US Citizens With Immigrant Spouses Are Not Not Eligible for Stimulus Check and The Reason Behind it

The CARES Act, which is the act signed by president Trump that is intended to provide financial relief for millions of Americans that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic , has excluded many people with its qualification standards.

Amongst those excluded are tax-paying immigrants without legal status. As well U.S. citizens that file a joint tax return with their spouse, who does not have legal status.

The LA Times reported several stories of immigrants with spouses who are U.S. citizens and vice versa that have been denied a stimulus check.

Some even have children that are U.S. citizens and or spouses that recently received social security numbers.

A social security number, on its own, does not qualify a person as a U.S. citizen or legal U.S. resident. But in some cases, social security numbers are issued to ‘non-immigrants’ - people who are here for mostly work purposes but are not legal immigrants or U.S. citizens.

Spouses of U.S. citizens and Legal permanent residents (LPR) who are transitioning from a ‘non-immigrant’ status to a ‘legal-immigrant’ status have a Tax Identification Number (TIN). A TIN is used solely for tax purposes. A TIN is also known as a nine number; because it starts with a ‘9’, whereas SSN belonging to U.S. citizens or legal U.S. residents do not.

IRS codes prevent anyone with a TIN from receiving tax benefits, including a stimulus check. Additionally, those who were recently issued SSNs are not eligible for benefits from the prior tax year (personal tax years end on December 31).

Tax returns filed with a nine number are excluded from most IRS benefits, which is why married couples filing jointly are not eligible for stimulus checks.

President Trump has authority to grant government relief via Executive Order and override IRS regulations.