Citizenship Identity Verification FAQs

Does an application signed under penalty of perjury need to indicate a child’s date and place of birth to be acceptable proof of identity for a child under 18?                                                                                                                                          Answer: Yes, a signed application must include the date and place of birth, to be accepted as an affidavit of identity for children under 18.

If a person provides a Passport or other Tier 1 or Tier 2 citizenship verification and has not yet posted to MEDS, is there a need to request a birth record match?                                                                                                                                              Answer: No. If a person provides a Passport or other acceptable verification, MEDS must be updated with the information. A birth record match is not required if an applicant or client provides other acceptable evidence of citizenship. MEDS has been modified to automatically check for a birth record match when a transaction contains information indicating a client was born in California and includes the client’s birth name. This automatic check will occur even if a birth record match has not been specifically requested.

Are Former Foster Care Children exempt from the DRA requirement?                                                                                          Answer: Yes, they are exempt while in Aid Code 4M.

Which exempt categories are exempt indefinitely and which are not?                                                                                           Answer: An individual is exempt from the DRA citizenship and identity requirement only if they are currently in an exempt status, with the exception of the following:

• Deemed eligible infants who are born in the U.S. (includes children born to non-citizen mothers and whose delivery was covered by MC); and
• Infants eligible under the Abandoned Baby Program who are also born in the U.S. and have no documentation.

What is RSDI  that is received based on a person's own disability?                                                                                                  Answer: Recipients receiving RSDI based on their own disability are those who have not worked the required quarters themselves but are entitled to receive retirement or survivor’s benefits based on a spouse’s or parent’s work quarters and are determined disabled by SSA. This group includes Disabled Adult Children and Disabled Widows/Widowers. These recipients are between the ages of 18 and 65. This group may be hard to identify with their Award letter as their eligibility can shift over time (for instance they may start receiving retirement based Social Security after age 60 or 62 if they have accrued work quarters of their own). If it is not clear whether a recipient is receiving Social Security benefits because of their own disability after viewing the Award letter, the EW must contact SSA. This is necessary because there is no reliable information in MEDS to identify individuals receiving RSI based on their own disability.

Are recipients of Railroad Retirement benefits exempt?                                                                                                                    Answer: No. However, individuals who are receiving or eligible to receive railroad retirement benefits can be eligible for Medicare. Individuals receiving Medicare are exempt.

If an applicant is not exempt from citizenship/identity requirements at the time of application, but meets one of the exemption criteria while they are making a good faith effort, do we grant full-scope MC back to the date of application?                                                                                                                                                                                        Answer: Yes

When a foreign-born applicant or client claims to be a U.S. citizen and is exempt from citizenship/identity requirements based on current receipt of SSI or Medicare, is it necessary to obtain verification of citizenship?                                            Answer: No. The EW must not require citizenship or identity verification for any individual who claims to be a U. S. citizen and is exempt from the requirement.

 If a MC applicant without a birth certificate is in pending status for three months, and then starts receiving Social Security Disability Insurance, should the EW approve the case with full-scope benefits from the date of application and obtain proof of their status as verification for those few months?                                                                                                  Answer: Approve full-scope MC from the date of application including eligible retroactive months. If SSDI is approved while the application is pending, no additional verification of citizenship identify is required for the months before SSDI benefits are approved. Proof of citizenship/identity is not needed if an applicant has met SSA requirements for SSDI.

Are children in Foster Care (aided under Aid Code 45) exempt from the DRA citizenship and identity requirements?        Answer: Yes

Are former SSI/Medicare recipients exempt?                                                                                                                                      Answer: No. Former SSI or Medicare recipients are not exempt from citizenship/identity requirements. Individuals who are no longer receiving those benefits are not exempt. If a MC client's DRA exemption status changes to non-exempt, they must be treated as a client for purposes of DRA citizenship/identity requirements and must continue to receive full-scope MC during the reasonable opportunity period.

When a person is terminated from SSI for citizenship reasons, will SSA update MEDS data to indicate the person has not provided required information?                                                                                                                                                      Answer: Yes. The “N13” value in the Payment Status field of the INQX screen in MEDS indicates that the client is “Not a citizen or is an ineligible alien.”

For a former SSI client who is no longer exempt, but has filed a timely appeal with Social Security, when does this individual have to comply with citizenship and identity requirements?                                                                           Answer: The client must comply once an outcome of the appeal is determined. If they remain on SSI, there would be no need to provide DRA verification. If they lose their SSI appeal, and are not exempt on some other basis, they are treated as a client and proof of citizenship/identity must be requested immediately. The client must continue to receive full-scope MC during the reasonable opportunity period.

When is proof of citizenship/identity required for children who are on AE and CHDP?                                                              Answer: The EW must ask for proof of citizenship/identity when evaluating ongoing MC eligibility. However, children on AE and CHDP Gateway must stay in an AE or CHDP Gateway Aid Code until the EW makes a determination of MC eligibility. The AE/CHDP benefits continue until the end of the reasonable opportunity period or until the determination of ongoing MC eligibility.

Is a person who is presumptively disabled exempt from citizenship/identity requirements?                                                    Answer: No. Presumptive disability is not a basis for an exemption from citizenship/identity requirements. Presumptive disability is not the same as Presumptive Eligibility.

Is a hospital Birth Confirmation Report acceptable as a Birth Record for DRA citizenship purposes?                                      Answer: No, it is not acceptable as a Birth Record for DRA purposes; however it is acceptable as a Tier 3 “extract of a hospital record.”

Is a passport card an acceptable document for citizenship/identity purposes under the DRA rules?                                      Answer: Yes, a passport card is acceptable as a Tier 1 document under DRA rules. It must be treated the same as a passport without limitations and coded as a “1A” document type in MEDS.

Since the application for NSLP  is completed under penalty of perjury, is the signature on the NSLP application the equivalent of a signature on the SSApp for verification of identity for children under 18?                                            Answer: No, the NSLP application is not acceptable proof of identity for DRA purposes. An identity document must show the date and place of birth of the child and signed under penalty of perjury. The NSLP application does not meet these requirements. The NSLP application is used to establish presumptive eligibility for MC.

Are birth registration cards from the office of vital statistics, with an official seal that indicates a place of birth acceptable for citizenship verification?                                                                                                                                    Answer: Yes. Birth registration cards from the office of vital statistics, with an official seal that indicates a place of U.S. birth are acceptable.

Is an Abstract of Birth from a County acceptable proof of citizenship?                                                                                Answer: Yes. An abstract of birth showing a U.S. place of birth is acceptable verification of citizenship if it is an original or certified copy.

If an individual provides a document that is not listed in any of the tiers of acceptable proof, the EW must forward a copy to the MC Coordinator for a state decision. If the state confirms it is acceptable, how do we code this on MEDS?    Answer: Only the state can enter the Document Type code in MEDS.

If citizenship is verified through SAVE for an immigrant who is now a naturalized citizen, can we can grant full scope benefits back to the month of application and cover any retro months for which the applicant is eligible?                          Answer: Yes

Is a marriage certificate that indicates a U.S. place of birth and date of birth an acceptable document for citizenship?       Answer: No. A marriage certificate cannot be used as an acceptable document for citizenship. However an original or certified copy of a marriage certificate along with two other corroborating identity documents may be used to establish identity.

Does a parent, guardian or caretaker relative signature on the SAWS 2 Statement of Facts serve as proof of identity for a child under 16?    Answer: Yes

Are individuals receiving MC under Craig v. Bonta treated as applicants or clients for purposes of citizenship identity requirements?  Answer: Individuals receiving MC under Craig v. Bontá are considered clients for purposes of meeting the DRA requirements. Their MC benefits must continue during the reasonable opportunity period.

Can a relative other than a parent who is not a MC recipient verify identity for a child under 16?                             Answer: Yes, but only a parent, guardian or caretaker relative can sign the affidavit of identity for children under 16. For children under 16, the application is considered acceptable documentation of identity, so the need to sign a separate affidavit for this purpose should be rare.

 Is the affidavit of identity valid indefinitely?  Answer: Yes, the affidavit of identity is valid indefinitely. That is even if the child becomes an adult applying for himself.

Can we use an affidavit of identity for a 16 or 17 year old who is not in school and who does not have a driver’s license?   Answer: Yes. An affidavit or signed application may be used to document the identity of a child under 18 if all of the following conditions are met: (1) an affidavit was not used to document citizenship for the child, and (2) the child cannot obtain a school ID card and (3) the child does not have a driver’s license.

CalWORKs does not require children age 16-18 to provide proof of identity. Is proof of identity required for these children to be eligible for MC in the CalWORKs case?                                                                                                          Answer: No. Individuals, including children, who are determined eligible for federal CalWORKs benefits are automatically eligible for no-cost MC effective the date of their Cal-WORKS eligibility. Citizenship/identity requirements do not affect MC eligibility that is established based on ongoing CalWORKs eligibility.

Do individuals who were CalWORKs eligible in the past need to provide verification to establish MC eligibility?                Answer: Individuals who have met the citizenship and identity requirements for ongoing CalWORKs eligibility do not have to provide that information again to establish MC eligibility in the future. However, EWs must update MEDS to indicate how the MC citizenship and identity requirements were met if that information is not already in MEDS.

Would a CalWORKs client who gets CalWORKs during the 90 days have to provide documents and then loses eligibility because eligibility wasn’t met need to provide evidence of citizenship right away or at redetermination?                         Answer: They are treated as clients and should provide proof of citizenship right away since they since CalWORKs eligibility was not established. Do not wait until the next RD to request proof of citizenship in this situation. Other than that, they are treated the same as clients. If they stop making a good faith effort to obtain documents, they are not eligible for full-scope MC and must be reduced to restricted scope benefits if the reasonable opportunity period ends.

Do we need to complete the DHCS 0011 Proof of Acceptable Citizenship or Identity Documentation to validate the individual has met the Citizenship/Identity requirements when CalWORKs is discontinued and ongoing MC is established?  Answer: No. MEDS will be populated by the state for those who are CalWORKs eligible that they have met the citizenship/identity requirements.

Are clients being discontinued from CalWORKs required to verify citizenship at the next MC redetermination?               Answer: No. The only exception would be if a CalWORKs client claiming to be a U.S. citizen loses CalWORKs because they did not verify their citizenship.