Affidavit of Support |
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A contract signed by the sponsor that shows that the immigrant applying for a green card is not likely to become dependent on the government for cash welfare or long-term care (nursing homes). There are two types of Affidavits of Support: Old (Traditional) and New (Enforceable). |
Aged |
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The Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants considers individuals who are 65 years or older as aged.
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Asylees |
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Non-citizens who, while in the United States, are granted permission to remain because of well-founded fear of persecution in their home country.
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Benefits Planner |
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Someone who can help you understand or apply for benefit programs when you become disabled or turn 65. Their goal is to help you avoid financial complications while developing a sustainable plan for the future. To find a benefits planner in Minnesota, contact the Work Incentives Connection at 800-976-6728.
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Blind |
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Blindness in Social Security disability programs is "statutory blindness," which means:
- You have a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in your better eye, even while you are wearing a correcting contact lens or glasses in that eye; or
- You have a limitation in the field of vision of your better eye, so that:
- You have a contraction of peripheral visual fields to 10 degrees from the point of fixation, or
- The widest diameter of your visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees, or
- You have a contraction of peripheral visual fields to 20 percent or less visual field efficiency.
If you have a visual impairment that is not "blindness" as defined above, but your reduced vision (alone or in combination with other disabilities) prevents you from working, you may still be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.
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CAPI Residency Requirement |
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Living and intending to stay in California. Individuals living in a jail, prison, VA hospital, or other public institution are ineligible for benefits.
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Community Work Incentives Coordinator (CWIC) |
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The federal government pays benefits planners in communities around the country to help people think ahead about work incentives and benefits issues. CWIC'S are benefits planners who are trained by the Social Security Administration to assist beneficiaries with programs including Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in addition to other related programs.
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Deemed Income |
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The amount of another person’s income – spouse, sponsor, sponsor’s spouse, parent – that is considered to belong to the individual regardless of whether the person receives this money. |
Disability (Definition used by Social Security for Adults) |
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The inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity (SGA) due to any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or last for a continuous period of at least 12 months. A person must not only be unable to do his/her previous work but cannot, considering age, education, and work experience, engage in any other kind of SGA which exists in the national economy. It is immaterial whether such work exists in the immediate area, or whether a specific job vacancy exists, or whether the worker would be hired if he/she applied for work. The worker’s impairment(s) must be the primary reason for his/her inability to engage in SGA.
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Earned Income (EI) |
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Salaries, wages, tips, professional fees and other amounts received as pay for physical or mental work actually performed. Funds received from any other source are not included. (Contrast unearned income.) |
Food Stamps |
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A federally funded program that helps people with low-income buy food.
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General Relief/General Assistance (GR/GA) |
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A county program that provides relief to those who are unable to support themselves by their own means, or by friends or relatives, other public funds, or other assistance programs.
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Indigent Exception |
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A deeming exception for CAPI applicants whose sponsor signed an Old Affidavit of Support. An individual is considered to be indigent if he/she receives less than the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit amount - $637 per month in 2008 for an individual ($956 for a couple). |
Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) |
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Individuals living within the U.S. with a green card.
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Liquid Assets |
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Cash or other property which can be converted to cash within 20 days, excluding non-work days. Liquid assets include: checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares, promissory notes, mortgages, and life insurance policies.
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Permanently Residing in the U.S. Under Color of Law (PRUCOL) |
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Subject to an Order of Supervision On whose behalf an immediate relative petition has been approved and who are entitled to voluntary departure Who have properly filed an application for an adjustment to lawful permanent resident status Granted a stay of deportation Granted voluntary departure and who are awaiting issuance of a visa In deferred action status Who entered and have continually resided in the United States since before January 1, 1972
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Prima Facie |
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Evidence that would establish a fact if uncontested.
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Qualified Alien |
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Individual who is:
- Lawful permanent resident,
- Asylee,
- Refugee,
- Person paroled in the United States for at least 1 year,
- Person who have been granted withholding of deportation or removal,
- Person granted conditional entry,
- Cuban or Haitian entrant, or
- Battered spouse, battered child, or parent of a child who is battered.
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Refugees |
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Non-citizens who, while outside the U.S. and their home country, were granted permission to enter and live in the U.S. because they had a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country.
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Resource Exclusions |
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CAPI does not consider the following items when they figure out your countable resources:
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The home, and any adjoining land
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Household goods and personal effects that have a total value of $2000 or less
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One car if it is: necessary for employment, or necessary fro medical treatment, or modified for use by a disabled person, or it provides necessary transportation to perform essential daily activities, or has a current market value less than $4500
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Property of a trade or business that is essential for self support
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Non-business property which is essential to self support
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Resources of a blind or disabled individual necessary to fulfill an approved PASS
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Certain stocks held by Alaskan natives
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Life insurance, if the total face value of all policies on one person do not exceed $1500. Otherwise, the cash surrenders values of life insurance policies will count as a resource
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Restricted allotted Native American lands
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Payments or benefits paid under other Federal statutes
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Disaster relief assistance
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Burial space of any value, and burial funds up to $1500
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Title XVI (SSI) or Title II (SSDI) retroactive payments for 6 months
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Housing assistance
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Nine months of payments received as compensation for expenses or losses suffered as a result of a crime
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Nine months of reallocation assistance
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Self-Petitioners |
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Sponsor |
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A person who, by signing an affidavit of support, agrees to support an immigrant as a condition of the immigrant’s admission for permanent residence in the U.S. |
Sponsorship |
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The act of legally sponsoring an immigrant to enter the U.S.
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Unearned Income (UI) |
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Funds received from sources for which no paid work activity was performed. (Examples: Disability benefits such as SSDI, SSI, STD, and LTD; VA benefits; Worker's Compensation; income from a trust or investment; dividends, profits, or funds received from any source other than work.) |
Victim of Trafficking |
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An individual who is a victim of sex trafficking; or, a victim of the forced or fraudulent recruitment, harboring, transport, or provision of a person for labor or services that subject the person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
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Victim of Violence/Victim of Abuse/Domestic Violence Survivors |
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An individual who has endured assaultive or coercive behavior that includes: physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, economic control, isolation, stalking, and threats.
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Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) |
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