Lifeline

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Lifeline National Verifier

Acceptable Documentation for the National Verifier

An application may result in an error that requires the consumer to submit additional documentation for Lifeline Support Center manual review.

The following errors require additional documentation that must be mailed in or uploaded to the National Verifier Portal.

Eligibility Documentation

Consumers may qualify for Lifeline through participation in a qualifying federal government program or through their income.

When eligibility cannot be verified through any of the National Verifier’s automated data sources, the subscriber can submit eligibility documentation to the Lifeline Support Center, which will initiate a manual review process to determine if the consumer is eligible.

The documentation requested will vary by program or income information available.

Program Participation

If consumers participate in one of these following government programs, they qualify for Lifeline:

A federal public housing program
Medicaid
Veteran’s or Veterans Survivor’s Pension
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Tribal Programs
- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) General Assistance
- Head Start
- Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Tribal TANF)
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations

To prove participation in one of the above programs, consumers must submit a document that, at a minimum, includes:

The consumer’s name, or the name of consumer's benefit qualifying person (BQP);
The name of the Lifeline-qualifying program, such as SNAP;
The government or Tribal program administrator or the managed care organization (MCO) that issued the document; and
An issue date within the last 12 months or a future expiration date that aligns with the benefit period.

Household Income

If a consumer's household income is at 135% or less of the federal poverty guidelines, they qualify for Lifeline.

Household Size	48 Contiguous States, DC, & Territories	Alaska	Hawaii
1 person	$16,862 or less	$21,060 or less	$19,413 or less
2 people	$22,829 or less	$28,526 or less	$26,271 or less
3 people	$28,796 or less	$35,991 or less	$33,129 or less
4 people	$34,763 or less	$43,457 or less	$39,987 or less
5 people	$40,730 or less	$50,922 or less	$46,845 or less
6 people	$46,697 or less	$58,388 or less	$53,703 or less
7 people	$52,664 or less	$65,853 or less	$60,561 or less
8 people	$58,631 or less	$73,319 or less	$67,419 or less
If more than 8, add this amount for each additional person	Add $5,967	Add $7,466	Add $6,858

Guidelines are adjusted annually. Above chart reflects guidelines for 2019. Guidelines are usually updated in January.

To prove their household income is 135% or less than the federal poverty guidelines, consumers must submit one or more of the following documents*:

The prior year's state, federal, or Tribal tax return
Current income statement from an employer or paycheck stub
A Social Security statement of benefits
A Veterans Administration statement of benefits
A retirement/pension statement of benefits
An Unemployment/Workers' Compensation statement of benefit
Federal or Tribal notice letter of participation in General Assistance
Divorce decree, child support award, or other official document containing income information

*If the consumer presents documentation of income that does not cover a full year, such as current pay stubs, the consumer must present the same type of documentation covering three consecutive months within the previous twelve months.

Identity Verification

The National Verifier uses automated data sources to verify a consumer’s identity through Third-Party Identity Verification (TPIV). When a TPIV validation cannot be verified through any of the National Verifier’s automated data sources, the subscriber can submit documentation to resolve the error. There are various types of TPIV errors that a consumer may receive. To help consumers resolve specific TPIV errors, see below.

The table below reflects what documentation is acceptable documentation for a Date of Birth (DOB) or last 4 digits of Social Security Number (SSN4) error.

Acceptable Documentation	DOB	SSN4
Driver's license	X
Birth certificate	X
W-2		X
Tax return		X
Social Security card/ SSA-1099		X
Certificate of Naturalization/ Certificate of U.S. Citizenship	X
Permanent Resident Card/Permanent Resident Alien Card	X
Federal, state, or tribal ID	X	X
Passport	X
Military discharge documentation	X	X
Weapons permit	X	X
Government assistance program document	X	X
Statement of benefits from a qualifying program	X	X
Unemployment/workers' compensation statement of benefits	X	X
Current utility bill
Current income statement
Current mortgage or lease statement
Current retirement/pension statement of benefits
Notarized letter affirming the identity and alive status

If the consumer receives an “Identity not found” error or if they are identified as a duplicate, they must submit copies of documentation proving:

Their date of birth (DOB) and
The last four digits of their social security (SSN4).

If the consumer is identified as deceased, they must submit copies of documentation proving:

Their date of birth (DOB),
The last four digits of their social security (SSN4), and
That they are alive (one from the list below).
- Current utility bill
- Current income statement
- Current mortgage or lease statement
- Current retirement/pension statement of benefits
- Notarized letter affirming the identity and alive status

Under 18 Years Old

Consumers must be at least 18 years old to qualify for Lifeline. Only emancipated minors can qualify for Lifeline under the age of 18.

If a consumer is an emancipated minor, they must submit a copy of:
1. A court document or certificate that says they are an emancipated minor
If a consumer is over 18 years old, they must submit a copy of:
1. Their birth certificate that shows they are at least 18 years old

Address Documentation

When an address validation cannot be verified through any of the National Verifier’s automated data sources, the subscriber can submit documentation to resolve the error. There two types errors that a consumer may receive relating to their address. To help consumers resolve specific address errors, see below.

AMS Error (address not found)
- Applications completed in the National Verifier portal (service provider or consumer) must use latitude and longitude coordinates of the residential address to resolve an AMS error. The National Verifier portal includes a mapping tool to help users capture the latitude and longitude coordinates of their address.
- To resolve an AMS error with a paper application, service provides can help consumers use any of the following options:
  - Logging into the National Verifier portal and completing the application process
  - A printed satellite image with a mapping tool icon (pin) identifying the consumer's residence and the latitude and longitude coordinates displayed from a mapping tool (Service providers can help consumers locate their address on the Tribal Mapping Tool in NLAD, which is available to carriers with NLAD access)
  - A hand drawn document that identifies the consumer's home address by identifying the nearest cross roads (or mile markers), identifiable landmarks, and distance between the locations.
  - A copy of a document that contains consumers’ address, such as
Duplicate Address
- To resolve a duplicate address error, consumers must prove they are an independent household by submitting a Household Worksheet.
- A household is a group of people who live together and share income and expenses (even if they are not related to each other.) Consumers are only allowed one Lifeline benefit per household, not per person.