California Code of Regulations › Title 25 - Housing and Community Development › Division 2 - California Housing Finance Agency › Chapter 3 - Restrictions on Agency Public Benefits to Aliens › Article 2 - Eligibility for Benefits › Section 12104 - Method of Verifying Eligibility

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) To obtain a final verification of
				  eligibility for agency public benefits, the following requirements must be met:
(1) The applicant must declare under penalty
				  of perjury, that he or she is either a citizen or other national of the United
				  States or a qualified alien, by completing and signing the "Statement of
				  Citizenship, Alienage and Immigration Status for State Public Benefits" form,
				  CHFA Benefit Status Form 1, 9/98 ("Form 1") which is incorporated herein by
				  this reference. If the applicant is an unemancipated minor (under 18 years of
				  age) or an adult who is not competent to or has a disability which renders
				  him/her unable to understand or execute the Form 1, the Form 1 must be executed
				  by a parent, legal guardian, or other person legally qualified to act on behalf
				  of the applicant; and
(2) The
				  applicant must present documentation which contains a photograph or other
				  information which describes the applicant (i.e. height, weight and age) that is
				  sufficient to identify the applicant as the person named in the signed Form 1.
				  In the event that the applicant fails to produce proper identification, the
				  agency public benefit shall be denied without further verification;
				  and
(3) The applicant must present
				  documents, of a type acceptable to the INS (as set forth in List A of Form 1 in
				  the case of an applicant who is a citizen or other national or as set forth in
				  Section B or List B of Form 1, as applicable, in the case of an applicant who
				  is an alien), in support of the applicant's declared status. An alien applicant
				  must present unexpired originals of the most recently issued evidence of alien
				  registration. In the event that an applicant claims qualified alien status
				  pursuant to facts and circumstances as set forth in subparagraphs (x)(8),
				  (x)(9) and (x)(10) of Section 12002 of this chapter (involving a person who was
				  battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States), then the Form 1
				  and copies of any identity and supporting documents shall be forwarded to the
				  agency for verification. If an alien applicant has lost his or her original
				  documents or presents expired documents or is unable to present any
				  documentation evidencing his or her immigration status, the applicant shall be
				  referred to the local INS office to obtain appropriate documentation and the
				  agency public benefit shall be denied unless and until such documentation is
				  presented. A fee receipt from the INS for replacement of a lost, stolen or
				  unreadable INS document is not an acceptable substitute for the document it
				  replaces, however, it shall suffice for the purposes of a preliminary
				  verification. If the applicant presents documents which clearly show that the
				  applicant is not a citizen or other national or qualified alien and the
				  applicant does not dispute the status shown, then the agency public benefit
				  shall be denied without further verification.
(4) Where the documents presented pursuant to
				  subparagraph (a)(3) of this section do not on their face appear to be genuine
				  or otherwise to be reasonable evidence of the applicant's declared status, the
				  status verifier shall take appropriate steps to verify the declared status of
				  the applicant. Ordinarily, the government or other entity that originally
				  issued the documents shall be contacted for verification by the status
				  verifier. With regard to naturalized citizens and derivative citizens
				  presenting certificates of citizenship and aliens, the INS shall be contacted
				  for verification. The status verifier shall request verification from the INS
				  by sending INS Form G-845 (or any successor form designated by the INS) with
				  copies of the pertinent documents provided by the applicant to the appropriate
				  INS office as directed by the INS. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event
				  that the INS will only accept INS Form G-845 filings from the agency, the
				  status verifier shall forward the completed form to the agency who shall then
				  send it to the INS. In the event that the INS then returns their response to
				  the G-845 to the agency, the agency shall forward it to the status
				  verifier.
(5) The type of
				  documentation referred to the INS for verification pursuant to INS Form G-845
				  shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:
(A) The document presented indicates
				  immigration status but does not include an alien registration or alien
				  admission number.
(B) The document
				  is suspected to be counterfeit or to have been altered.
(C) The document includes an alien
				  registration number in the A60 000 (not yet issued) or A80 000 (illegal border
				  crossing) series.
(D) The document
				  is one of the following: an INS Form I-181b notification letter issued in
				  connection with an INS Form I-181 Memorandum of Creation of Record of Permanent
				  Residence, an Arrival-Departure Record (INS Form I-94) or a foreign passport
				  stamped "PROCESSED FOR I-551, TEMPORARY EVIDENCE OF LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENCE"
				  that INS issued more than one year before the date of application for the
				  agency public benefit.
(6) If the INS advises that the applicant is
				  a citizen, other national or a qualified alien, the INS verification shall be
				  accepted and the applicant determined to be eligible. If the INS advises that
				  it cannot verify that the applicant is a citizen, other national or a qualified
				  alien, the agency public benefit shall be denied unless citizenship or other
				  national status can be verified from another source.