Those arriving after that date will not be eligible. Food Stamps and other assistance programs are not affected by the budget deal. The ability to receive housing assistance, a serious issue for elderly immigrants in expensive nursing homes not entirely covered by Medicaid, is still not firmly resolved and the new budget deal does not mention whether housing assistance is supposed to have been covered by last year's Welfare Law. The budget deal also includes provisions which will extend from five to seven years the amount of time refugees can collect Medicaid and SSI benefits. This extension is seen as being crucial since in many areas it is taking two years for citizenship applications to be approved.
Refugees are only eligible to become naturalized citizens after they have been here five years.