(a) Citizenship and immigration status.

(1)

(i) The agency must—

(A) Verify citizenship status through the electronic service established in accordance with §435.949 or alternative mechanism authorized in accordance with §435.945(k), if available; and

(B) Promptly attempt to resolve any inconsistencies, including typographical or other clerical errors, between information provided by the individual and information from an electronic data source, and resubmit corrected information through such electronic service or alternative mechanism.

(ii) If the agency is unable to verify citizenship status in accordance with paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section, the agency must verify citizenship either—

(A) Through a data match with the Social Security Administration; or

(B) In accordance with §435.407.

(2) The agency must—

(i) Verify immigration status through the electronic service established in accordance with §435.949, or alternative mechanism authorized in accordance with §435.945(k);

(ii) Promptly attempt to resolve any inconsistencies, including typographical or other clerical errors, between information provided by the individual and information from an electronic data source, and resubmit corrected information through such electronic service or alternative mechanism.

(3) For purposes of the exemption from the five-year waiting period described in 8 U.S.C. 1613, the agency must verify that an individual is an honorably discharged veteran or in active military duty status, or the spouse or unmarried dependent child of such person, as described in 8 U.S.C. 1612(b)(2) through the electronic service described in §435.949 or alternative mechanism authorized in accordance with §435.945(k). If the agency is unable to verify such status through such service the agency may accept self-attestation of such status.

(4)

(i) The agency must maintain a record of having verified citizenship or immigration status for each individual, in a case record or electronic database in accordance with the State's record retention policies in accordance with §431.17(c) of this chapter.

(ii) Unless the individual reports a change in citizenship or the agency has received information indicating a potential change in the individual's citizenship, the agency may not re-verify or require an individual to re-verify citizenship at a renewal of eligibility under §435.916 of this subpart, or upon a subsequent application following a break in coverage.

(5) If the agency cannot promptly verify the citizenship or satisfactory immigration status of an individual in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) or (2) of this section, the agency—

(i) Must provide a reasonable opportunity in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section; and

(ii) May not delay, deny, reduce or terminate benefits for an individual whom the agency determines to be otherwise eligible for Medicaid during such reasonable opportunity period, in accordance with §435.911(c).

(iii) If a reasonable opportunity period is provided, the agency may begin to furnish benefits to otherwise eligible individuals, effective the date of application, or the first day of the month of application, consistent with the agency's election under §435.915(b).

(b) Reasonable opportunity period.

(1) The agency must provide a reasonable opportunity period to individuals who have made a declaration of citizenship or satisfactory immigration status in accordance with §435.406(a), and for whom the agency is unable to verify citizenship or satisfactory immigration status in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section. During the reasonable opportunity period, the agency must continue efforts to complete verification of the individual's citizenship or satisfactory immigration status, or request documentation if necessary. The agency must provide notice of such opportunity that is accessible to persons who have limited English proficiency and individuals with disabilities, consistent with §435.905(b). During such reasonable opportunity period, the agency must, if relevant to verification of the individual's citizenship or satisfactory immigration status—

(i) In the case of individuals declaring citizenship who do not have an SSN at the time of such declaration, assist the individual in obtaining an SSN in accordance with §435.910, and attempt to verify the individual's citizenship in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section once an SSN has been obtained and verified;

(ii) Promptly provide the individual with information on how to contact the electronic data source described in paragraph (a) of this section so that he or she can attempt to resolve any inconsistencies defeating electronic verification directly with such source, and pursue verification of the individual's citizenship or satisfactory immigration status if the individual or source informs the agency that the inconsistencies have been resolved; and

(iii) Provide the individual with an opportunity to provide other documentation of citizenship or satisfactory immigration status, in accordance with section 1137(d) of the Act and §435.406 or §435.407.

(2) The reasonable opportunity period—

(i) Begins on the date on which the notice described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section is received by the individual. The date on which the notice is received is considered to be 5 days after the date on the notice, unless the individual shows that he or she did not receive the notice within the 5-day period.

(ii)

(A) Ends on the earlier of the date the agency verifies the individual's citizenship or satisfactory immigration status or determines that the individual did not verify his or her citizenship or satisfactory immigration status in accordance with paragraph (a)(2) of this section, or 90 days after the date described in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section, except that,

(B) The agency may extend the reasonable opportunity period beyond 90 days for individuals declaring to be in a satisfactory immigration status if the agency determines that the individual is making a good faith effort to obtain any necessary documentation or the agency needs more time to verify the individual's status through other available electronic data sources or to assist the individual in obtaining documents needed to verify his or her status.

(3) If, by the end of the reasonable opportunity period, the individual's citizenship or satisfactory immigration status has not been verified in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, the agency must take action within 30 days to terminate eligibility in accordance with part 431 subpart E (relating to notice and appeal rights) of this chapter, except that §§431.230 and 431.231 of this chapter (relating to maintaining and reinstating services) may be applied at State option.

(4)

(i) The agency may establish in its State plan reasonable limits on the number of reasonable opportunity periods during which medical assistance is furnished which a given individual may receive once denied eligibility for Medicaid due to failure to verify citizenship or satisfactory immigration status, provided that the conditions in paragraph (b)(4)(ii) of this section are met.

(ii) Prior to implementing any limits under paragraph (b)(4)(i) of this section, the agency must—

(A) Demonstrate that the lack of limits jeopardizes program integrity; and

(B) Receive approval of a State plan amendment prior to implementing limits.

(c) State residency.

(1) The agency may verify State residency in accordance with §435.945(a) of this subpart or through other reasonable verification procedures consistent with the requirements in §435.952 of this subpart.

(2) Evidence of immigration status may not be used to determine that an individual is not a State resident.

(d) Social Security numbers. The agency must verify Social Security numbers (SSNs) in accordance with §435.910 of this subpart.

(e) Pregnancy. The agency must accept self-attestation of pregnancy unless the State has information that is not reasonably compatible with such attestation, subject to the requirements of §435.952 of this subpart.

(f) Age, date of birth and household size. The agency may verify date of birth and the individuals that comprise an individual's household, as defined in §435.603(f) of this part, in accordance with §435.945(a) of this subpart or through other reasonable verification procedures consistent with the requirements in §435.952 of this subpart.

[77 FR 17212, Mar. 23, 2012, as amended at 81 FR 86459, Nov. 30, 2016]