29. I am a parent or child who is ineligible for TAFDC because of my immigration status, can I get EAEDC?
If you are a parent or a child who can not get TAFDC because of your immigration status, you may be able to get EAEDC.
You will have to meet one of the eligibility categories for EAEDC (disabled, elderly, caring for a disabled person or Mass. Rehabilitation Commission participant), see Questions 2 and 24. 25, and 26.
You will also have to meet the EAEDC immigration status requirements, which are not as strict as the TAFDC rules. See Question 37. For example, many legal permanent residents are not eligible for TAFDC during the first five years after coming to the U.S., but there is no "five- year bar" for EAEDC. So immigrants who are ineligible for TAFDC because of the five year bar may be able to qualify for EAEDC.
People who do not meet the TAFDC immigration status rules but do meet the EAEDC immigration status rules include legal permanent residents subject to the five-year bar, and people who are Permanently Residing Under Color of Law (PRUCOL) such as asylum applicants and other immigrants with pending status. See Question 37.
DTA does not have specific rules for this group of people but has agreed that an adult can qualify for EAEDC if the person meets both a category of EAEDC eligibility (such as being disabled) and the EAEDC immigrant status rules, but is ineligible for TAFDC due to the TAFDC immigration status requirements. See DTA Field Operations Memo 2008-43 (August 15, 2008).
Advocacy Reminder:
ΓΌ DTA has not yet issued instructions stating that disabled non-citizen children can qualify for EAEDC, but DTA hearing officers have approved benefits for them.