Alien Status for Title IV-E 447-10-50

(Revised 1/1/25 ML #3887)

View Archives

 

 

(Applies to All Children in Foster Care)

 

Title IV-E agencies are required to verify the citizenship or immigration status of all children receiving Federal foster care maintenance payments, adoption assistance payments, or independent living services.

 

Title IV-E agencies are not required to verify the citizenship or alien status of foster or adoptive parent, with one exception. Title IV-E agencies must verify the citizenship or immigrant status of potential foster or adoptive parents when placing a qualified alien child who entered the United States on or after 8/22/96 and has been in the United States as a qualified alien for less than five years. In order to be exempt from the five year residency requirement imposed at section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a qualified alien child must be placed with a citizen or a qualified alien; hence, citizenship/alien status of prospective foster or adoptive parents must be verified in such circumstances.

 

Title IV-E eligibility excludes certain aliens such as undocumented aliens or aliens legally admitted on a temporary basis for work, study, or pleasure.

 

The U.S. Citizenship requirement is met if an individual is one of the following:

• A person (other than the child of a foreign diplomat) born in one of the States or in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Northern Mariana Islands who has not renounced or otherwise lost his or her citizenship;
• A person born outside of the United States to at least one U.S. Citizen parent (sometimes referred to as “derivative citizen”);
• A naturalized U.S. citizen; or
• A U.S. non-citizen national, a person born in American Samoa or Swain’s Island on or after the date the U.S. acquired them, or a person whose parents are U.S. non-citizen nationals (subject to certain residency requirements).
• A Freely Associated States (FAS) citizen (who are otherwise otherwise eligible for Title IV-E) residing in the United States is considered a “qualified alien” (8 U.S.C. §§1612 and 1641). In addition, the law exempts FAS citizens from having to have lived in the United States as a qualified alien for five years. The Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, are collectively referred to as the Freely Associated States (FAS).

The date the child entered the United State is irrelevant for a child who is a qualified alien and is placed with a qualified alien or United States citizen.

 

A “Qualified Alien” is a person who, at the time of application, is:

1. An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act;
2. An alien granted asylum under section 208 of such Act;
3. A refugee admitted to the U.S. under section 207 of such Act;
4. An alien who is paroled into the U.S. under section 212(d)(5) of such Act for a period of at least one year;
5. An alien whose deportation is being withheld under section 243(h) of such Act, as in effect immediately before April 1, 1997, or section 241(b)(3) of such Act;
6. An alien who is granted conditional entry pursuant to section 203(a)(7) as in effect prior to April 1, 1980;
7. An alien who is a Cuban or Haitian entrant (as defined in section 501(3) of the Refugee Education Assistance act of 1980); or
8. An alien who (or whose child or parent) has been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the U.S. (See Exhibit B to Attachment 5 of the Department of Justice Interim Guidance, 62 fed. Reg. 61344 (Nov. 17, 1997) for the requirements that must be met for an alien to fall within this category of qualified alien).

Because of the complexity of rules regarding citizenship and alien status, staff are urged to seek supervisory and Departmental expert advice when addressing questions that may arise as to these issues.