OBSOLETE POLICY CHIP MANUAL |
Workers must use the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) Program to verify the alien status of all people who are not U.S. Citizens, except for American Indians born in Canada. SAVE is an electronic Automated Status Verification System (ASVS) used to obtain USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – formally INS) status and to confirm the validity of alien status information that the alien provides. Use eFIND to interface with the SAVE system to complete Initial and Secondary Verification of immigration status.
DO NOT delay an eligibility decision, decrease, terminate, or deny benefits on the basis of a person's alien status if SAVE procedures have not yet been completed, or pending manual secondary verification. Instead, assume that the client meets the citizenship/alien status requirements. Give the client at least 10 days to provide the requested verifications.
Do an Initial Verification from SAVE on eFIND. Document the information received in the case record or electronically.
Ask the client for USCIS documentation to prove citizenship/alien status. Complete an Initial Verification using the alien's Alien Registration Number, or "A Number", which is on the INS document. If the information from the SAVE Initial Verification Inquiry matches the immigration document provided by the applicant, the SAVE process is complete. Record the verification number in the case notes or print the screen with the verification number to be included with the other case verifications.
The Initial Verification inquiry can be used to confirm the information provided by the alien. However, DO NOT close or deny a case based only upon the information received through the ASVS Initial Verification inquiry.
Complete Secondary Verification on the ASVS system when the information obtained from the Initial method does not agree with the immigration document, causes a question, or when no information was available through the Initial Verification method.
Manual Secondary Verification
Use the Manual Secondary Method when you cannot access the SAVE database or information about the alien is not recorded in the USCIS computer file or the information received back from the ASVS system tells you to complete a Manual Request if necessary.