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40 Quarters Exemption - SNAP (Food Stamps)

In the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamp Program), immigrants must meet certain requirements to be eligible.

In two instances, immigrants will only be eligible for benefits if they have "40 qualifying quarters" of work history. The term "qualifying quarter" originated in the Social Security Program. In order for anyone, citizen or immigrant, to be eligible for Social Security benefits, the individual must have a specified number of qualifying quarters. An individual can earn up to 4 qualifying quarters a year.

Legal Permanent Residents who entered the country before August 22, 1996 may be eligible for the SNAP (Food Stamp) Program if they meet the 40-quarters exemption. Legal Permanent Residents who entered the country on or after August 22, 1996 and have been in the country at least five years in a "qualified status" may be eligible for the SNAP Program if they meet the 40-quarters exemption (no one could meet these three criteria until August 23, 2001).

When determining whether an immigrant has 40 qualifying quarters, the immigrant's own qualifying quarters based on his or her own earnings and quarters earned by his or her parents and/or spouse (with certain exceptions) can be combined. For example, if an immigrant has earned 25 qualifying quarters and his or her spouse has earned 15, the immigrant meets the 40-quarter criteria.

The qualifying quarters of the following individuals can be added to those of the immigrant when determining whether she or he meets the 40-quarters exemption:

·        Immigrant's Natural Parents (unless adopted): Only the quarters earned while the immigrant was under age 18 can be counted.

·        Immigrant's Adoptive Parents: Only the quarters earned while the immigrant was under age 18 can be counted.

·        Immigrant's Step-parent (provided the step-relationship still exists unless terminated by the death of step-parent): Only the quarters earned while the relationship was in existence and the immigrant was under age 18 can be counted. The step-parent's relationship to the child is based on the marital relationship to the child's parent. If the marital relationship ends other than by death, the relationship also ends.

·        Immigrant's Current Spouse: Only the quarters earned during the marital relationship can be counted.

·        Immigrant's Former Spouse (but only if the marriage ended by death): Only the quarters earned during the marriage can be counted.

Four quarters in each year can be credited to the applicant based on his/her own work history. In addition, up to four years can also be credited to the applicant based on the work history from each parent and spouse.

In some cases, the immigrant will not have been in the U.S. long enough to have met the 40-quarters exemption. To determine if it is possible that the immigrant could meet the 40 qualifying quarter criteria, add together the number of years the immigrant and each of the relevant individuals (those individuals whose qualifying quarters may count toward the applicant's 40-quarter requirement) have lived in this country. If the total equals at least ten years, the individual could meet the 40-quarter requirement. If the total is less than ten years, then the immigrant may meet the 40-quarters exemption if the applicant, his or her parents, or his or her spouse ever commuted to work in the U.S. from another country (e.g., Canada or Mexico) before coming here to live or, if a legal resident of the U.S., worked for a U.S. company overseas or in self-employment.

For any quarter earned in or after 1997, if the immigrant or his or her parent or spouse received Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), SNAP (Food Stamps), Medicaid benefits (other than emergency Medicaid benefits), or housing assistance (i.e., living in public housing or receiving a federal rental subsidy such as through the Section 8 or Section 202 housing programs), that quarter cannot be counted toward meeting the 40-quarter exemption.

For 1978 and later, credits are based solely on the total yearly amount of earnings. The number of creditable quarters is obtained by dividing the individual's total earned income by the increment amount for the year. The maximum number of quarters per year is 4. All types of earnings follow this rule. The amount of earnings needed to earn a credit increases and is different for each year. Contact your local SNAP agency or the SNAP (Food Stamp) State Information Hotline for your state for further information.

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