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Title 20

Displaying title 20, up to date as of 9/03/2026. Title 20 was last amended 8/20/2026.
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General

§ 416.200 Introduction.

You are eligible for SSI benefits if you meet all the basic requirements listed in § 416.202. However, the first month for which you may receive SSI benefits is the month after the month in which you meet these eligibility requirements. (See § 416.501.) You must give us any information we request and show us necessary documents or other evidence to prove that you meet these requirements. We determine your eligibility for each month on the basis of your countable income in that month. You continue to be eligible unless you lose your eligibility because you no longer meet the basic requirements or because of one of the reasons given in §§ 416.207 through 416.216.

[64 FR 31972, June 15, 1999, as amended at 68 FR 53508, Sept. 11, 2003]

§ 416.201 General definitions and terms used in this subpart.

Any 9-month period means any period of 9 full calendar months ending with any full calendar month throughout which (as defined in § 416.211) an individual is residing in a public emergency shelter for the homeless (as defined in this section) and including the immediately preceding 8 consecutive full calendar months. January 1988 is the earliest possible month in any 9-month period.

Educational or vocational training means a recognized program for the acquisition of knowledge or skills to prepare an individual for gainful employment. For purposes of these regulations, educational or vocational training does not include programs limited to the acquisition of basic life skills including but not limited to eating and dressing.

Emergency shelter means a shelter for individuals whose homelessness poses a threat to their lives or health.

Homeless individual is one who is not in the custody of any public institution and has no currently usable place to live. By custody we mean the care and control of an individual in a mandatory residency where the individual's freedom to come and go as he or she chooses is restricted. An individual in a public institution awaiting discharge and placement in the community is in the custody of that institution until discharged and is not homeless for purposes of this provision.

Institution means an establishment that makes available some treatment or services in addition to food and shelter to four or more persons who are not related to the proprietor.

Medical treatment facility means an institution or that part of an institution that is licensed or otherwise approved by a Federal, State, or local government to provide inpatient medical care and services.

Public emergency shelter for the homeless means a public institution or that part of a public institution used as an emergency shelter by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State, primarily for making available on a temporary basis a place to sleep, food, and some services or treatment to homeless individuals. A medical treatment facility (as defined in § 416.201) or any holding facility, detoxification center, foster care facility, or the like that has custody of the individual is not a public emergency shelter for the homeless. Similarly, transitional living arrangements such as a halfway house that are part of an institution's plan to facilitate the individual's adjustment to community living are not public emergency shelters for the homeless.

Public institution means an institution that is operated by or controlled by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State such as a city or county. The term public institution does not include a publicly operated community residence which serves 16 or fewer residents.

Resident of a public institution means a person who can receive substantially all of his or her food and shelter while living in a public institution. The person need not be receiving treatment and services available in the institution and is a resident regardless of whether the resident or anyone else pays for all food, shelter, and other services in the institution. A person is not a resident of a public institution if he or she is living in a public educational institution for the primary purpose of receiving educational or vocational training as defined in this section. A resident of a public institution means the same thing as an inmate of a public institution as used in section 1611(e)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act. (See § 416.211(b), (c), and (d) of this subpart for exceptions to the general limitation on the eligibility for Supplemental Security Income benefits of individuals who are residents of a public institution.)

SSI means supplemental security income.

State assistance means payments made by a State to an aged, blind, or disabled person under a State plan approved under title I, X, XIV, or XVI (AABD) of the Social Security Act which was in effect before the SSI Program.

We or Us means the Social Security Administration.

You or Your means the person who applies for or receives SSI benefits or the person for whom an application is filed.

[47 FR 3103, Jan. 22, 1982, as amended at 49 FR 19639, May 19, 1984; 50 FR 48570, Nov. 26, 1985; 50 FR 51517, Dec. 18, 1985; 54 FR 19164, May 4, 1989; 72 FR 50874, Sept. 5, 2007]

§ 416.202 Who may get SSI benefits.

You are eligible for SSI benefits if you meet all of the following requirements:

(a) You are—

(1) Aged 65 or older (subpart H);

(2) Blind (subpart I); or

(3) Disabled (subpart I).

(b) You are a resident of the United States (§ 416.1603), and—

(1) A citizen or a national of the United States (§ 416.1610);

(2) An alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States (§ 416.1615);

(3) An alien permanently residing in the United States under color of law (§ 416.1618); or

(4) A child of armed forces personnel living overseas as described in § 416.216.

(c) You do not have more income than is permitted (subparts K and D).

(d) You do not have more resources than are permitted (subpart L).

(e) [Reserved]

(f) You are not—

(1) Fleeing to avoid prosecution for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, which is a felony under the laws of the place from which you flee (or which, in the case of the State of New Jersey, is a high misdemeanor under the laws of that State);

(2) Fleeing to avoid custody or confinement after conviction for a crime, or an attempt to commit a crime, which is a felony under the laws of the place from which you flee (or which, in the case of the State of New Jersey, is a high misdemeanor under the laws of that State); or

(3) Violating a condition of probation or parole imposed under Federal or State law.

(g) You file an application for SSI benefits (subpart C).

[47 FR 3103, Jan. 22, 1982, as amended at 58 FR 4897, Jan. 19, 1993; 60 FR 8149, Feb. 10, 1995; 61 FR 10277, Mar. 13, 1996; 65 FR 40495, June 30, 2000; 91 FR 16830, Apr. 3, 2026]

§ 416.203 Initial determinations of SSI eligibility.

(a) What happens when you apply for SSI benefits. When you apply for SSI benefits we will ask you for documents and any other information we need to make sure you meet all the requirements. We will ask for information about your income and resources and about other eligibility requirements and you must answer completely. We will help you get any documents you need but do not have.

(b) How we determine your eligibility for SSI benefits. We determine that you are eligible for SSI benefits for a given month if you meet the requirements in § 416.202 in that month. However, you cannot become eligible for payment of SSI benefits until the month after the month in which you first become eligible for SSI benefits (see § 416.501). In addition, we usually determine the amount of your SSI benefits for a month based on your income in an earlier month (see § 416.420). Thus, it is possible for you to meet the eligibility requirements in a given month but receive no benefit payment for that month.

[47 FR 3103, Jan. 22, 1982, as amended at 50 FR 48570, Nov. 26, 1985; 64 FR 31972, June 15, 1999]

§ 416.204 Redeterminations of SSI eligibility.

(a) Redeterminations defined. A redetermination is a review of your eligibility to make sure that you are still eligible and that you are receiving the right amount of SSI benefits. This review deals with the requirements for eligibility other than whether you are still disabled or blind. Continuation of disability or blindness reviews are discussed in §§ 416.989 and 416.990.

(b) When we make redeterminations.

(1) We redetermine your eligibility on a scheduled basis at periodic intervals. The length of time between scheduled redeterminations varies depending on the likelihood that your situation may change in a way that affects your benefits.

(2) We may also redetermine your eligibility when you tell us (or we otherwise learn) of a change in your situation which affects your eligibility or the amount of your benefit.

(c) The period for which a redetermination applies:

(1) The first redetermination applies to—

(i) The month in which we make the redetermination;

(ii) All months beginning with the first day of the latest of the following:

(A) The month of first eligibility or re-eligibility; or

(B) The month of application; or

(C) The month of deferred or updated development; and

(iii) Future months until the second redetermination.

(2) All other redeterminations apply to—

(i) The month in which we make the redetermination;

(ii) All months beginning with the first day of the month the last redetermination was initiated; and

(iii) Future months until the next redetermination.

(3) If we made two redeterminations which cover the same month, the later redetermination is the one we apply to that month.

[47 FR 3103, Jan. 22, 1982, as amended at 50 FR 48570, Nov. 26, 1985; 58 FR 64893, Dec. 10, 1993]