Medicaid
Public health insurance for low-income people, jointly funded by the federal and state governments. It covers doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, pregnancy, and children's care. States run it under federal rules, and each state has its own name and details (California calls it Medi-Cal).
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Virginia adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion (effective January 1, 2019), so income-eligible adults 19-64 qualify with income under 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Virginia Medicaid is now unified under the Cardinal Care brand, with eligibility and enrollment handled through Cover Virginia and applications through CommonHelp (commonhelp.virginia.gov) or your local Department of Social Services (DSS). On immigration status — this is safety-critical — Cover Virginia's official "Health Coverage for Noncitizens" page states: "Children under age 19 must be lawfully residing to be eligible for Medicaid."; "Pregnant individuals may be eligible for Virginia Medicaid or FAMIS regardless of their immigration status."; "Nonpregnant adults must meet more restrictive immigration status rules to qualify. These rules are set to change October 1, 2026."; and "Noncitizens who do not have an eligible immigration status, but meet all Medicaid eligibility rules, may still be able to get Medicaid coverage for emergency services." So full Medicaid for adults generally requires a citizen or a qualified/lawfully present immigrant; and — regardless of status — Emergency Medicaid is available to treat an emergency medical condition. 🌟 Two Virginia bright spots: (1) lawfully residing children under 19 and lawfully residing pregnant people qualify without the usual five-year waiting period; (2) pregnant individuals can be covered regardless of immigration status through Virginia Medicaid/FAMIS, and FAMIS Prenatal Coverage covers prenatal care with no immigration-status, immigration-document, or Social Security number requirement (see the CHIP / FAMIS row). 🔴 Did-not-find, stated honestly: unlike California or Illinois, we did not find any Virginia state-funded program that provides full-scope Medicaid to undocumented children or undocumented non-pregnant adults — for children without lawful residence the pathway is Emergency Medicaid (plus, if pregnant, FAMIS Prenatal). Do not assume the whole family is barred, and do not assume everyone qualifies — a mixed-status household can have citizen or lawfully residing children on full coverage, a pregnant member on FAMIS Prenatal regardless of status, and others eligible only for Emergency Medicaid. 🔴 The October 1, 2026 change to non-pregnant adult immigration rules is a federal-level change; verify your own household with Cover Virginia (1-855-242-8282) or your local DSS. Applying for or receiving Medicaid for your children does not require the parents to have status.
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Public health coverage for children in families whose income is too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford private coverage. It is jointly funded by the federal and state governments (Title XXI of the Social Security Act). Each state designs and runs its own program under federal rules — as a separate CHIP, as a Medicaid-expansion CHIP, or both — so the name, income limits, and details differ by state (state eligibility levels range from about 170% to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level). Besides children, some states' separate CHIP programs also cover pregnant women.
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Virginia's CHIP is a separately branded, well-known program called FAMIS (Family Access to Medical Insurance Security), for children whose family income is a bit too high for Medicaid — roughly 148% up to 205% FPL. FAMIS is not merged into Medicaid: it has its own brand, though eligibility and enrollment run through the same Cover Virginia / CommonHelp system. 🔴 On immigration status (safety-critical): Cover Virginia's official pages require a child to be a U.S. citizen or a lawfully residing immigrant to get Medicaid or FAMIS — verbatim, "Children under age 19 must be lawfully residing to be eligible for Medicaid," and the children's eligibility page requires that they "Are U.S. citizens or lawfully residing immigrants." So, unlike California, Illinois, or New York, Virginia does NOT cover undocumented children in FAMIS or Medicaid, and we found no Virginia state-funded program that covers undocumented children (their only pathway is Emergency Medicaid). 🌟 But Virginia has a real, official moat for pregnancy: (1) FAMIS MOMS covers pregnant people up to about 205% FPL; and (2) 🌟🌟 FAMIS Prenatal Coverage covers prenatal care regardless of immigration status — Virginia DMAS states verbatim: "You now do not need to meet immigration status rules, provide immigration documents, or have a Social Security number to be eligible for FAMIS Prenatal Coverage." Coverage continues through 60 days after the birth, with no co-pays, premiums, or other costs (since July 1, 2021). 🌟 Lawfully residing children skip the usual five-year waiting period. A child's eligibility depends on the child's own status, not the parents' — a lawfully residing child of undocumented parents can enroll, and a pregnant person can enroll for FAMIS Prenatal regardless of status. Verify your situation with Cover Virginia (1-855-242-8282) or CommonHelp; this is a changing area.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, "food stamps")
Monthly food benefits that help low-income households buy the food they need. Benefits come on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card — EBT has been the sole method of SNAP issuance in all states since June 2004 — which you swipe like a bank card at authorized grocery stores. The benefit amount is based on the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan, updated each year to keep pace with food prices, and depends on your household size and how much monthly income is left after certain expenses are deducted. It is a federal program (USDA Food and Nutrition Service), but state public assistance agencies run it through their local offices — you must apply in the state where you currently live, so the application and the local name vary by state (California calls it CalFresh). Benefits generally arrive no later than 30 days after the office receives your application; households with little or no money that need help right away may get benefits within 7 days.
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Virginia administers SNAP through the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) (apply via CommonHelp, your local Department of Social Services (DSS), or the customer service center at 1-833-522-5582) and uses Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE), which raises the gross income limit to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level with no asset test for most households; households with a member age 60+ or disabled that do not pass the gross income test can instead qualify under federal rules (a $4,500 resource limit), and net income must be at or below 100% FPL. 🔴 SNAP immigration rules are governed by the shared federal SNAP page and are safety-critical — do not rely on this row alone. Qualifying noncitizen categories (for example, lawful permanent residents who have met the five-year waiting period or an exception, refugees/asylees, and Cuban/Haitian entrants) and any recent federal changes are governed by the federal page. Because these rules are in flux and getting them wrong can jeopardize a household, verify your own eligibility with your local Department of Social Services and see the federal SNAP program page for the current, authoritative immigrant-eligibility framework and any statutory alerts. A member being ineligible does not necessarily bar the rest of a mixed-status household — eligible members (including U.S.-citizen children) can still receive SNAP.
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Nutrition support for pregnancy and early childhood. In USDA's own words, WIC "serves to safeguard the health of low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating including breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals to health care." Coverage runs from pregnancy until a child turns 5: pregnant women; postpartum women (up to 6 months after the end of a pregnancy); breastfeeding women (up to the infant's first birthday); infants; and children up to their fifth birthday. Every applicant first gets a free, simple health check by WIC staff, and must be individually determined to be at nutrition risk by a health professional — two major types are recognized: medically-based risks such as anemia, underweight, a history of pregnancy complications, or poor pregnancy outcomes; and dietary risks such as inappropriate feeding practices or failure to meet the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Food benefits come on an eWIC card, which works just like a debit card and can be used at WIC-approved grocery stores and farmers' markets. Benefits are not limited to food: they also include health screening, nutrition and breastfeeding counseling, immunization screening and referral, and substance abuse referral. It is a federal program (USDA), but in USDA's words, "while funded through grants from the Federal Government, WIC is administered by 89 State agencies," with services at county health departments, hospitals, schools, Indian Health Service facilities, and other clinic locations — you apply through a WIC agency in your area, so the local name and process vary. Moms, dads, foster parents, and anyone else raising kids under 5 can apply for the kids in their care.
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🌟 The federal layer leaves the immigration-status question to the states (the federal WIC rule lets a state choose whether to limit WIC by immigration status — see this program's federal rule; this row does not repeat it). Virginia has not adopted such a limit: immigration status is not among Virginia's listed WIC eligibility requirements. Virginia WIC — administered by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) — lists its eligibility as four requirements, "applicants must meet categorical, residential, income, and nutrition risk requirements," and describes who it serves as "women (pregnant, postpartum, and breast feeding), infants (under 1 year of age) and children less than 5 years of age," who must "Live in Virginia" and have a nutritional risk. 🔑 An honest note on how far Virginia's own words go: unlike Texas — whose HHSC page affirmatively says "U.S. citizenship is not a requirement for eligibility" — we did not find any statement making citizenship, immigration status, or a Social Security number a requirement on Virginia's WIC pages, and we do not manufacture one (reported honestly as "not found on Virginia's page," not a claim that the rule is different). A no-immigration-status-test for WIC, WIC not being a public charge factor, and no required SSN are the federal norm (see this program's federal rule). Policy can change — verify by applying at myvawic.org or finding your local health-department WIC clinic.
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
A refundable federal tax credit for low- to moderate-income working people and families. In the IRS's words, the EITC "helps low- to moderate-income workers and families get a tax break. If you qualify, you can use the credit to reduce the taxes you owe – and maybe increase your refund." The key word is refundable — as the IRS puts it, "This is a refundable credit, so you can get back more than you pay in taxes." In plain terms: you can get money back even if you owe no tax at all. You must have earned income (wages, salary, tips, or self-employment income), and you claim it on your federal tax return — there is no separate application form, no office to visit, and no waiting list. The credit is larger if you have qualifying children, but workers without any children can also get a smaller version. For tax year 2025 (the return you file in 2026), the maximum credit is $649 with no qualifying children, $4,328 with one, $7,152 with two, and $8,046 with three or more. The tax year 2025 income cutoffs (adjusted gross income) are $19,104 (single, head of household, married filing separately, or qualifying surviving spouse) or $26,214 (married filing jointly) with no children; $50,434 / $57,554 with one child; $57,310 / $64,430 with two; and $61,555 / $68,675 with three or more. Investment income must be $11,950 or less for tax year 2025. These amounts are adjusted every year — rely on the IRS tables for the year you are actually filing. This is a purely federal program, administered directly by the IRS under one nationwide set of rules; states have no role in the federal EITC. But note: separately from this federal credit, many states and some local governments run their own state EITC, usually set as a percentage of the federal credit, varying in whether it is refundable, and sometimes with different rules — see your state's details.
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🔴🌟 Two honest facts, and please hold both. (1) Virginia DOES have a state earned-income credit, and one version is refundable — do not assume otherwise. Virginia has a state personal income tax (you file a Virginia individual return), and Virginia Tax, on its "Virginia Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) & Credit for Low Income Individuals" page, states the refundable version verbatim: "An income tax credit equal to 20% of your federal Earned Income Tax Credit. The credit is refundable, so it can be more than the total amount of your tax." and the nonrefundable version verbatim: "An income tax credit equal to 20% of your federal earned income tax credit. The credit is not refundable and cannot exceed your tax liability." The same page says "You can only claim one of these credits, so choose the one that benefits you most." 🔑 So the current structure is a choice of one of three: the Credit for Low Income Individuals (CLI) / the 20% nonrefundable EITC / the 20% refundable EITC. The refundable option means a very-low-income family that owes little or no Virginia tax can still receive it as a cash refund (similar in mechanism to California's refundable CalEITC). 🔴 An honest note on history and change: Virginia's refundable version was 15% of the federal EITC when it was first introduced (tax year 2022) and was raised to 20% in recent years, and the refundable option has been enacted on a term-limited basis rather than permanently — for the exact percentage and whether the refundable option applies in a given tax year, rely on what Virginia Tax publishes for that year. (2) 🔴 But one limit matters for immigrant families: both Virginia EITC versions are bootstrapped onto the federal EITC — Virginia Tax states the qualifying condition as "You qualified to claim an Earned Income Tax Credit on your federal income tax return." The federal EITC requires a Social Security number valid for employment for the filer, the spouse, and each qualifying child (a federal rule — see this program's federal rule and rely on the IRS), so a family that files with ITINs cannot claim the federal EITC; and because both Virginia EITC versions run through federal eligibility, that family cannot claim either. Virginia did not decouple its EITC from the federal SSN requirement the way California's CalEITC does. 🌟 One honest nuance: the third option — the Credit for Low Income Individuals (CLI) — is NOT bootstrapped onto the federal EITC; Virginia Tax states its condition as "Your family's total Virginia adjusted gross income (VAGI) is below federal poverty guidelines," so a Virginia filer who does not qualify for the federal EITC may still be able to claim the CLI (it is nonrefundable). We do not assert your eligibility — verify the CLI with Virginia Tax. 🔴 Note the boundary: these are Virginia's own credits, claimed on your Virginia return; they do not make you eligible for the federal EITC and do not change your immigration status. Verify your own situation with Virginia Tax and the IRS.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a monthly federal cash payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for people who have very little income and few resources AND who are age 65 or older, blind, or have a qualifying disability (children can qualify too). To get SSI, your countable resources must stay under $2,000 for an individual or $3,000 for a couple. It is run directly by the federal government under one nationwide standard — the 2026 maximum federal payment is $994/month for an individual and $1,491/month for a couple — and some states add a small state supplement on top.
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🔴 SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is a federal program run by the Social Security Administration (SSA) — who can get it and the immigration rules (why you generally must be a "qualified alien," the exemptions for refugees/asylees/certain veterans, and the limits after PRWORA in 1996) all live in this program's federal rule and are not repeated here; rely on this program's federal rule and the SSA. This row carries only three Virginia-layer facts. (1) 🌟 On top of federal SSI, Virginia has a state-and-locally funded cash supplement, the Auxiliary Grant (AG). Per Virginia regulation 22VAC30-80-10, verbatim: "Auxiliary Grants Program or AG means a state and locally funded assistance program to supplement income of an individual receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or adult who would be eligible for SSI except for excess income, who resides in an ALF, an AFC home, or a supportive housing setting with an established rate." (2) 🔴🔴 Cash is not health coverage: SSI recipients in Virginia generally get Medicaid automatically, but that is medical and separate from this cash — do not conflate them. (3) 🔴 One honest boundary, so you are not misled the other way: AG goes only to people who already receive federal SSI, or who would qualify for SSI except for excess income — its immigration threshold follows SSI (the AG regulation itself sets no separate immigration clause, but both eligibility branches require meeting SSI's non-financial rules, which include immigration status). So AG is NOT a California-CAPI-style state-funded cash program aimed at aged, blind, or disabled immigrants shut out of federal SSI by their immigration status; we did not find such a Virginia program either. If federal immigration rules keep you from federal SSI, Virginia's AG generally does not reach you. Verify your own situation with the SSA (or your local Department of Social Services, DSS).
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) gives time-limited monthly cash assistance and work supports to low-income families with children, to help them achieve economic security and stability. The federal government sends each state a block grant, and each state designs and runs its own TANF program under its own name (California calls it CalWORKs) with its own benefit amounts and rules. States set the monthly cash amount, add work-participation requirements, and set time limits within the federal 60-month (5-year) lifetime cap on federally funded assistance. Besides the monthly cash grant, TANF also funds services such as childcare, job training, and transportation.
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🔴 TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) has a federal immigration layer — why you generally must be a "qualified alien," and how categories like refugees/asylees and qualified immigrants past the five-year point apply — all in this program's federal rule, not repeated here; rely on this program's federal rule. This row carries only Virginia's execution. Virginia keeps the TANF name, run by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) through your local Department of Social Services (DSS); the online application entry point is CommonHelp (commonhelp.virginia.gov). 🔑 Who it serves: per VDSS's official TANF page, the family must have an eligible child — "Eligible families must have at least a child living with a parent, both parents or with a caretaker relative." — and the child must, verbatim, "Be under the age of 18," "Be a Virginia resident," "Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible immigrant," and "Be part of a family in financial need." 🔑 Work requirement: VDSS says TANF also "connects families to education, training and employment services so they can become more self-sufficient" — that work/self-sufficiency component is the Virginia Initiative for Education and Work (VIEW). 🔴 Time limit: per the Code of Virginia § 63.2-612, "VIEW participants and their families may receive TANF financial assistance for a maximum of 24 months only," after which they may receive it again only after "a subsequent period of 24 months" of ineligibility. Rely on your local DSS and VDSS for amounts, requirements, and exemptions.
Unemployment Insurance (UI)
Unemployment Insurance is temporary weekly cash paid to workers who lost their job through no fault of their own, to help you get by while you look for the next one. It is funded by taxes paid by employers (federal FUTA and state SUTA) — workers generally do not pay into it. It is a joint federal-state program: each state runs its own unemployment insurance program under shared federal rules, so eligibility, the weekly amount, and how many weeks you can receive vary by state. You apply in the state where you worked. To qualify you generally must be unemployed through no fault of your own, meet a work-and-wages threshold in a "base period," and be currently able to work, available to work right away, and actively looking for work. The first payment usually arrives two to three weeks after you file.
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🔴 Unemployment Insurance (UI) is an earned, insurance-type benefit, not a means-tested public benefit — see this program's federal rule (why it is generally not subject to PRWORA's "qualified alien" / five-year-bar rules, and the OBBBA federal-funding limit on high earners with $1,000,000+ base-period wages, both live there and are not repeated here). This row carries only the immigration points as Virginia applies them. Virginia UI is administered by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). UI eligibility has two sides: financial (you must have earned enough wages in your "base period") and non-financial (you must be unemployed through no fault of your own, be able and available to work, and actively look for work). 🔑 Work authorization is key: to collect UI you generally must have been authorized to work in the U.S. when you earned those base-period wages, and you must now be able, available, and authorized to work. So this is an earned route: it does not look at how low your income is, but it does require work authorization both then and now. State rules differ — rely on the state where you worked (here, Virginia's VEC).
Section 8 / Housing Choice Voucher
The Housing Choice Voucher — commonly called "Section 8" — is federal rental assistance that helps very-low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities rent decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the program is run locally by public housing agencies (PHAs), usually state or local government entities. You find your own rental unit that meets program housing-quality standards; after the PHA approves the unit and tenancy, it pays the rent subsidy directly to the landlord. If the rent is at or below the local "payment standard," you generally pay about 30 percent of your adjusted monthly income toward rent, and the subsidy covers the rest. It is the nation's largest rental-assistance program, helping about 2.3 million families. Because funding is limited, many areas keep a waiting list.
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🔴 There is no separate Virginia state immigrant rule for Section 8, because there is no statewide Virginia Section 8 — each of Virginia's local PHAs applies HUD's federal noncitizen rules. Those federal rules (at least one household member must have an eligible immigration status, and "mixed" families can receive prorated assistance rather than being turned away entirely) live on this program's shared federal page and are not repeated here. As HUD states for Virginia, a Public Housing Authority determines Housing Choice Voucher eligibility "based on the total annual gross income and family size, U.S. citizenship and specified categories of non-citizens who have eligible immigration status," and to apply you "contact your local Public Housing Authority." 🌟 We did not find a currently operating Virginia state-level rental-voucher program with a broader-than-federal immigrant rule to add here: Virginia's state housing agency, Virginia Housing, finances and manages affordable-housing developments (such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties), and even where it administers Housing Choice Vouchers as a PHA it applies the same federal rules, not a state-funded voucher with a broader immigrant rule. This row therefore claims no state expansion beyond the federal rule. Rely on your local PHA for how status is verified.
LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program)
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps low-income households pay their home energy costs — mainly heating (winter) and cooling (summer) bills, plus energy-crisis aid (for example, when you face a shutoff or need reconnection), light home weatherization, and minor heating-equipment repair or replacement. It is a federally funded block grant managed by the Office of Community Services within HHS (HHS/ACF/OCS), and then run by each state, territory, and tribe, which set their own eligibility rules and application process. 🔴 LIHEAP does not send cash directly to individuals and never charges a fee; you apply through your state's or tribe's energy-assistance agency. The federal income ceiling is 150% of the poverty level, or 60% of state median income if that is higher; many states also grant "categorical eligibility" to households that receive TANF, SSI, SNAP, or needs-tested veterans' benefits.
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🔴🔴 Safety-critical, verified against the regulation's verbatim text — and Virginia is unlike Pennsylvania, Illinois, or Massachusetts here: Virginia's Energy Assistance Program does condition eligibility on immigration status in its regulation. Virginia Administrative Code 22VAC40-680-20 states verbatim: "An alien who meets a qualified status as defined by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), P.L. 104-193, regardless of when he entered the United States, is eligible to receive assistance and services under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) if he meets other program requirements." So Virginia's Energy Assistance is limited to U.S. citizens/nationals and "qualified aliens" (the federal qualified-alien framework — lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, and other listed categories — lives on this program's shared federal page). 🔴 Read two equally important facts that guard against the "second error" (scaring off people who are in fact eligible): (1) 🌟 There is no five-year bar for Virginia LIHEAP — the regulation says a qualified alien is eligible "regardless of when he entered the United States," so a lawful permanent resident is not made to wait five years the way Medicaid or TANF may require. (2) Eligibility is set for the whole household by its income and heating/cooling responsibility (income counts all members combined); under the federal LIHEAP framework a household that includes a qualified member is generally served through that member, and having one member without status does not automatically bar the whole family — and the benefit offsets your energy bill, it is not cash handed to you. 🔴 Did-not-find, stated honestly: we did not find on Virginia's official EAP pages or in the regulation a "this is not a law enforcement program" statement of the kind Texas publishes, so we do not claim one; likewise the official pages do not spell out step by step how mixed-status households are handled. If any of this bears on your household, verify your own situation through your local Department of Social Services before you decide whether you do or do not qualify.
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