SSR 82-37: SECTIONS 1614(f)(3) and 1621 (42 U.S.C. 1382c(f)(3) and 1382j) SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME -- ELIGIBILITY -- DEEMING OF INCOME AND RESOURCES FROM AN ALIEN'S SPONSOR

20 CFR 416.1160(a)(2)

SSR 82-37

The claimant is an alien whose entrance into the United States (U.S.) on August 2, 1980 was sponsored by the husband of his wife's cousin. On November 4, 1980, the claimant applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. When the Social Security Administration (SSA) determined that the claimant was ineligible for SSI benefits because his income and resources exceeded the statutory limits, he appealed. Under a provision in section 1621 of the Social Security Act (the Act), the claimant's income and resources were deemed to include the income and resources of his sponsor. None of the exceptions to that provision was applicable to the claimant. Held, with the inclusion of the sponsor's income and resources, the claimant was ineligible for SSI benefits because his income and resources exceeded the statutory limits.

The issue is whether the claimant should have the income and resources of his sponsor deemed to him for purposes of determining his eligibility for SSI benefits.

The claimant's immigration to the U.S. from Taiwan on August 2, 1980 was sponsored by the husband of his wife's cousin. The claimant is almost totally paralyzed resulting from viral myelitis contracted while an employee of the U.S. Navy Medical Research Unit during the 1960's.

Following his arrival in the U.S., the claimant and his wife applied for Aid to Families with Dependent Children and for food stamps. He also applied for SSI benefits on November 4, 1980. The claimant and his family do not live with sponsor and his spouse, but they do live in the household of another couple. The claimant alleged that neither he nor his family had made any contributions towards household expenses.

On December 6, 1980, the claimant was notified that part of the income and property owned by the claimant's sponsor had been deemed to the claimant for a 3-year period. The sponsor, who is a doctor, filed a Statement of Income and Resources on December 10, 1980, in which he disclosed annual income of $63,000.00 and resources in excess of $15,000.00. The basis for the claimant's appeal is his belief that it was unfair to deem the income and resources of his sponsor to him since he was allowed to enter the U.S. because he had received his disabling impairment while an employee of the U.S. Navy.

Section 1621(a) of the Act provides that -- "For purposes of determining eligibility for and the amount of benefits under this title for an individual who is an alien, the income and resources of any person who (as a sponsor of such individual's entry into the United States) executed an affidavit in support or similar agreement with respect to such individual, and the income and resources of the sponsor's spouse, shall be deemed to be the income and resources of such individual (in accordance with subsections (b) and (c)) for a period of three years after the individual's entry into the United States. any such income deemed to be income of such individual shall be treated as unearned income of such individual."

Section 1621(f) of the Act provides that -- "(1) The provisions of this section shall not apply with respect to any individual who is an "aged, blind, or disabled individual" for purposes of this title by reason of blindness (as determined under section 1614(a)(2)) or disability (as determined under section 1614(a)(3)), from and after the onset of the impairment, if such blindness or disability commenced after the date of such individual's admission into the United States for permanent residence. (2) The provisions of this section shall not apply with respect to any alien who is --

(A) admitted to the United States as a result of the application, prior to April 1, 1980, of the provisions of section 203(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act;
(B) admitted to the United States as a result of the application, after March 31, 1980, of the provisions of section 207(c)(1) of such Act;
(C) paroled into the United States as a refugee under section 212(d)(5) of such Act; or
(D) granted political asylum by the Attorney General."

At his hearing, the claimant requested special humanitarian consideration in his case. While SSA was sympathetic to the plight of the claimant, it was bound by the deeming provision in section 1621 of the Act, and the claimant did not meet any of the exceptions to that provision. Hence, SSA had no alternative but to find that the income and resources of the claimant's sponsor were deemable to the claimant through July 1983. Accordingly, SSA determined that the claimant was ineligible for SSI benefits because his income and resources exceeded the statutory limits.


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