Stopping Public Advantages Reliance

What is a public cost?

• A public cost is an individual that turns into primarily depending on the federal government for subsistence, as demonstrated by accepting public money help for revenue upkeep or long-term institutionalization at authorities expense.
• This consists of issues like:
  • Receiving assets from the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Supplemental Security Income program;
  • Receiving companies from the federally funded Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program;
  • Receiving General Assistance from state and native packages that intention to assist low-income households;
  • Long-term institutionalized care at nursing services and/or psychological well being establishments at authorities expense.

What are the results of nonimmigrant visa holders abusing public advantages?

• The penalties of abusing U.S. public advantages as a overseas customer might embody having your visa revoked.
•  It additionally might embody future visa ineligibility, and within the case of fraud, prison prosecution.

How does a consular officer decide if a visa applicant is ineligible for a visa resulting from public cost issues?

• For greater than 100 years, the U.S. Department of State has had the authority underneath the Immigration and Nationality Act to disclaim a visa primarily based on the probability of an applicant changing into a public cost within the United States.
• Consular officers are tasked with vigilant screening and vetting of visa candidates to forestall non-U.S. residents who can’t cowl their very own dwelling bills, together with medical prices, from touring to the United States with the expectation that American taxpayers will bear these prices.
• Consular officers think about all facets of a visa utility to find out an applicant’s circumstances, together with however not restricted to age, well being, household standing, monetary standing, schooling/abilities, and present or previous use of U.S. public advantages.

Can non-U.S. residents nonetheless journey to the United States for medical remedy?

• Non-U.S. residents who can display they aren’t more likely to turn into reliant on the U.S. authorities for public advantages or medical care can nonetheless be thought of for a visa to journey to the United States for the remedy and return to their residence nation.
• Consular officers adjudicate visas on a case-by-case foundation. We don’t situation a visa till an applicant has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the consular officer adjudicating the case that she or he is eligible to obtain a visa underneath U.S. regulation.