DPSS ePolicy

To convert existing policy to new writing style only - No concept changes

To be eligible for Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), a person must meet all CAPI eligibility criteria (refer to 49-010: Eligibility for CAPI), including an immigration status requirement.

To meet the immigration requirements, a CAPI applicant/participant must be one of the following:

1. A legal immigrant who meets the immigration status requirements in effect for Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) on August 21, 1996. 
   
   
   • A Qualified Alien, (refer to 49-020: Immigration Status – Qualified Alien); or 
     
     
   • A Person Residing Under the Color of Law (PRUCOL) refers to non-citizens residing in the U.S. with the knowledge and permission of the United States (U.S.) Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the USCIS does not contemplate enforcing their departure.
     
     PRUCOL refers to the following specific non-citizen categories:  
     
     
     • A non-citizen subject to an Order of Supervision.
       
       
     • A non-citizen who has their immediate relative petition (USCIS Form I-130) approved on their behalf and who is entitled to voluntary departure and whose departure USCIS does not contemplate enforcing.                
       
       
     • A non-citizen who has properly filed an application for an adjustment to their lawful permanent resident status under Section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that USCIS has accepted as “properly filed” and whose departure USCIS does not contemplate enforcing.
       
       
     • A non-citizen granted a stay of deportation by a court order, statute, or regulation or by individual determination by USCIS under Section 106 of the INA and whose departure USCIS does not contemplate enforcing. 
       
       
     • A non-citizen residing in the U.S. under an indefinite voluntary departure. 
       
       
     • A non-citizen granted voluntary departure under Section 242(b) of the INA or 8 CFR 242.5 whose departure USCIS does not contemplate enforcing.
       
       
     • A non-citizen in deferred action status.
       
       
     • A non-citizen who entered and has continuously resided in the U.S. since before January 1, 1972, or any date established by Section 249 of the INA.
       
       
     • A non-citizen granted a suspension of deportation pursuant to Section 244 of the INA whose departure USCIS does not contemplate enforcing.
       
       
     • A non-citizen granted an indefinite stay of deportation. 
       
       
     • A non-citizen granted lawful temporary resident status under Section 245A of the INA.  
       
       
     • Certain citizens of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau (collectively known as the Free-Associated States) who reside in California.
       
       
     • A non-citizen not in one of the above categories, who can show that: 
       
       
       1. USCIS knows they are in the U.S.; and
          
          
       2. USCIS does not intend to deport them, either because of the person’s status category or individual circumstances.
           
2. A victim of human trafficking, domestic violence, or other serious crimes as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code §18945.

Assembly Bill 2779 (Chapter 329, Statutes of 1998), requires the establishment of a program that will provide cash assistance to aged, blind, and disabled legal non-citizens who meet the immigration status requirements of SSI/SSP in effect on August 21, 1996, but are ineligible for that program solely due to their immigration status. Later, Assembly Bill SB 1569 added eligibility for CAPI for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, or other serious crimes as defined in Welfare and Institutions Code § 18945..

As USCIS does not recognize PRUCOL as a valid immigration status, SAVE will not identify CAPI applicants/participants as PRUCOL. The Department of Public Social Services will make this determination using the PRUCOL criteria as described under the Policy section of this Administrative Release.  

A CAPI applicant/participant who does not meet the requirements of any of the first 12 above mentioned PRUCOL categories and claims to qualify under the 13th category (a more general classification) must meet both requirements mentioned under the 13th category as described below. 

Note: PRUCOL status may be valid for a limited time only. Applicants/participants are required to report any change in their immigration status within ten days after the month it happens. Failure to report any changes within ten days after the end of the month in which the change occurs could result in a penalty.  

1. USCIS knows CAPI applicant/participant is in the U.S.
   
   It is the non-citizen’s responsibility to show that USCIS is aware of their presence in the U.S. When a CAPI applicant/participant overstays their visa, it cannot be assumed, without proof to the contrary, that USCIS remains aware of their presence in the U.S. Mere intent to file documentation with USCIS does not satisfy the requirement of USCIS’s knowledge of the CAPI applicant’s/participant’s continued presence in the U.S.
   
   Note: A CAPI applicant/participant who is subject to an order of removal is assumed to have complied with the order by leaving the U.S. and therefore does not satisfy this requirement. 
    
2. USCIS does not intend to deport the CAPI applicant/participant, either because of their status category or individual circumstances.
   
   As USCIS does not have a practice of deporting the aged, blind, or disabled, most CAPI applicants/participants can claim that USCIS does not intend to deport them.
   
   Note: If a CAPI applicant/participant did not voluntarily depart within 60 or 120 days of the date of the Voluntary Departure agreement granted by USCIS, an automatic Alternate Order of Removal goes into effect. Thus, USCIS does intend to deport the applicant/participant. 

Any acceptable evidence/correspondence filed with USCIS or the referenced documents below: 
 

Note: Submitted documentation may or may not have an expiration date. The CAPI Eligibility Worker (EW) should check all acceptable documents for an expiration date and follow-up with the CAPI participant after the document has expired. Documents without an expiration date will be followed-up at redetermination. 

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