California Code of Regulations › Title 22 - Social Security › Division 1 - Employment Development Department › Subdivision 1 - Director of Employment Development › Division 1 - Unemployment and Disability Compensation › Part 1 - Unemployment Compensation › Chapter 5 - UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS › Article 3 - FILING, DETERMINATION, AND PAYMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFIT CLAIMS › Section 1326-13 - Citizenship and Verification of Immigration Status

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Scope. Section
						  121 of the Immigration Reform and
						  Control Act of 1986, 42 USC
						  1320b-7(d), requires
						  the department to determine, as a condition of eligibility for unemployment
						  compensation benefits, the citizenship status of all claimants. It also
						  requires the department to verify with the Immigration and Naturalization
						  Service (INS) that the immigration status of claimants who are neither United
						  States citizens nor United States nationals is satisfactory, based on documents
						  presented by such claimants. This section sets forth the department's
						  procedures for implementing these requirements.
(b) General Rule. As required by Section
						  1326-2(b)(13) of
						  these regulations, all claimants shall declare, as a condition of eligibility
						  for unemployment compensation benefits, that they are United States citizens or
						  United States nationals and, if not, that they are in a satisfactory
						  immigration status. At the time of the first and continuous certification for
						  benefits, the claimant shall declare under penalty of perjury that he or she is
						  a U.S. citizen or national; or an alien in satisfactory immigration status, and
						  permitted to work by the INS, as required by Section
						  1326-6(b)(10) of
						  these regulations.
A claimant who declares himself or herself to be in a
							 satisfactory immigration status shall, as a further condition of eligibility,
							 have that status verified by the INS based on documents presented by the
							 claimant. Such verification shall be either through an automated system
							 utilizing the claimant's alien registration or file number, known as the
							 Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or "SAVE" system, or by the
							 department sending a photocopy of the original document the claimant submits as
							 evidence of his or her satisfactory immigration status to the INS for
							 inspection.
The department shall provide a claimant who declares
							 that he or she is in a satisfactory immigration status but who presents no
							 document when filing his or her claim, a reasonable opportunity to present such
							 documents for INS verification. The department shall provide a claimant who
							 presents a document bearing his or her alien registration or file number for
							 verification through the SAVE system, but whose immigration status is not
							 verified by the INS through that system, a reasonable opportunity to present
							 additional or other documents for INS's verification. The department shall not
							 delay, deny, reduce, or terminate the claimant's eligibility pending any period
							 of reasonable opportunity or the INS's verification response.
If the INS does not verify the claimant's status the
							 department shall consider the claimant's immigration status as unsatisfactory
							 and shall determine or redetermine the claimant's eligibility based on that
							 response. If the department determines that a claimant is ineligible because he
							 or she is not in a satisfactory immigration status, it shall determine if
							 benefits paid on the claim constitute an overpayment and, if so, the extent to
							 which the claimant is liable for the overpayment under Section
							 1375-1 of these
							 regulations.
(c)
						  Definitions. As used in the general rule, the following terms have the meanings
						  assigned:
(1) "Satisfactory immigration
						  status" means that the claimant is lawfully residing in the United States and
						  is authorized to work. It includes the following verification responses from
						  the INS:
(A) Legal permanent
						  resident--employment authorized.
(B) Cuban/Haitian entrant--temporary
						  employment authorized.
(C) Section
						  245 A of the Immigration and
						  Nationality Act--temporary resident--temporary employment authorized.
(D) Section
						  210 of the Immigration and
						  Nationality Act--temporary resident--temporary employment authorized.
(E) Conditional resident alien--employment
						  authorized.
(F) Alien granted
						  asylum/refugee status--employment authorized.
(G) Alien granted parolee status--employment
						  authorized.
(H) Alien who has
						  applied for a legal status, including any of the statuses set forth herein, to
						  whom the INS has granted employment authorization pending its determination on
						  his or her application.
(I) Alien
						  whose departure the INS does not contemplate enforcing. The department shall
						  use this INS verification response in determining whether the claimant is
						  permanently residing in the United States under color of law, referred to
						  hereinafter as "PRUCOL." A claimant determined by the department to be PRUCOL
						  shall be considered to be in a satisfactory immigration status.
If the INS responds to the department's verification
							 request by notifying the department that the claimant's employment
							 authorization is temporary, with a specific expiration date, the department may
							 consider the claimant's satisfactory status to expire as of that date and it
							 shall make a determination or redetermination of the claimant's eligibility as
							 of that date unless the claimant, prior thereto, provides documents that
							 establish that the claimant is verified under a category that extends the
							 expiration date.
If the INS responds to the department's verification
							 request for a claimant by notifying the department that the claimant's
							 employment authorization is temporary, but without a specific expiration date,
							 the claimant shall notify the department of the expiration date of the
							 authorization applicable to his or her status.
If the INS responds to the department's verification
							 request for a claimant by including information about the length of time a
							 claimant has been in a particular immigration status, the department may use
							 such information in making a determination with respect to the claimant's
							 status during his or her base period under Section
							 1264-1 of these
							 regulations.