CAPI gives a monthly cash payment to legal immigrants in California who can't get federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits only because of their immigration status.

To get CAPI, you must:

• Be a California resident
• Be 65 or older, blind, or have a disability
• Have limited income and resources, and
• Not be able to get federal SSI benefits because of your immigration status (and for no other reason).

Note: You need to have applied for SSI in the six months before applying for CAPI and have proof of being turned down for SSI because of your immigration status. If you have not yet applied for SSI, you must apply for SSI before your CAPI application can be approved. (You can apply for SSI and CAPI at the same time.)

If you do get CAPI benefits and your income, resources, immigration status,marital status, living situation, or sponsorship changes, you must notify CAPI. And at least every 12 months CAPI will ask you to fill out a redtermination form showing that you continue to qualify to get CAPI.

People Not Eligible For CAPI Benefits

You cannot get CAPI benefits if you:

• Are a U.S. citizen
• Get SSI
• Live in a public hospital, jail, or other public institution for a calendar month
• Do not live in California
• Do not follow the program rules
• Do not apply to get other benefit programs that might help you
• Are a fleeing felon, or
• Violate your probation or parole.

Sponsor Deeming

If you have a sponsor who signed an affidavit of support when you entered the U.S. as a permanent resident, it might make it harder for you to get CAPI. When CAPI looks at your income and resources to see if you qualify, your sponsor’s income and resources may be added to yours in a process called deeming.

For example, if you have $500 in countable resources and your sponsor has $1,000 in countable resources, CAPI adds the two together and says you have $1,500 in countable resources, even if your sponsor does not give you any of the money.

The CAPI deeming rules are complex. Your sponsor's income and resources are deemed to you whether or not your sponsor actually gives them to you. How much of your sponsor’s income and resources are deemed to you and for how long depends on:

• When you entered the country
• What type of affidavit of support your sponsor signed, and
• Whether or not your sponsor is dead, disabled, or abusive.

If you can’t afford food, clothing, or shelter, you may be able to avoid sponsor deeming through the indigence exception.

Your sponsor's income and resources won’t be deemed to you if your sponsor abused you or your child. How long you are exempt from sponsor deeming depends on which petition was filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

If your sponsor is married, their income and resources are also deemed to you. If you have a husband or wife who cannot get CAPI, their income and resources are deemed to you. And if you are applying for CAPI benefits for a child under 18, your income is deemed to the child.

For more details, Legal Services of Northern California offers an overview of sponsor deeming for CAPI, CalFresh (formerly Food Stamps), and other benefits programs.

CAPI helps legal immigrants in California who can't get federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits only because of their immigration status.

Application Process

The best way to apply for CAPI depends on which California county you live in. For details, contact your local county social services agency.

Note: Due to COVID-19, there may be limits on in-person services. Contact your agency by phone to ask about this.

When you apply, you usually need:

• Identification (passport, legal Permanent Resident card, birth certificate, and any other documents)
• Your Social Security number
• Details about your immigration status and your sponsor (if you have one)
• Proof of where you live (a rent or mortgage receipt, a utility bill with your name on it)
• Proof of income (pay stubs, stubs for unemployment or other benefits, pension or annuity records)
• Documents showing your personal resources (like bank statements, vehicle registration, life insurance policies, savings bonds, stock certificates)

You must fill out a number of forms. CAPI needs to know the details about immigration status, living arrangements, and income and resource information for both you and your sponsor. (If you have a sponsor who signed an affidavit of support, CAPI adds your sponsor’s income and resources to yours in a process called deeming. Learn more about the complex CAPI deeming rules.)

You also must show that you have been denied federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in the past 6 months based only on your immigration status. If you can’t prove this with a copy of a letter from the SSI or other document, or you haven't tried to get SSI yet, you must apply for SSI when you apply for CAPI.

To get CAPI, you also must apply for any other benefit programs that might be able to help you, like CalFresh (formerly Food Stamps), Medi-Cal health insurance, In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), State Disability Insurance (SDI), Veterans Benefits, or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). You must apply to get any of these benefits; you do not get them automatically just becasue you get CAPI.

Changes to federal law made in the 1990s mean that some legal immigrants can no longer get SSI benefits. California set up CAPI to help legal immigrants who:

• Are 65 or older, blind, or have a disability
• Have limited income and resources to pay for basic needs, and
• Can't get SSI because of their immigration status (and for no other reason)

When you enter the country, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services gives you an immigration status. CAPI is for immigrants classified either as Qualified Aliens or as Permanently Residing Under Color of Law (PRUCOL). The SSI rules changed August 22, 1996, so that date is important in figuring out if you can get CAPI benefits.

If you entered the United States before August 22, 1996, you may be eligible for CAPI if you are:

• A Qualified Alien who is 65 or older, who lawfully resided in the United States on August 21, 1996

• A Qualified Alien who is a victim of battery or abuse, or

• PRUCOL and 65 or older, blind, or have a disability

If you entered the United States on or after August 22, 1996, your sponsorship matters, and CAPI may use a process called deeming to count your sponsor's income and resources when deciding if you can get benefits. You may be eligible for CAPI if you are:

• A Qualified Alien who is 65 or older, blind, or has a disability and whose sponsor (or sponsor’s spouse) is dead, disabled, or abusive

• A Qualified Alien victim of battery or abuse, or

• PRUCOL and 65 or older, blind, or have a disability, and either don’t have a sponsor, or your sponsor isn’t dead, disabled or abusive

In addition to your immigration status, CAPI looks at your resources (the things you own) and income when deciding if you can get benefits.

The limits on how much you can have and still get CAPI are generally the same as they are for the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Like SSI, CAPI does not count all of your income and resources. If the amount that they count is less than the limits, then you can get CAPI benefits.

Resources

CAPI's countable resource limit is $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples. CAPI does not count certain things, like your house and one car, when figuring out if you are under the resource limit. Click here for a list of resource exclusions.

Also, if your disability began before you turned 26, you can open an ABLE account, where over time you can save up to $100,000 and not have it counted by CAPI. Learn more about ABLE accounts.

Countable Income

Income limits are used to decide if you can get CAPI benefits and also how much you will get. The process is similar to SSI’s countable income calculation, and includes earned, unearned, and deemed income. (For a detailed look at how SSI counts income, see DB101's SSI article.)

CAPI compares your countable income to the maximum CAPI benefit amount a person in your situation can get. If your countable income is greater than the maximum benefit amount, then you can’t get CAPI benefits. For most people, the maximum possible monthly CAPI benefit is $1,133.73 for an individual and $1,927.62 for a couple. If you're blind, the maximum is $1,211.00 for an individual or $2,134.14 for a couple. The maximum for a child under 18 with a disability is $1,003.07. (Note: Maximum benefits amounts also depend on your living situation. Click here for a table listing current CAPI benefit amounts.)

If you’re single and you have $1,100 in countable income, you can't get CAPI because $1,100 is more than the maximum CAPI benefit ($1,133.73 for individuals).

If your countable income is less than $1,133.73, then you can get CAPI, and the difference between the two amounts is your benefit amount. For example, if you qualify for a maximum of $1,133.73 from CAPI and you have $300 of countable income, you’ll get a $833.73 benefit. The amount you’re eligible for is called a payment standard and is based on your living arrangements.

Responsibilities

It’s important that you report any changes in your immigration status, income, resources, marital status, living arrangement, and sponsor information. Plus, at least every 12 months CAPI will ask you to fill out a "redetermination" form showing that you continue to qualify to get CAPI.

If CAPI finds out that you didn't tell them about any changes or misled them, they will say it was an overpayment, and make you pay back any extra money. There are ways to not have to pay back an overpayment, but it's better to avoid them instead. Lying or withholding information can also make you lose your CAPI monthly benefit.

Carlos's Story

Carlos is 47 years old and has lived in the United States since 1997. He was recently paralyzed in a car accident and can no longer work full time. Carlos can't support himself, so a friend suggests that he apply for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Carlos applies, but gets a letter saying that although he does have a disability, he doesn't meet Social Security’s immigration requirements.

He tells the news to his friend, who remembers hearing about a program in California, called CAPI, for people in Carlos’ situation. The friend tells Carlos to go to his local county social services agency and apply.

At the agency, Carlos is assigned a caseworker named Sylvia. Once in her office, Sylvia pulls out a large stack of forms. She notices Carlos looking nervous, and explains that she will help him through the application process.

“The first question when you’re applying for CAPI is whether you were turned down by SSI because of your immigration status,” Sylvia explains.

Carlos pulls out his letter from the Social Security Administration and hands it to Sylvia.

“Okay, great. The next step is finding out about your immigration status. Are you a Qualified Alien or PRUCOL?”

Carlos stares at her blankly. He has no idea what she is talking about. Sylvia realizes how confusing the question is, so she asks Carlos when he came to the country and what he knows about his immigration status.

Carlos looks relieved and explains, “I came to the United States in 1997, and I got my green card in 2002."

“Okay, having a green card means that you are a Qualified Alien, and Qualified Aliens are one of the groups eligible for CAPI," Sylvia says. "Based on your disability, the date you entered the country, and your immigration status, you might be eligible for CAPI, but we first have to look at your income, resources, and living arrangements. We also need to figure out if you will be subject to a process called deeming, where we have to look at your sponsor's resources and income as well as your own. When you came to this country, did you have a sponsor who signed an Affidavit of Support?"

"Yes, but he died a few years ago," Carlos explains.

"Okay, that means we definitely don't have to count his income and resources," Sylvia says. "Do have any family? And do you live alone or with anyone else?”

“No family, and I live alone in a small apartment,” Carlos replies.

Sylvia pulls out a chart and runs her finger down one of the columns. “That means that you can have up to $1,133.73 in countable income. The resource limit is $2,000 for individuals.”

Carlos smiles and explains that he definitely is under those amounts. Sylvia nods her head, and helps Carlos fill out all the CAPI forms.

"Have you already applied for Medi-Cal?" Sylvia asks. "To get CAPI, you have to apply for Medi-Cal and any other cash benefits you might qualify for."

"No, I haven't tried for Medi-Cal yet, and I'm not sure what else to try for," Carlos replies.

Sylvia helps him fill out a Medi-Cal application, and together they go over other possible benefits programs that Carlos might be able to get, and how to apply for them.

A month later, Sylvia calls Carlos and tells him to come back to the office.

“Good news,” Sylvia says, “You’re eligible for CAPI and you’ll get $833.73 a month. Here’s how we figured it out. Each month, you get $100 in unearned income from a friend who is helping you out, and $505 of earned income from your part-time job. We used the Countable Income Calculation to figure out how much of that CAPI would count.”

“What’s the Countable Income Calculation?” Carlos asks.

Sylvia replies, “First we take your monthly unearned income and subtract $20. The figure we get, in your case $80, is your Countable Unearned Income."

"Next, we take your monthly earned income, subtract $65, and divide the remainder by two. This figure, in your case $220, is your Countable Earned Income."

"We added your Countable Earned and Unearned Income to find your Total Countable Income of $300."

"Then we subtract that amount from the appropriate payment standard, and that’s your benefit.”

“And what about my resources? Am I under the limit?” Carlos asks.

“Easily,” Sylvia answered. “CAPI does not count your car, you don't own a house, and you only have $900 in the bank, so you're under the resource limit of $2,000 for an individual."