To be eligible for TANF benefits, a person must be: (1) a citizen of the U.S.; (2) an alien who legally entered the U.S. before August 22, 1996, and who meets the eligibility criteria in 8 U.S.C. §1641(b) or (c); or (3) an alien who legally entered the U.S. on or after August 22, 1996, and who meets the eligibility criteria in 8 U.S.C. §1612(b) and §1613, except that a legal permanent resident alien is eligible after residing in the U.S. for five years only if the alien meets one of the following eligibility requirements: (A) the alien is an honorably discharged veteran or active duty military personnel; (B) the alien is a spouse, unmarried surviving spouse, or minor unmarried child of an honorably discharged veteran or active duty military personnel (if a surviving spouse of a deceased veteran or active duty military person, the surviving spouse must not have remarried); (C) the alien entered the U.S. before August 22, 1996, and remained continuously present in the U.S. (a single absence from the U.S. of more than 30 days or a combined absence of more than 90 days interrupts the "continuous presence") since at least August 21, 1996, until obtaining qualifying immigrant status (an alien who entered the U.S. without proper documents or overstayed his or her visa, is treated the same as an alien who entered and remained in the U.S. with valid immigration documents); (D) the alien entered the U.S. with a status described in the Texas Works Handbook, Item A-342, Chart C and meets those eligibility criteria, or meets the criteria in the Texas Works Handbook, Item A-343, How to Determine Eligibility for Battered Aliens; or (E) the alien meets the 40 qualifying quarters requirements in the Texas Works Handbook, Item A-354, Verifying 40 "Qualifying Quarters," and five years have passed since the alien's legal date of entry. |
