Arizona Residency
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This subject includes information about Arizona residency requirements.
Policy
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Arizona Residency Requirements
Arizona residency is an eligibility requirement for NA and CA.
A participant may be living in Arizona and not meet the Arizona residency requirement. Meeting the Arizona residency requirement includes all of the following:
●When a participant establishes Arizona as their permanent home.
NOTE Participants are not required to live in Arizona for any specific time.
●A participant may meet the Arizona residency requirement when they move to Arizona.
●When temporarily away from Arizona, a participant intends to return.
Once a participant establishes Arizona residency, the participant is a resident until they leave Arizona to establish residency in another state or country.
Arizona residency is not met for temporary purposes, such as any of the following:
●Vacationing
●Visitors
●Students from out of state
Residing in a permanent dwelling or having a fixed address is not required to receive NA or CA benefits. However, the Primary Informant(g) needs to have a mailing address to receive notifications from FAA.
For NA, participants need to meet the Arizona residency requirement on the application date and do not have to intend to remain in Arizona. Examples include any of the following:
●Students returning to Arizona during school break.
●Arizona residents spending a portion of the year living in another state.
For CA, participants need to meet Arizona residency requirements with the intent to remain in Arizona, which includes all of the following:
●The participant considers Arizona their permanent home.
●The participant has established residency in Arizona.
●The participant has abandoned residency(g) in another state or country.
NOTE During the interview, the Primary Informant (PI) needs to state their intent to remain in Arizona for CA eligibility.
●The participant is not receiving CA benefits from another state.
NOTE When a participant is receiving CA benefits in another state, see Duplicate Participation for CA procedures.
The CA dependent child’s Arizona residency is the same as the caretaker relative(g) with whom the child lives permanently.
A CA dependent child retains Arizona residency when the caretaker relative retains Arizona residency. CA dependent children maintain residency when out of the home for any, and not limited to, of the following:
●While attending school
●Participating in Job Corps out of state
Before eligibility can be determined, questionable Arizona residency is resolved on a case-by-case basis.
Homeless and Arizona Residency
Homeless(g) participants can verify Arizona residency with a participant’s statement. See General Delivery for information about using General Delivery and finding a General Delivery service mailing address.
NOTE When a budgetary unit does not have a valid U.S. Postal Service mailing address, FAA asks the participant for detailed directions and descriptions of where they reside.
See Providing Verification for more information about participant statement verification.
Temporarily Out of U.S. Address
An NA or CA participant residing temporarily out of the United States (U.S.) for 30 calendar days(g) or longer is ineligible for benefits. The participant is removed from the benefit determination.
When all participants in the budgetary unit are temporarily residing outside of the U.S., benefits are stopped.
NA Temporarily Out of Arizona
An NA participant may temporarily reside outside Arizona and still be within the U.S. and retain Arizona residency. There is no specific time limit on how long the participant may be out of state and maintain Arizona residency.
When temporarily out of state, to continue meeting Arizona residency and remain eligible, all of the following apply:
●The participant intends to return to Arizona when the reason for their absence ends.
●The participant does not establish residency in another state.
●The participant does not receive benefits from another state.
When the PI states that everyone in the budgetary unit is still an Arizona resident, all of the following information is needed from the participant:
●The reason the budgetary unit is temporarily out of state.
●When the budgetary unit anticipates returning to Arizona.
NOTE When a budgetary unit meets Arizona residency requirements while receiving NA in Arizona, neither a participant nor a budgetary unit is eligible to receive NA benefits in another state.
●When the PI no longer receives mail at the address of record, the PI needs to provide FAA with all of the following information:
An address in Arizona where the PI’s mail is delivered.
NOTE Mail cannot be delivered out of state.
The name of the person who receives the PI’s mail.
NOTE The PI is responsible for reporting an address change to the U.S. Postal Service.
When the budgetary unit no longer meets Arizona residency requirements, NA benefits are stopped for the following month. No notice is required.
CA Temporarily Out of the Home
A CA budgetary unit or a participant may retain Arizona residency and receive CA benefits when temporarily out of state. The CA participant is removed from the CA benefits, or the benefits are stopped following the Notice of Adverse Action(g) when any of the following occurs:
●The budgetary unit or a participant has not returned to Arizona within 30 calendar days.
NOTE A minor child may be temporarily away from home for 180 calendar days at renewal or during the approval period.
●The budgetary unit reports the intent to establish residency outside of the state.
●A participant leaves the budgetary unit to reside elsewhere.
NOTE The participant is removed from the benefits, and eligibility is redetermined for the remaining participants.
A participant receiving CA benefits may meet Arizona residency when temporarily out of the home when one of the following occurs:
●When a new application is submitted for potential eligibility, all of the following conditions apply:
The child or caretaker relative returns to the home within 30 calendar days of the first CA payment date.
The child or caretaker relative is not an inmate in a penal facility.
●At renewal or during the approval period(g), eligibility may exist for a child or caretaker relative in any of the following situations:
The minor child may be temporarily away from home for 180 calendar days. Reasons for the child’s absence may include any of the following:
●Attending school
●Hospitalization
●Placement in a rehabilitation center
NOTE Children are potentially eligible for the months entering or leaving foster care when foster care funds have not been used for the child’s care.
The caretaker relative may be temporarily out of the home as long as the caretaker relative is expected to return. The budgetary unit continues to be eligible when all of the following are met:
●The absence is not more than 30 calendar days.
●The caretaker relative is in a hospital, rehabilitation center, or school.
●The caretaker relative maintains a home for the child.
●The caretaker relative continues exercising responsibility for the care and custody of the child.
Participants are not eligible for CA benefits when staying in a facility that meets all the basic needs(g). A participant is potentially eligible for the month they entered the facility and left the facility.
Verification
Current participation in the Arizona Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) is verification for Arizona residency.
Any of the following can be used to verify Arizona residency and needs to be current and include the name of a participant in the case:
●City directory
●Church records
●Current driver's license
●Motor Vehicles Division documents
●Lease agreement
●Ownership of property documentation
●Phone directory
●Rent or mortgage receipt
●School records
●Statement from a non-relative which includes signature and phone number
●Statement from a non-relative employer which includes signature and phone number
●Statement from a non-relative landlord which includes signature and phone number
●Tax office records
●Utility bill
●Utility company records
●A completed Verification of Living Arrangement/Residential Address (FAA-0065A) form
(See Example 1)
At the interview or for a reported change, FAA can use a collateral contact, when available, to verify Arizona residency. (See Providing Verification for more information about how FAA uses collateral contacts.)
When no other form of verification is available, a participant’s statement can be used when not questionable.
FAA requests participants who do not have a valid U.S. Postal mailing address to provide a statement that includes all of the following information:
●A description of the location where the participant resides.
●Directions to the location where the participant resides.
When a CA child or caretaker relative(g) is temporarily out of the home, all of the following verification is needed to determine continued CA eligibility:
●The length of time for the temporary absence.
●The reason for the temporary absence.
●A participant’s statement from the Primary Informant(g) stating the date when the child or caretaker relative is expected to return home.
●Proof of where the child or caretaker relative is staying. Proof can include a statement from, and is not limited to, any of the following:
Hospital
Physician
Rehabilitation center
School
Relatives and friends with whom the participant is visiting
Examples
1) Harry applied for himself, his wife Sally, and their son Tommy.
Harry turns in a signed statement that he, Sally, and Tommy live in Eloy, Arizona. He provides his driver’s license to verify his identity for NA and a bank statement to show the interest amount. Both the driver’s license and bank statement show a Nevada address.
FAA requested that Harry provide additional information to resolve the discrepancy between the Nevada verification and his written statement. Harry provides his lease agreement. The lease agreement verifies that Harry and his family now live in Eloy.
FAA can approve the family’s application for NA because it meets all eligibility factors.
Legal Authorities
7 CFR 273.2(f)(1)(vi)
7 CFR 273.3
7 CFR 273.3(a) and (b)
ARS 46-292
AAC R6-12-205
AAC R6-12-304
last revised 05/06/2024