SNAP Prescreening Guide

SNAP eligibility rules vary based on who is applying. For certain groups of people, the eligibility rules make it harder to access SNAP (i.e., students and non-citizens), while for others, rules are streamlined or simplified (i.e., seniors and people living with a disability). It is important to evaluate each individual’s eligibility, since some people in a household might be eligible even if others are not.

A student is any person who is:

• 18 through 49 years of age
• Physically and mentally fit
• Enrolled at least half-time in an institution of higher education

Institution of Higher Education:
Any institution at the post-high school level that normally requires a high school diploma or equivalency certificate for enrollment, including but not limited to:

• Colleges
• Universities
• Business schools
• Vocational schools
• Trade or technical schools
• Correspondence schools
• Online courses
• Colleges or universities that offer degree programs regardless of whether a high-school diploma is required

Enrolled in a College Meal Plan:
Students receiving 50% or more of their meals (based on 3 meals for seven days equaling 21 meals) from a college meal plan are not eligible to receive SNAP as they are considered to be living in an institution. The SNAP office must screen each student to identify the number of meals the student is granted under their meal plan.

When working with students who are applying for SNAP, you must first determine if they meet the criteria to be considered an “eligible student” under SNAP rules.

Under these rules, students who are 18 to 49 years old and enrolled at least halftime in an institution of higher learning cannot get SNAP unless they meet at least one of the following exceptions:

Student is working:

• Employed an average of 20 hours a week or more
• Self-employed, working an average of 20 hours a week and making an average income equal to the federal minimum wage multiplied by 20 hours
• Participates in an on-the-job training program

Student has one or more of these individual characteristics:

• 17 years old or younger
• 50 years old or older
• Physically or mentally unfit for work: the individual has an illness, condition, a or life circumstance, whether temporary or permanent, that reduces or affects their ability to work 20 hours a week.
• Primary caretaker of a household member who is under age 6 or is incapacitated
• Primary caretaker of a household member between the ages of 6 and 11, if no adequate childcare is available that would make it possible to work and go to school
• A single parent enrolled full time who is responsible for the care of children under age 12

Student participates in a qualified government program:

• Receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Receives unemployment benefits
• Participating in state or federal work-study
• Attends a State University of New York (SUNY) or City University of New York (CUNY) community, comprehensive, or technology college and is enrolled in a qualified certificate or degree Career and Technical Education (CTE) program
• Attends an Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) and is enrolled in a qualified CTE program, remedial courses, basic adult education, literacy, or English as a second language
• Assigned to, placed in, or self-placed in a college or other institution of higher education through certain employment and training programs, such as the SNAP Employment and Training (E&T), Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), or a Department of Labor program

For help determining if a student meets any of these exemptions, see the Student Eligibility Checklist.

Students determined to be “eligible students” under SNAP rules are exempt from:

• SNAP E&T work requirements, and
• SNAP time limit rules for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD)

Students who do not meet one of the above exceptions are excluded from the SNAP household, and neither the income nor the resources of the ineligible student will be used in determining eligibility for the rest of the household. However, if the student makes any cash contributions to the remaining members of the household, this will count as income. The rest of the household members may still be eligible.

Eligible students remain eligible between school breaks (vacations, summer, etc.) unless the student graduates, is suspended or expelled, drops out, or does not intend to register for the next school term (excluding summer semesters).

Exception: Students who have work-study lose their SNAP eligibility between semesters if the break is a full month or longer and in summer months, unless the work-study continues or they meet another exemption.

Ineligible students remain ineligible between school breaks (vacations, summer, etc.) unless the student graduates, is suspended or expelled, drops out, or does not intend to register for the next school term (excluding summer semesters).

Citizen: a person (other than a child of a foreign diplomat) born in one of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Northern Mariana Islands who has not renounced or otherwise lost their citizenship. Citizens can apply for SNAP, but must meet eligibility rules to receive benefits.

Citizens of Freely Associated States (FAS)/Compacts of Free Association (COFA): international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. Citizens of FAS COFA can apply for SNAP, but must meet eligibility rules to receive benefits.

LPR: Legal Permanent Resident—also known as “Green Card” holder. LPR status is documented with an I-155 Permanent Resident Card, or an I-94 Arrival/Departure Record or passport with a temporary I-551 stamp, or any other authoritative document that identifies the non-citizen as an LPR. LPRs’ SNAP eligibility rules are explained below.

Naturalized Citizen: a person born outside of the U.S. who has lawfully become a U.S. citizen. Naturalized citizens can apply for SNAP, but must meet eligibility rules to receive benefits.

National: a citizen of a particular country, typically entitled to hold that country’s passport (e.g.,“a Cuban national”). A U.S. national can apply for SNAP but must meet eligibility rules to receive benefits.

Non-citizen: a person who lives in the U.S. but has yet to become a naturalized citizen. Non-citizens who are legally present in the U.S. may be eligible for SNAP if they meet additional criteria.

Repatriation: the act or process of restoring or returning someone or something to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship; the act of repatriating or the state of being repatriated.

Undocumented Non-citizens: those who cannot prove they are legally present in this country. These individuals are never eligible for SNAP.

Changes to Non-citizen SNAP Eligibility Rules Under H.R.1 Are in Effect in New York

H.R.1, the federal bill enacted in July 2025, significantly narrowed SNAP eligibility for non-citizens. As a result, some categories of non-citizens are no longer eligible for SNAP unless their status has been adjusted to Legal Permanent Resident (LPR), while others are eligible only under certain circumstances.

For new SNAP applicants, the SNAP office must screen all non-citizens for immigration status. An individual who does not meet the revised immigration eligibility requirements must be considered an ineligible non-citizen.

For households recertifying for SNAP, the immigration status of each non-citizen must be reviewed, and additional immigration documentation must be requested as needed to confirm eligibility. An individual who does not meet the revised immigration eligibility requirements must be considered an ineligible non-citizen.

• SNAP households are not required to report a change in immigration status. If a non-citizen loses eligibility at recertification due to a change in status, they are not subject to a claim for over-issuance of benefits received after their status was no longer considered eligible.

OTDA’s desk guide (LDSS-4579) lists the categories of non-citizens eligible for SNAP, along with the documents that can be used to verify their status. 26DC009 and 26DC019 also include information on documentation needed for each category listed below.

SNAP Eligibility for Non-citizens

The following non-citizens are eligible for SNAP if they meet all other SNAP requirements.

Non-Citizens Eligible Immediately:

• LPRs with 40 Qualifying Quarters
• Cuban/Haitian Entrants
• Citizens of Freely Associated States (COFA) lawfully residing in the U.S.

LPRs Eligible Immediately Upon Receiving LPR Status or Upon Meeting Certain Conditions 

Non-citizens entering the U.S. who are LPR’s, or who adjusted their status to LPR, based on an immigration status recognized by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) are not subject to a five-year waiting period and are eligible for SNAP immediately upon becoming an LPR, if otherwise eligible. Additionally, LPRs who meet a condition below may receive SNAP benefits immediately upon becoming an LPR, if otherwise eligible.

• Refugees
• Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrants (SIV) or SQ/SI Parolee
• Certain Afghan Nationals granted parole between July 31, 2021, and September 30, 2023
• Certain Ukrainian Nationals granted parole between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2024
• Individuals Granted Asylum (Asylees)
• Victims of Human Trafficking
• Admitted to U.S. as an Amerasian immigrant
• Deportation or Removal Withheld
• Certain Hmong or Highland Laotian tribal members
• North American Indians born in Canada or a member of a federally recognized tribe born outside the U.S. and who is also an LPR. See additional criteria listed in 26DC019.
• Have a U.S. military connection, including active duty and certain veterans, if also holding status as an LPR and meeting the associated military criteria listed in 26DC019. This includes the spouse and unmarried dependent children of those described.

LPRs Eligible After the Five-Year Waiting Period or Upon Meeting Certain Conditions

LPRs whose immigration status does not fall into one of the categories listed above must be in the U.S. in a qualified status for five years to be eligible for SNAP. However, LPRs who meet any one of the following conditions may be eligible to receive SNAP before the five-year period is up, if they meet all other SNAP requirements:

• Obtain or be credited with 40 Qualifying Quarters of work.
• In a qualified status and in receipt of certain disability benefits.
• In a qualified status and under age 18.
• Currently in a qualified status and 65 or older on August 22, 1996, and lawfully residing in the U.S. on that date.
• Have a U.S. military connection.
• Admitted to U.S. as an Amerasian immigrant.
• Certain American Indians born abroad.
• Certain Hmong or Highland Laotian tribal members.

Other categories of non-citizens who have adjusted to LPR and are subject to the five-year waiting period or additional conditions listed above include:

• Qualified Battered Non-Citizens
• Individuals granted parole for a period of at least one year
• Conditional Entrants

LPRs who can be credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work history are qualified to receive SNAP. One quarter is the equivalent of three months; therefore, roughly 10 years of work equals 40 quarters. To count as a qualifying quarter, a worker must have earned a minimum salary during that quarter. Quarters of work history can be shared with some family members. Quarters earned during a marriage can be shared between spouses, even if separated or deceased (but not if divorced), and between parents and their children (for quarters worked before the child’s 18th birthday, including quarters worked before the child was born). The SNAP office will get the social security records of any worker’s quarters claimed by an applicant.

Households containing ineligible non-citizens can still get SNAP if someone in the household is an eligible non-citizen or a U.S. citizen. Undocumented parents can apply for SNAP on behalf of their eligible non-citizen or citizen children.

There is an immigration reporting requirement in the SNAP Law that makes some families with undocumented members reluctant to apply. The law requires the state SNAP agency to report “aliens it knows to be unlawfully present” to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). However, NYS SNAP offices have been instructed to report only those individuals who present evidence of a USCIS determination that they are not in the United States lawfully, such as a final Order of Deportation or falsified immigration documents. The SNAP office is required to give the names and addresses of non-citizens who have a final Order of Deportation or falsified immigration documents to OTDA, not to USCIS.

SNAP workers do not have the authority to contact Immigration directly. If a SNAP worker threatens to report a non-citizen to USCIS to get them to withdraw their application, that is a violation of the Civil Rights Law and should be brought to the attention of the supervisor, the Commissioner, or OTDA.

The 2022 public charge rule is still in effect until a new rule is finalized. 

“Public charge” is a test in federal immigration law used to determine whether certain non-citizens can enter the country or become lawful permanent residents (LPR status or green card). The test mainly applies to people seeking a green card through a family member.

USCIS defines “public charge” as someone who is likely to become primarily dependent on the government for basic support. If an immigration official determines that someone is likely to become a public charge, the government can deny their application for entry to the United States or for lawful permanent resident status.

The Current Rule
The public charge rule that took effect in December 2022 is still in place. Under this rule, immigration officials cannot consider a person’s use or potential use of SNAP as a factor in a public charge test. This rule is based on federal guidance from 1999, stating that public benefit programs related to health care, nutrition, and housing will not impact an individual’s immigration status.

The Proposed Rule
In November 2025, USCIS published a proposed rule on public charge that would rescind the 2022 rule. This proposal does not formally replace the 1999 federal guidance with a new public charge policy, although it suggests a broader approach to public charge that may:

• Allow consideration of any public benefit
• Consider past or current use of benefits, regardless of how long or how recently they were used
• Consider benefits received by family members

Striker: a worker who takes part in an organized work stoppage, refusing to perform job duties until certain demands are met.

The following people are not considered strikers:

• People who have been locked out
• People out of work because of someone else’s strike
• People in a different bargaining unit who are afraid to cross a picket line
• People exempt from work registration under SNAP E&T rules (other than those exempt because they are working)
• Strikers who have been permanently replaced

If the primary wage earner of a household is participating in a job action (on strike, a walk-out, etc.), the striker and the whole household are ineligible for SNAP unless they were eligible for benefits before the strike began. Thus, the striker’s income before the strike will be budgeted and applied to the entire household as if they were still working. In this case, other household members cannot simply exclude the striker to establish a separate case. A household cannot get more SNAP benefits because its income goes down during the strike. If the striker leaves the household, the remaining household members become eligible again.

Fleeing felon: a person with a felony warrant pending against them.

Probation violator: someone who has broken the terms or conditions of probation.

Both fleeing felons and probation violators may be identified by computer matches and denied SNAP. However, other household members may continue to be eligible for SNAP, and special budgeting rules apply.

According to OTDA, SNAP offices must not discontinue SNAP benefits for anyone with a warrant based on an alleged probation or parole violation. Those types of warrants do not constitute a determination of a violation.

Senior: anyone 60 years or older.

Person with a Disability: anyone determined to be disabled by the Social Security Administration and most likely receiving a federally related disability benefit, including:

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Social Security Disability (SSD)
• Disability-related Medicaid
• Veterans Administration (VA) Disability 100%

Note: The surviving spouse or child of a deceased veteran may be entitled to the above VA Disability benefits if they are determined to have a disability described below:

• Surviving spouse of a veteran considered in need of regular aid and attendance by the VA, or permanently housebound;
• Surviving child of a veteran and considered by the VA to be permanently incapable of self-support;
• Surviving spouse or child of a veteran and approved to receive compensation for a service-connected death or pension benefits for non-service-connected death, based on VA determination. The surviving spouse or child must also have a disability considered permanent under the Social Security Act.

For details, see the SNAP Sourcebook Section 5, pp. 56-67.

New York State provides multiple pathways to SNAP participation for seniors and people with disabilities. The Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP) and the NYS Combined Application Project (NYSCAP) are special projects designed to improve access to SNAP for these vulnerable groups. Specific eligibility requirements determine whether a senior or disabled person qualifies for SNAP under ESAP, NYSCAP, or the regular application process. See Programs to Help Seniors and Disabled Applicants Access SNAP for more information.

In NYS, seniors and people with disabilities can have higher gross incomes and still qualify for SNAP under Expanded Categorical Eligibility. To qualify, gross monthly income must be at or below 200% of poverty for households containing an elderly or disabled member

Note: Seniors or people with disabilities who have incomes over 200% of the federal poverty limit may still be eligible for SNAP, but only if their resources are below the resource limit and they pass a net income test.

See the SNAP Standards & Deductions Reference Sheet for the full FPL chart.

Establishing separate household status
If a person lives with others and is both elderly and disabled, they may be able to establish separate household status for SNAP purposes if:

• The income of their housemates does not exceed 165% of the federal poverty limit (see the SNAP Standards & Deductions Reference Sheet for the full FPL chart), or
• A person is severely disabled and lives with others, but their food is being purchased and prepared separately from the people they live with.

Telephone interviews—households comprised of all seniors and/or adults with disabilities and no earned income are granted telephone interviews automatically.

Medical deduction—seniors and those with a disability who qualify for SNAP may be entitled to a larger monthly benefit by deducting out-of-pocket medical expenses over $35. By reporting these expenses in the SNAP application process, seniors can get even more help paying for food each month. See the SNAP Medical Expense Deduction Worksheet for more.

Appointing an authorized representative who can apply on their behalf, attend the interview, and use the EBT card to make purchases. This option is available to all SNAP applicants, but it is most useful to seniors and people with disabilities.