| Follow the steps below to determine the qualifying quarters for a qualified alien admitted as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR): |
| Step 1: |
Obtain the full name, social security number, date of birth and gender of each wage earner whose quarters are being used to establish eligibility. |
| Step 2: |
Accept the AU’s or wage earner’s statement to verify quarters of employment if the following conditions exist:
- Alone or in combination with the parents and/or spouse the alien has sufficient time in this country to have worked for 40 quarters.
AND
- USCIS documents verify that the dates of entry are consistent with 40 quarters or more of employment.
OR
- The alien, spouse, parent or a combination of these individuals has sufficient quarters to meet the requirement. The same quarters may be used to meet the requirement for more than one alien.
|
| Step 3: |
Use the State Verification and Exchange System (SVES) to request from the Social Security Administration (SSA) the information needed to credit quarters. |
| Step 4: |
Have each wage earner whose quarters are being used to establish eligibility complete and sign Form SSA-3288, Social Security Administration Consent for Release Information, and provide a statement of his/her work history as outlined in Step 2.
NOTE: The wage earner may be an alien or U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization. The wage earner does not have to have paid Social Security taxes or have earned quarters under the SSA. |
| Step 5: |
Do not count as a qualifying quarter any quarter in which public assistance was received on or after January 1, 1997.
|
| Step 6: |
Determine the number of qualifying quarters, as follows:
- For quarters prior to January 1, 1978, credit to the wage earner any quarter in which earnings totaled at least $50 per calendar quarter (January through March, April through June, July through September or October through December).
- Effective January 1, 1978, base qualifying quarters on the total annual earnings. Determine the number of credited quarters by dividing the total annual earnings by the dollar amounts listed below for that year.
Do not count any quarter in which public assistance was received. Credit the result (up to a maximum of 4 in a calendar year) as the number of qualifying quarters.
The amount of earned income that determines a credit is determined by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The amount varies every year. The following is a chart of the current amounts.
| 1978 |
$250 |
1995 |
$630 |
| 1979 |
$260 |
1996 |
$640 |
| 1980 |
$290 |
1997 |
$670 |
| 1981 |
$310 |
1998 |
$700 |
| 1982 |
$340 |
1999 |
$740 |
| 1983 |
$370 |
2000 |
$780 |
| 1984 |
$390 |
2001 |
$830 |
| 1985 |
$410 |
2002 |
$870 |
| 1986 |
$440 |
2003 |
$890 |
1987 |
$460 |
2004 |
$900 |
| 1988 |
$470 |
2005 |
$920 |
| 1989 |
$500 |
2006 |
$970 |
| 1990 |
$520 |
2007 |
$1000 |
| 1991 |
$540 |
2008 |
$1050 |
| 1992 |
$570 |
2009 |
$1090 |
1993 |
$590 |
2010 |
$1120 |
1994 |
$620 |
|
|
Document all calculations in the case record. |
| Step 7: |
Determine eligibility for the qualified alien admitted as an LPR if the qualifying quarters equal or exceed 40. |