned at least $50.
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Quarters of coverage from 1978 to the present.
For 1978 through present, the amount of earnings needed to qualify for each quarter of coverage is listed in the table in Appendix IV.
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Delay in verifying work quarters.
SSA tracks the earnings of individuals that are reported to the agency. Most individuals will not know how many work quarters they (along with spouse or parents) have earned, and requesting a report of earnings on a Personal Earnings Benefit Statement (PEBS) can take from 2 to 6 weeks, sometimes longer. Follow procedures in Worker Responsibilities #7 below for verifying work quarters and approve state BF benefits (if otherwise eligible) while verification is pending.
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How to verify work quarters.
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Compare the amount of money the alien, plus spouse or parents, claims to have earned with the chart in Appendix IV to determine if it is sufficient to establish qualifying work quarters.
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If the alien, plus spouse or parents, appears to have resided in the U.S. long enough (10 years for an individual, 5 years for a married couple or for an individual and one parent, etc.) and appears to have enough earnings to qualify, follow local office procedures to verify the qualifying quarters through the Social Security Administration query system (see (c), (d), and (e) below). If the spouse or parents are not a part of the assistance unit but are readily available to give consent, request a signed release of information form from the client, to be signed by the spouse and/or parent.
See Appendix V for Barcode procedures for determining work quarters.
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From the SSA query system printout, count quarters with "covered" plus "noncovered" earnings designated with an "F" (for federal, state, or local government wages).
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Do not count quarters on the SSA query system printout designated by an "N" (for quarters with no earnings) or (#) or “Z”, as these symbols indicate quarters with questionable earnings. Also, remember that aliens cannot get credit for any work quarters earned (by themselves or other family members) on or after January 1st, 1997, while receiving a federal means-tested benefit. Federal means-tested benefits are listed in WAC 388-424-0008 (1).
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Using the SSA query system to verify work quarters is not a mandatory requirement. Work quarters can also be verified using other means, such as wage stubs, statements from employers, or quarterly Employment Security data in ACES. See ACES User Manual - Interface Data.
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In some situations, such as when a client and spouse are estranged, it may not be possible to obtain written consent for an SSA query from a parent or spouse. If spouse or parent are not readily available to give consent, use the SSA form “SSA-513”, asking for qualifying quarters during a specific time period and containing the spouse's and/or parent's name, date of birth, and Social Security number. Send the completed “SSA-513” to the Social Security Administration at the following address:
Social Security Administration
Attention: Reports Clearance Officer
1-A-21 Operations Building
Baltimore, MD 21235-0001
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If there are not sufficient work quarters based on an initial determination, but SSA or another federal agency is trying to verify additional quarters:
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If SSA determined that the client didn't have work quarters to qualify for federal benefits but is conducting an investigation to determine if they can count additional quarters, allow federal benefits for up to 6 months while SSA conducts their investigation.
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If another federal agency, such as United State Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), is attempting to determine if the client has a status that would make them eligible for federal benefits, allow federal benefits for up to 6 months while the agency conducts the investigation. (See also the VERIFICATION.)
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Some earnings are not reported to SSA.
Studies have shown that immigrants often do not have their earnings correctly reported by an employer and thus SSA may not have a record of earnings. Immigrants should be encouraged to seek legal assistance to correct unreported earnings with SSA.
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State-funded Basic Food:
If using quarters to determine eligibility for federal Basic Food Assistance and the alien:
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does not have enough quarters, or
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is pending for initial verification of work quarters, for example an SSA query response,
approve state funded Basic Food if the alien is otherwise eligible (see WAC 388-424-0025 ).
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Revisit work quarters at eligibility review.
A client’s (and spouse’s and parent’s) accumulation of work quarters may change in the course of just a few months. Be sure to re-calculate work quarters at each eligibility re-determination.
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Once an immigrant has met the requirement for 40 Social Security work quarters, be sure to document when the requirement was met and inform the immigrant.
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