Does anyone know if accepting the stimulus check would affect your immigration process later down the road? Will this be considered as federal assistance such as food stamps and lead to rejection while filing GC? Cannot find any reliable information on this. Thanks in advance.

Nope. Spend wisely.

No, as my attorney suggested as long as you don't claim unemployment benefit this check is very very safe .if u claim unemployment after feb 2020 then it's next to impossible to get visa extended or change of status. So my wife is fired from job after working 3 years .she is not fired but they say c can join when business is back .my wife did not file unemployment as suggested by attorney.now I am having financial hardships but yesterday I get check .my attorney also handled my case and successly end my case so I trust him very much.money come and go but you don't risk your legal status . If you have status money can earn anytime so consult your attorney before doing anything

does it matter if one has use Medi-cal or government healthcare before feb 24, 2020?

I'm pretty much aware of futa tax it's because I was one of the beneficiary some time back. Unemployment benefit is just it's matter not immigration, this is your wrong assumption ,federal benefit is an immigration matter as if Feb 2020 n it's now reported on u our immigration file .we have to declare it while in change of status if u have seen firm after 2020 Feb. It's not that my wife is not qualified for benefit from IRS ,it's just that it's reported to immigration . Anyways I decided to go this way until she is secure .for best consult our respective attorney for best answer and move accordingly.

Neither the stimulus check nor the unemployment benefits affect the immigration. Unemployment benefits is a form of insurance not the federal benefits that falls under public charge. Stimulus is also not a public charge benefit. People making 200K are also getting stimulus, so don’t worry about it.

"People getting 200k are also getting stimulus" this statement is wrong. If single income crosses 99k or combined income crosses 198k then you don't get anything at all.

UI benefits is insurance based and is NOT reported to immigration. If you are not citizen, only work authorization is validated against INS (so h1b never qualifies for this), no other data are sent. Also , IRS is totally different entity. UI is handled by individual states which is overseen by DOL, not IRS. However, states and IRS share data for tax/collection/payment interception etc.

All states has some kind of interfaces to share claimants and their details in some way with other states/agencies. Though INS do not request any data ( so far), if they start requesting these details, it can be available almost immediately. For this , there should be some rule/law that requires state to share these details though.

if you are looking for change of status, despite the fact above, it is always a wise decision to discuss with your lawyer.

@tps2gc,

Your respected lawyer might be wrong. He showed you the data of of ppl who filed public benefit and got denied which is ok but how many of them filed for unemployment benefit and not other public charges as food stamps or Medicaid tho? ALWAYS get a second opinion and even 3rd or 4th when it comes tho law and health related issues. I have gotten wrong answers on avoo many many times by so called respected lawyers. Call bandits dahal attorney in DC, saw on face book or somewhere that she is offering free help on this crisis.

There is no need making joke in this post.this is informative post .if u want joke me I can go for hours I'm very chilleko person. We both are not attorney, best is to consult our own attorney if we think status is above everything . Most of us here are talking with reference to internet source, nothing more than that .attiornies are people who handle these cases each day and they know how play with loops . One thing is sure, public charge 2020 is not straight forward rule,it's very new and it's full of confusion designed to put immigrants like us in trouble, until and unless Republicans and their judges are in bench we need to be very careful. We should not fall in trap designed to catch our loop through public charge

@Sexy In Sari
Since it is Federal , the tax has to go thorough IRS, but it goes to DOL eventually. So , IRS has these details, which are shared to states , but the funds are not kept by IRS, they go to DOL at the end. So for UI claim, DOL is pretty much everything. It is fair to say without unemployment tax details, it is not possible to process claims. Another important thing that state does for IRS is if claimant owe IRS and have stopped payment OR if the claimant have stopped paying child support, then the UI beneftis will be intercepted. IRS has direct say on how its shared data with states need to be stored and protected, in that part (data sharing and data protection), IRS is everything.

What about getting paid sick leave under FFCRA act?

That's why I said he might be not he is. No one is joking with you.

Thank you all for sharing. This was really helpful. I did more digging and decided to take this handout. Feel free to use this thread to share your knowledge regarding this matter.

Receipt of Unemployment Insurance

The USCIS has also confirmed that unemployment insurance is generally not taken into consideration for purposes of making a public charge determination. In its explanation, the DHS explained that it "would not consider federal and state retirement, Social Security retirement benefits, Social Security Disability, post-secondary education, and unemployment benefits as public benefits under the public charge inadmissibility determination as these are considered to be earned benefits through the person's employment and specific tax deductions." Additionally, the USCIS has indicated in its Policy Manual that unemployment benefits are not considered by USCIS in a public charge inadmissibility determination as unemployment insurance is considered by USCIS to be an "earned" benefit.

Guys calm down. While there is nothing wrong in taking unemployment benifit now, I would suggest not to take till n unless its absolutely necessary due to economic hardship. Here rules changes frequently n enforced in no time. There are rumours up in the air about delay/disqualify in GC, Citizen, n revoke of naturalized citizenship if someone has taken low income packages (food stamp, medical benefits etc) or involved in crime.
As I've said earlier, you can take it as per own risks but I dont encourage.
Be proud of being immigrant n show that we work our ass off but never beg.

What ? They can even revoke naturalized citizenship for taking benefits? Ok I'm taking 1 month off from sajha from now. Take care guys.

Naturalized citizenship can be revoked in some circumstances including public benefit charge but it's only after feb 2020, so don't get surprised. I know one case from my attorney but it's not Nepali family.its in process . Listen all but act by your own brain .every case is different . Go to your attorney and see what is good for you. If you go to a good immigration attorney explain what is your total scnerio top to bottom, if he is an experienced lawyer he is able to vizulize your scnerio and can advise you correctly. Taking advise from forum and act is never a good option. I have regteted it in past . If IRS approves your benefit doesn't mean it's legal from immigration point of view . Before def 2020 most charge has no big impacts .stories after this is different so while taking reference take new one which are very rare .go talk. To attorney they have cases