Food and Cash Programs for Noncitizens

SNAP, which used to be called Food Stamps, is a program that helps low-income people and households buy food.

To get SNAP benefits, you have to be low-income. If you are not a citizen, you usually have to be a “qualified” noncitizen.

You are a “qualified” noncitizen if you:

• Have a green card. (Meaning you are a legal permanent resident or have LPR status).
• Are a refugee. (This includes if you are “Amerasian” and your father was a U.S. citizen in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War years, if you are from Cuba or Haiti, or if you are an Afghan or Iraqi Special Immigrant).
• Are an asylee.
• Were paroled into the U.S. for at least a year, and your parole is not expired.
• Have withholding or cancellation of removal.
• Have a T-visa as a victim of severe trafficking.
• Have battered immigrant status.

Note: You do not have to be a “qualified” noncitizen if you are a child under 18. You only have to be lawfully residing in the US. 

Even if you are a “qualified” noncitizen, you may have to wait 5 years (from the date you became “qualified”) to get SNAP. You do NOT have to wait 5 years if you are any of these:

• a refugee
• an asylee
• someone who has withholding of removal
• a U.S. veteran or on active duty with the U.S. armed forces
• the spouse or minor child of a veteran or someone on active duty with the U.S. armed forces
• someone who was in the U.S. legally on August 22, 1996 AND has been certified disabled by Social Security or the State
• under 18
• someone who was in the U.S. legally on August 22, 1996 AND was 65 or older on that date, or
• Hmong or Highland Lao

Most people who come to the U.S. have a relative in the U.S. sponsor them. A relative sponsor is a family member who is a citizen or LPR. The sponsor agreed to be responsible for you in the U.S. Sponsors promise the USCIS that if you become poor, they will support you.

If you came to the U.S. after December 19, 1997 through a relative sponsor, the government can count the income and assets of your sponsor and your sponsor’s spouse like it is your income and assets. If more than one person sponsored you, that income also counts as your income. Sponsor income counts until you are a U.S. citizen, your sponsor dies or permanently leaves the U.S., or you have worked 10 years and had FICA taxes taken out of your pay.

Counting your sponsor’s income and assets may put you over the income limits for the SNAP program. There are 2 exceptions to counting your sponsor’s income:

1. Poverty: Your sponsor’s income is not counted for 12 months if you can show you would be without food AND shelter if the income is counted.
2. Abuse: Your sponsor’s income is not counted if you can show that you or your child has faced abuse or extreme cruelty by your spouse or parent. You can’t be living with the abuser anymore. You must show that you need SNAP because of the abuse.

Note: Sponsor income is NOT COUNTED FOR CHILDREN in the SNAP program.

Also Note: For SNAP, the county looks at your sponsor’s family size and fixed debts when deciding how much of your sponsor’s income counts.

MFAP helps older noncitizens in Minnesota buy food. It follows SNAP rules. You must be at least 50 years old.

You have to meet SNAP income and asset requirements to get MFAP. This means that if you are not eligible for SNAP because sponsor income is counted, you won’t be able to get MFAP, either. The same 2 exceptions about poverty and abuse count for MFAP.

If you apply for MFAP, you have to take “steps” toward citizenship. These things count as taking “steps”:

• Taking citizenship, literacy or English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. It counts if you are on a wait list for ESL or literacy classes.

• You have an application for citizenship on file with USCIS and you are waiting for a testing or swearing-in date. Or you apply for a waiver of the test requirements.

• You failed the citizenship test at least 2 times or you can’t understand the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.

You do not have to take steps if you:

• have lived in the U.S. legally for less than 4 years,
• are 70 or older, or

live in a nursing home, group home, or somewhere like that.

Family Cash: MFIP (Minnesota Family Investment Program), DWP (Diversionary Work Program), FSS (Family Stabilization Services)

You can get MFIP, DWP, or FSS benefits if you are a “qualified” noncitizen. You can also get any of these benefits if you live in the U.S. legally. For example, you can get these benefits if you:

• are a Legal Temporary Resident
• have Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
• applied for asylum and have work authorization
• are the spouse or child of a U.S. citizen and have an approved visa petition and a pending application for adjustment to LPR status,
• were granted humanitarian parole
• have Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) or deferred action status, or a stay of deportation, or,
• have a U visa

For right now, you CANNOT get family cash benefits if your status is based on:

• a U-visa, or
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

If you have been in the U.S. for less than a year, you automatically go into the FSS program instead of MFIP or DWP.

There is no waiting period for MFIP, DWP, or FSS.

If you came to the U.S. through a petition from a relative, the government can count the income and assets of your sponsor and your sponsor’s spouse like it is your income and assets. If more than one person sponsored you, that income also counts as your income. Sponsor income counts until you are a U.S. citizen, your sponsor dies or permanently leaves the U.S., or you have worked 10 years and had FICA taxes taken out of your pay.

Counting your sponsor’s income and assets may put you over the income limits for cash assistance programs. There are 2 exceptions to counting your sponsor’s income. They are the same as the exceptions listed above under “I came to the U.S. through a sponsor. Does that matter for getting SNAP?”

There is a special 3-year rule for people who are in the U.S. through a diversity visa. You get this if you win the visa lottery. If you have a diversity visa, some of your sponsor’s income may count as your income. But less of it counts than if you came to the U.S. through a relative petition. Counting your sponsor’s income may put you over the income limits for the MFIP, DWP and FSS programs.

If you are not a “qualified” noncitizen, but you live in the U.S. legally, the same “steps” you have to take for MFAP (above) apply to you for MFIP and DWP.

To get FSS benefits, you must take “steps” toward citizenship, even if you are a “qualified” noncitizen.

If you are getting family cash benefits, you may have to look for or get a job. You may be able to count ESL classes in your job search hours and work plans.

General Assistance - GA

The same immigration restrictions that are in the MFAP program apply to GA:

• You may get GA if you are “legally living” in the U.S., even if you are not a “qualified” noncitizen.
• You may have to take “steps” toward citizenship.
• Your sponsor’s income may count and make you ineligible, unless you can meet one of the 2 exceptions.

For right now, you CANNOT get GA if you have DACA status.

Minnesota Supplemental Aid - MSA

MSA is for people getting SSI or Social Security disability benefits. The immigration rules for MSA are the same as for the SSI program. See our fact sheet SSI for Noncitizens.