Treatment of Household Members with Voided Puerto Rican Birth Certificates - Extended Transition Period and Revised Effective Date

On June 21, 2010, Food and Nutrition Service issued policy guidance on how to treat household members whose Puerto Rican birth certificates were voided under Puerto Rico Law 191 of 2009. The SNAP policy was to go into effect July 1, 2010 to coincide with the effective date of the new law.

However, on June 28, 2010 the Government of Puerto Rico approved an amendment that extends the validity of current Puerto Rico birth certificates through Sept. 30, 2010 in order to provide a transition period for Puerto Ricans to apply for and receive a new birth certificate. Because of this new transition period, current Puerto Rican birth certificates remain valid for an additional three months, through Sept. 30, 2010. States can get additional information about this change online at: http://www.prfaa.com/birthcertificates/.

This essentially changes SNAP policy's effective date from July 1, 2010 to Oct. 1, 2010. All the other provisions in the original policy guidance apply and remain unchanged.

Angela Kline
Chief
Certification Policy Branch
Program Development Division