If Your Client is an Immigrant

Each state has the freedom to decide if “qualified aliens” will be eligible for TANF benefits.

Five-Year Bar
If your client is a qualified alien and your state considers him/her eligible for TANF benefits, it may not provide a Federally funded means-tested TANF benefit to non-citizens entering the U.S. on or after August 22, 1996, for your client’s first five years as a qualified alien.

Nevertheless, TANF allows certain non-cash benefits offered at the local level to be provided to all non-citizens if the benefits are necessary for the protection of your client’s life or safety. Examples of such benefits include soup kitchens, crisis counseling and intervention, and short-term shelter.

Exclusion of Family Members
TANF eligibility and benefits are based on your client’s circumstances as defined by the state, and each member of your client’s family must disclose his/her citizenship or immigration status as a condition of the family's eligibility for TANF benefits.

However, because states have considerable flexibility in TANF, states may have policies that provide for the exclusion of certain family members. In such circumstances, once the family member is determined to be ineligible or not to be part of your client’s family, he/she is “excluded” and is no longer considered eligible for TANF benefits.

For example, under current practice, states have “child-only” rules that allow needy children to receive TANF benefits even if other family members are ineligible. Thus, in a child-only case, your client must prove only that his/her child is a U.S. citizen or qualified immigrant.